Public Pizazz – Peaceful spaces

Inspired by a beautiful garden in Sunset magazine, Bryan contacted the designer (who lives locally) for help designing this garden. The garden was planned in 2013 with drought-tolerant plants that require no pesticides, since many attract bees.

You will be struck by the tapestry of water-wise plants in the west-facing portion of the garden. A mix of prairie style grasses including blue fescue (Festula glauca ‘Beyond Blue’), mounds of Salvia nemorosa ‘Caradonna’ and lime green Sedum rupestre ‘Angelina’ cover the parking strip. A large low planter of striking blue-green Echeveria ‘Blue Prince’ and agave sits on a ‘lawn’ of crushed granite. A low stucco wall is a subtle transition from public to private space, sheltering a small courtyard. Purple Heuchera ‘Dark Secret’, bright orange flowering Geum ‘Totally Tangerine’, a mix of stonecrop (Sedum spathulifolium ‘Cape Blanco’), woolly thyme (Thymus pseudolanuginosus), and the burble of water add restful notes to soften the courtyard side.

Walk along the house and down five steps to discover completely different plantings. A shaded deck and fern garden overlook a reclaimed, overgrown rocky slope now planted with honeysuckle, shrubs and creeping raspberry (Rubus calycinoides), a great ground cover that produces edible golden raspberry-like fruit. A few more steps down is a large patio surrounded by bamboo, grasses and ferns. Clematis ‘Etoile Violet’ climbing an arbor frames the view to the adjoining greenbelt.

Bryan feels that “gardening can be experimental and I love to tinker…Each year there have definitely been some edits and I still don't feel like the garden is finished. The back garden is quiet and peaceful but the front visually has a lot going on and it is fun to watch people stroll by and pause to enjoy the garden.”

Front garden accessible; stairs into back garden