Garden By Design

Hollywood Hills
Terraced Garden

The site originally had a small lower patio with and A/C unit as the feature and crumbling paint as the accent. There was a set of stairs made from concrete blocks and railroad times that lead up the steep hillside to the top area of the garden where a small dirt patio had been created.

The plan for the site was to create a terraced garden with four distinctive spaces, all connected with an accessible flight if stairs and landings.

What we created was a lower patio off the new French doors of the home, which was designed to be an outdoor sitting room. An outdoor fireplace was installed and comfortable furniture placed around the space. Saltillo tile was laid as the patio surface.

Plants from the patio above frame the walls of the area and hang over the sides creating a warm space.

Steps lead up to the second patio area. This area is divided into a small lawn area for the dogs and an outdoor dining area. The Saltillo paved dining area is overhung with a cantilevered pergola structure. There is a tall “Urn” water feature in the corner of the grass area. There are hanging baskets on the walls.

The steps lead up further past the third level which is a planted level to the top patio.

The plants used here are Cypress to accent the walls and similar plants used in the lower planting areas, to give the space movement color and textures.

The top level is a more Organic patio area. There are soft foliaged plants that surround the space keeping you back from the edge. The area is paved with an open Pea Gravel. Two large lounges have been placed here to grab the sun and provide a relaxing space where one can take in the view of the surrounding hills and valley.

Low voltage lighting was installed through out the garden to create a space that can be used at night as well.

Glendale Garden

The brief of this garden was to create a space that could provide for the entertaining that was to be done in the garden at the same time not to over pave the area. To create a garden that was planted with low water plants and minimal maintenance, and to create a Jacuzzi and Fire pit area for the homeowners to enjoy.

The existing garden was tired, with a low brick planter that separated the existing white tiled patio from the “lawn” space. There were also two mature citrus trees that blocked visual and pedestrian line through the garden.

We started by removing the brick wall and al the existing grass off site, we then moved and replanted the two citrus trees. An area of the existing tiled patio was removed to allow for the new square flagstone design. The squares were laid in a 3’x 3’ pattern with 6” spacing between. They helped to extend the usable hardscaped area of the patio but at the same time allow for the low growing ground covers to be planted. The flagstone patio extends out from the becoming solid paving. It leads around the raised fire pit and raised Jacuzzi.

The Jacuzzi we installed here is an above ground one. We created a “hole” for the Jacuzzi to drop into. The Jacuzzi was then surrounded with a low seat wall. This gives the impression of being a fully in ground Jacuzzi with the convenience and price benefits of an above ground option.

Leading off the open patio is the planted area of the garden. A decomposed granite path leads through the plants and around to the back of the garden. It passes a feature fountain which along with the selected plants adds sound and movement to the area.