Minimal Color, Maximum Impact
1 Jan, 2008 By: Bridget White LivescapesAfter working with one of her projects through three owners and as many landscape visions, Kathy Hubner probably knows the site better than any of the owners. Initially hired by the first owner/architect during construction, Hubner created a landscape master plan that addressed specific owner requirements and included multiple implementation stages to keep the budget low. But before the final stage could be implemented, a new owner came in with a new vision.
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While the property is now on its third owner in less than 5 years (with rumors of a buy-back by a previous owner), Hubner's knowledge of the property, her ability to adapt the landscape to the current owner's style, and her strategic use of color have turned a single, small job into a constant source of revenue.
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An Educated Client
With most projects, the hardest part of the design is figuring out what the client really wants. That was not a problem with this project. Since the original owner was an architect, she had a very strong sense of what she wanted for the property.
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"She just didn't have a strong background in landscape design, and she didn't know plants well," explains Hubner. "She had a big stack of ideas; things that she'd seen that she liked, so it was very easy for me to get a sense of her taste and style. She was very contemporary and used a lot of strong, saturated colors in her house. From the initial meeting when I asked her to show me what she liked, I knew that if I used those colors in the landscape she would be happy with the plant choices."
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But having an artistic client wasn't all easy. While an architect client can better visualize concepts and might be open to more cutting-edge designs, they also tend to have their own vision for the finished product — and it likely doesn't account for the realities of living materials. As we all know, landscape design, unlike any other art form, has to be realistic as well as creative. However, through careful plant selection, Hubner was able to translate the owner's vision into a workable plant palate.
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Strategic Placement
With a small budget and limited planting area on a lot dominated by a large home, each element of Hubner's design had to be carefully thought out for maximum impact. Standard obstacles such as screening unsightly views caused by a too-close neighbor were heightened by planting spaces as small as 5 ft. In this instance, giant timber bamboo grew completely vertical to provide the necessary screen within a few years while taking up very little space. Plus, the bamboo quickly provided shade to allow plants such as wandering jew, canna lily and philodendron to thrive.
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"So that was one solution," says Hubner, "add in a little more planting space, and the result is incredible. It's this lush jungle look that just erased a whole bunch of eyesores. Within the backyard, we used fast-growing ornamental trees, taller palm trees and large, box live oaks to get the instant shade she wanted."
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The goal in the front yard was to trick the eye into thinking there was more annual color than there was. Hot pink petunias were planted in front of white artemisia and red yucca. Together, the small planting of annuals and showy perennials make a big color statement.
"That's a design trick I use often," Hubner says. "People get busier and busier. They still want the annual color but don't want the time it takes. So you build a backdrop of perennial color and interest and accentuate that with annual color. It works every time ... even for the most discerning of clients."
1 Punches of annuals in saturated colors were used throughout the landscape as low-cost focal points.
2 The property owner contracted for a concrete-block retaining wall flanking the front walkway.
3 After construction, pink petunias and layered perennials were added for maximum impact.
4 By re-using existing plants and containers, project cost was controlled while the landscape offered continuity between old and new.
5 The final design relied heavily on fast-growing foliage plants to create a tropical feel in the backyard play area.
6 Strategically mixing annual color with perennials created a low-maintenance landscape yet still offered visual interest.
White is a freelance writer living in New Orleans.
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