I know of recently renovated garden that jars the senses every time I pass by it. All of the lawn was removed and replaced with gravel. Boulders outline the perimeter of the yard. The plantings consist of grasses, a few evergreens and some drought tolerant perennials. I do understand the concept: very low maintenance xeriscaping. And, I say kudos to the homeowner for their valiant effort.
I could like this garden, but I do not. After driving past it a few times, I figured out why it disturbs me so much. The basic principles of landscape design were ignored. To start with, the boulders are soldiered, and by that I mean they are placed in a straight line, evenly spaced, along the perimeter of the property. Perhaps that was meant to give the illusion of a fence but, it does not work. There are not enough of them. If the existing boulders were staggered in groups they would be more pleasing to the eye, look more natural and lend more visual interest. The alternative would be to purchase more boulders and fill in the voids.
The next problem I noticed was the shrubs are planted directly in front of the boulders. The evergreen variety selected does best moist shade to part shade. Unfortunately they will last only a few brief years growing in the dry, sunny, hot conditions of this garden. Their shortened life span will actually be good in the long run as they would, when mature, completely hide the boulders. In that case, why bother with the boulders? However, the real design flaw is the number of evergreens. Every grouping was planted in even numbers, again soldiered, with no apparent thought to a placement that would best accent the boulders, or the other plantings. The same problem exists with the grasses and perennials – they are all planted in two’s and four’s, and scattered around the garden in a seemingly haphazard manner but again, soldiered. As a result, there is no flow to the garden, no transition from one area to another.
It is a shame that so much time, money and effort went into an attempt to transform this yard from boring to spectacular, because it didn’t work. I am sure the homeowners wanted a real traffic stopper of a yard, and they got it, but for the wrong reasons. Perhaps they ran out of money and intend to add to the garden in the future? I don’t know. With some rearranging, the addition or removal of some grasses and perennials, changing the variety and the positioning of the evergreen shrubs, or shifting the boulders about, this yard could be magnificent.
I could like this garden, but I do not. After driving past it a few times, I figured out why it disturbs me so much. The basic principles of landscape design were ignored. To start with, the boulders are soldiered, and by that I mean they are placed in a straight line, evenly spaced, along the perimeter of the property. Perhaps that was meant to give the illusion of a fence but, it does not work. There are not enough of them. If the existing boulders were staggered in groups they would be more pleasing to the eye, look more natural and lend more visual interest. The alternative would be to purchase more boulders and fill in the voids.
The next problem I noticed was the shrubs are planted directly in front of the boulders. The evergreen variety selected does best moist shade to part shade. Unfortunately they will last only a few brief years growing in the dry, sunny, hot conditions of this garden. Their shortened life span will actually be good in the long run as they would, when mature, completely hide the boulders. In that case, why bother with the boulders? However, the real design flaw is the number of evergreens. Every grouping was planted in even numbers, again soldiered, with no apparent thought to a placement that would best accent the boulders, or the other plantings. The same problem exists with the grasses and perennials – they are all planted in two’s and four’s, and scattered around the garden in a seemingly haphazard manner but again, soldiered. As a result, there is no flow to the garden, no transition from one area to another.
It is a shame that so much time, money and effort went into an attempt to transform this yard from boring to spectacular, because it didn’t work. I am sure the homeowners wanted a real traffic stopper of a yard, and they got it, but for the wrong reasons. Perhaps they ran out of money and intend to add to the garden in the future? I don’t know. With some rearranging, the addition or removal of some grasses and perennials, changing the variety and the positioning of the evergreen shrubs, or shifting the boulders about, this yard could be magnificent.
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