All according to plan

"Our client's needs involved a mélange of possible design directions," Arca recalls. As seen in this "before" shot, her canvas was essentially blank. The couple wished to have a garden that was drought-tolerant and incorporated California native plants and Mediterranean compatible species. They also requested low maintenance, and wanted sustainable building and maintenance practices implemented. A water feature was desired, but special consideration was necessary because the couple had young children.

Given its size, the project also required responsible attention to phasing. Sub-projects included structural renovations to the pool house, the addition of a farm/vegetable area, and improvements to an existing swimming pool, which required astute attention to budgetary constraints as well as creating a livable space for the period between phases.

Arca decided to create a naturalistic garden by downsizing the lawn strips and the asphalt areas; interconnecting plantings and food gardens to create a flow of texture, color and edibility; combining elements to form spectacular exterior views from inside the house; creating natural connections among the existing terrain, grasses and drifts of native plants, and accents of rich Mediterranean compatible species; and merging existing and new hardscape to create continuity and an sense of cohesiveness, even with the anticipation for future work.

The design included two arbors to be built later, steel headers specified to confine a buff gravel and slate pathway system softened with groundcover. Playa boulders, Sunburst pebbles and other larger rocks were combined with buff Lodi gravel to create a naturalistic companion ground plane to the meadow lawns and rustic plant palette. The main paths are of Mariposa slate with tinted mortar joints that are gracefully cut into existing brick porches.

Upon completion of the design phase, the installation began with care to phasing construction appropriately for future work. Drainage work was done to mitigate the issues of poor soil percolation and run-off from the long asphalt entry drive. 110 low voltage LED lights were installed with five transformers and a remote control system. The irrigation system is 24 valves with a combination of drip in-line emitter, micro-spray and low-flow rotating spray popups. Pictured is a tapestry of native plants that weaves through a dry creek.