Garden Connections

In 2020 our backyard was our savior. It gave us sanity, and a place to socially distance safely with small groups of friends. With travel budgets not required we poured our cash into our garden, like many people. We spent the money on finally making the pool garden connect to the original garden and house. You see, our pool is on a separate lot. Dr. Frost purchased the land so he didn’t have to have a traditional home go up next to his modernist master piece. It sat empty all these years. The minute we realized it came with the house – we yelled ‘POOL’. The pool planning started immediately, we purchased the house in May 2016 and had found someone to install the pool a few months later come Spring the following year. By the following May 2017 we had a pool in the ground and were swimming. We worked with Julie DeLeon of Ground Work – Designs to pull the garden plan and pool placement together. Our budget was drained with all the fencing and landscaping that was required. We never went ahead with the original plans to have stairs to the pool added. The house garden abruptly ended, and it required you to walk across a sloping lawn to the pool deck. Well, we finally got the stairs installed in 2020, and the garden around the house finally connects to the pool. We can walk from the bedroom to the pool with no shoes on. Our mission is accomplished and we are please with how it turned out.

The plans were hotly debated on concrete, wood or stone. It took us forever to agree on the final materials. We really like how they turned out and can’t wait to see it next year once the trees, shrubs and ground cover have grown in. They were worth the wait. It has quickly become a favorite spot to cocktail or read in peace and quiet, with a seating spot for one.

A quick look back at the garden when we had no stairs. A big improvement don’t you think? Oh and yes – we keep adding to our Schultz outdoor furniture collection. We are thinking we might add a dining table under the maple and maybe a fire-pit? We will see what that unused area of lawn turns into. Stay tuned.

Garden – Pool Area

Last summer we managed to get a empty side-lot transformed into our little oasis. In four months we went from a grassy side-lot to a hidden swimming hole with a garden that blends with the established plantings. It was a fun process, and thanks to the design work by Julie DeLeon of Groundwork Design we can now enjoy our compound and watch the low maintenance garden grow.

Here are the plans for the side-lot, viewed alongside the house and the existing garden, that is essentially directly in front and behind the house.

We had some changes that needed to be made to the designs to accommodated: budget; permits; city-planners; pool design; changes in terrain due to pool dig; and other countless design issues that occurred along the way. So things look a little different, as our plans evolved and looked more like the this plan [pictured below] …. again with some modifications. We have kept the existing garden as is, adding some plants into the existing beds, but it is largely un-touched. The area we impacted was the side-lot.

POOL: We started the design with the pool selection and placement. We wanted to have long narrow pool that mimicked the shape of the house. Julie cleverly placed it in the back corner for a few reasons: 1] least amount of disruption to the large existing trees; 2] maximize our hours of sun on the pool finding the least shaded parts; 3] flattest area of the side lot (it is a basin and is lower by 4-6ft from the front side to the rear property line.

FENCING: We had to have a fence around the pool, and we wanted to also have it reach around the house to contain the dog. This was going to make a HUGE impact to the look of the house.

The design that we REALLY wanted came further into our front property, but the city would not allow it at 6ft to go past the front of the house. The ruling was made so it didn’t prohibit drivers from seeing cars backing / approaching the street from the driveway. We tried to convince them, that the placement left lots of visibility. We were able to get them to compromise, and we had to go with it. Otherwise it would have required us to apply for an exception – and that was going to be more time and $$$.

So we ended up with this [see below] as a compromise. Because the change in location meant it hit an area where the land started to lower + dip – we ended up having to backfill under the fence to reach up to 4ft in some sections. We do miss that they fence was going to have a break and short turn. The short fence bridging the two long expanses, was going to be vertical bars, designed to be open to a feature a tree trunk and allow Banksy to have a view to the street. No clear view for the pup.

As for the style .. we were inspired by our neighbors pool / yard fence that is made from aluminum & actual wire-mesh safety glass [pictured below].

We also loved this image [pictured below] that our Landscape Designer – Julie shared with us. With that we were off to the races to find a solution for a fence, we have another post to give the details on the design … it can be found here.

PLANTS: Julie choose plantings that matched those that were already in the garden, along with period appropriate options, in 1964 we didn’t have access to the vast selection of varieties that we do today.

FURNITURE: We have kept outdoor furniture around the house in the existing garden period appropriate with vintage pieces – all knoll of course. However, for the pool area we selected more affordable options that were still minimal in style, came with a warranty, and something we didn’t need to panic about as we witness them taking some serious use and abuse. We went with Design-within-Reach EOS furniture line in white designed by Mathew Hilton in 2011. They are proving to be durable and survived our winter. The only drawback the chaise loungers absorb the rain and hold onto the water – in a major way. The leaf blower is good for dealing with that issue, when turned on it pushes the water out fast, and they are relatively quick to dry. The umbrella’s are a classic, and we first saw them in Palm Springs at The Parker, you can buy them here.

Earlier this Spring we finalized some details, we need to add irrigation, and yet some details – like landscape lighting, have still not been resolved. The plants have a lot of growing to do for the hedges to form and the trees to mature. You can find us this summer in the side-lot admiring the view. It is so nice to be able to enjoy the pool and garden with friends and family this year without all the construction and mess. It’s cocktail time!