My crew and I were planting trees at the home of longtime clients this past week, and I took a few minutes to think back on how this garden has evolved over the last two years. These clients, a young family, are not only some of my favorites, but their landscape has really proven to be one of the best projects we’ve done. And, we didn’t do it all ourselves–the clients were very hands-on and had some really cool ideas of their own, resulting in The Great Garden Mind Meld. Here’s how it happened:
During construction
We began with an idea to create a xeriscape with grasses, cacti and native perennials. We loved the idea of using lots of rock, so we created this river rock bed meandering throughout the entire landscape, adding boulders for the kids to play on. In this pic, we have almost completed the plantings, but you can see that it’s a very young garden.
A year later
A year later, the plantings had filled in (look at those beautiful maiden grasses!), and the clients added a footbridge across the river rock bed. We’d planned for one initially but we couldn’t quite find the right style until the homeowner found a kit online. Lesson: when all else fails, google it! The oklahoma flagstone pathway was planted with dwarf mondo grass that had also begun to fill in nicely.
Two years later...just last week
Now, two years later, it’s evolved into a lush, whimsical wonderland–in part because of my mad designing skills, and in part because the homeowners have a finely tuned sense of Austin grooviness! Earlier in the year, we came back to take out all the mondo grass in the pathway, adding zoysia in between the flagstone to blend in with the surrounding lawn. And dig the elephant! It’s actually a water feature, although it’s only ornamental at this point.
So here’s what I know about designing gardens: Start with your own cool ideas, get your ego out of the way, listen to your clients’ cool ideas and be open to the fantastic change that inspiration can bring. Because without inspiration, a garden is merely a place where plants are put in the ground for someone to admire. And with it….well, I’ll just let the pictures speak for themselves. Thanks, Todd and Carrie!
