Formal Italian Garden with Pergola
A beautiful Garden builds a lasting relationship.
I first met the owner of this property in 1999 when I worked a weekend job in a garden center in the Marina district of San Francisco - I had only installed a few gardens in America having recently relocated from the UK and was trying to establish my design business in San Francisco- when my client walked into the store and asked me if I happened to know a good landscaper to which I replied with youthful confidence- “yes…..me!” and so began a working relationship that has continued to the present day.
Designing Gardens for Grand Houses.
The property is in Spanish revival style and is of grand proportions, with high ceilings and full-height floor-to-ceiling windows. Unfortunately, the grandeur did not extend to much of the landscaping. The front garden was dominated by some rather nostalgic 1970s Junipers, then there was a shady, neglected, back garden with 80’s multicolored block paving that made my client sad every time she went back there. There was much to do. The important thing with a grand house is to give the garden design an equally strong aesthetic that compliments the architecture. Luckily, my client has a fabulous sense of aesthetic style
The Brief
The beauty of imperfection in antiquity drove the aesthetic of this project. My client travels extensively in Europe -specifically Italy and France and had architectural antiques they wished to incorporate into the fabric of the garden. My brief was to create a lush, Italian-influenced garden capable of providing a year-round venue for my client's legendary parties, as well as a private garden to relax and enjoy from the adjacent carriage house.
When designing a new Garden, always try to keep the existing beauty
Despite thier dated look, both the front and back gardens did have some valuable assets- a selection of mature trees and shrubs, (the remnants of the original 1920s landscaping) including Camellias and queen palms. There were also some very striking tree ferns that were not living up to their aesthetic potential as they now lacked the appropriate context; we were to fix that.
What to do when your Garden is overlooked.
The garden was overlooked on all sides, so privacy was a concern for my client. As a solution, we imported mature white ‘Nuccios Gem’ Camellias and pleached them as an informal hedge around the back section of the garden, creating privacy for the pergola and seating areas.
The garden is dominated by the statuesque mature Corymbia tree with its storybook aesthetic, impressive buttress, and horizontal limbs creating a magical view from the garden below and the cocktail terrace above. This impressive specimen would demand the spotlight in the garden- and quite rightly so. The challenge was to create a garden to complement and live up to the grand precedents of a huge, marvelous, mature tree. We achieved this with the use of dramatic lighting and our careful complimentary planting.
The importance of the right hardscape
We also opted for a rare but beautifully colored type of gravel. Gravel is a permeable and clean option. It would have been difficult to maintain a conventional lawn under the shade of such a large tree, and I also had to keep in mind the brief of frequent parties (no one wants dirt walked through thier house, even by the most well-behaved guests).
We can design your garden with entertainment in mind.
We designed this garden specifically for the many parties that it still continues to host. This is one of my favorite gardens because of that in-built versatility. We are regularly called back, not only for maintenance but also to prepare for the next grand affair, and each must be different from the last. We tweak lighting and sometimes do specific, themed installs. It's a truly magical garden, an eleysium of antiquity tucked away in the Marina.
