Perfect In-town Garden

Looking through Traditional Home online I came across this garden and thought it would be the perfect thing for a small in-town lot.  In fact, I'm pretty sure it's on a small in-town lot and I think it's in Washington state. (A little cyber sleuthing goes a long way)

First is the VANISHING THRESHOLD. 

Next the PERGOLA covered dining area.

Last the sunken seating area with GRAVEL flooring.

source for the photos above

Here are some more picts from David Pfeiffer's, the garden designer, website.

Do be sure to check out David Pfeiffer's other gardens.

Later,

Patti

More of the Gardens for Connoisseurs Tour 2011

Welcome to the last--well maybe not the very last--of my posts on the

2011 Gardens for Connoisseurs Tour.

Have a look at the other posts here and here.

Those of you who know me well will probably recognize at first glance that is was my Favorite Garden on the tour.

 Pool, plantings, urns. Oh yeah.

This is the front of the house. Not pretensious. It's just a painted brick ranch with a nice entry and big windows.

Oh boy!

How about this for al fresco dining?  I think I could be friends with this gal.
Is that her Grand Baroque? That's her hand at the top for sure.  I'd have been packing heat if I'd set this table at the garden tour. 

There were a lot of cherubs in this garden. I'm not much into cherubs, but if I were...
He reminds me of my son that time--a story for another day.

As if one table weren't enough. Does this set the mood or what?  Note the pea gravel path. That crunch just adds to the sensory experience.  I love it.

Key West anyone?  So maybe we can't really grow orchids on our trees in Atlanta, but we can pretend, can't we?

Now on to the Rich and Richer.
I'm serious. This house and garden were so far over the top I almost can't even think of what to say.

All I could think was "The lawn is suitable for grazing sheep." 
Mrs. Greenthumbs aka Cassandra Danz, Mrs. Greenthumbs Plows Ahead.

The contractor/designer did win the Phillip Trammel Shultz award for Garden Design.  What do I know?

Extreme Pergola alert! This is a masterpiece.

There's a Greek Temple for a pool house.

Photo shot just before we humble Garden Tourists were expelled from the Greek Pool House.

Back to earth now with the "Bonus Garden".
How's this for an entry?
How many classical features can you spy?

The owner had a display of photos of the garden when she bought the house. There were old roses on the terraces and an overall sense of past grandeur.  Like a Grand Dame in her old age.

To bring the garden back the owner has started with the "bones"; the paths and layout.  When we look closely, we see a very formal layout with a path running straight out to the back fence and three horizonal paths intersecting it.  At the end of each path is a focal point.
The plantings are a combination of formal and informal.  I'd like to revisit this garden in a couple of years when it "fills in."

The last house was over by Piedmont Park on a teeny tiny tiny lot.  The owners really made the most of what they had. As we were going in we met a family coming out with a little boy,

"Can we go back in there again?" he said.  That's the highest Garden Praise you can get.

 Thanks for taking the tour with me.
Next is the Artful Garden Tour!!

Patti

Linking to A Southern Day Dreamer Outdoor Wednesday

Joan's Pretty Old House--The Garden Tour

Welcome back to Joan's House. 

If you missed the first post about her Porch you can view it here. This post is all about the garden.

I'm starting this tour at the pergola-  you know how I feel about those.  I LOVE PERGOLAS.

Remember what I said a while back about the Seaside Gardens? "Every garden needs a gate."
Well this one has a PERGOLA GATE.  And a picket fence.

It takes a while to see everything is the picture above. How wonderful.

Garden designers tell us to make rooms in our gardens.  Joan did it with such ease.  Here is her brick patio out by the garage.  Its not fancy and it doesn't require too much attention--in other words it's perfect.

The next stop is the pond. I didn't see any koi, but I heard the biggest bullfrog in Ball Ground. Joan said he's a permanent resident.

A cute story about the lily pads.  When she bought them--one pot mind they were expensive--the nice people at the garden center told her how to place them on a brick under the water and be sure the pot stayed upright, blah, blah, blah.  She did just what they said and had two pitiful lily pad leaves for years. Then something happened and the pot tipped over. And viola--the thing started growing and now look.

There's not too much garden art. Just enough.

This is a pecan tree.  I covet this pecan tree. Joan gets bushels of pecans in the fall.

I hope you'll come back later for a tour of the Inside.
I'll show you what's happening on the other side of this kitchen window.

 Patti

Terraces

My house sooooo needs a terrace.

Not a patio, but a raised terrace.

This one is very nice don't you think?

It's from a 1920s home on East Lake Drive in Decatur, Georgia.

image from the FMLS

There's a covered area- shown here and an open area that goes around the front of the house.

The decorating on this terrace is really pretty. I love the colorful pillows.  Notice the distressed sideboard on the left side of the picture.

Nice.

I'm looking for inspiration for floors and steps down from the terrace to the lawn.

The terrace below was on the garden tour last year. It was so good but tooo big.

These steps could work on my house---they're my not so secret inspiration. I like the planting beds on each side of the steps.  The stone is beautiful but might be a little too busy for my taste.  I can go with stone steps and a plainer deck.

The elevated terrace is surrounded by a low stone wall and sports a fantastic fireplace.  I'd love my terrace to look like this.

The terrace below was also on last years garden tour. It has a pergola!  with a swing!!

So shady and lush.  This is more of a patio in my opinion--we need an elevated terrace.

Another garden tour terrace- from 2008 I think.  Here we have a pea gravel terrace with a border to hold the gravel in place. An outdoor kitchen was a real bonus.

It's raised and has nice steps down from the terrace to a pool deck.  The "Garden Tourists" seemed to enjoy the terrace.

Hydrangeass planted in a row make a great hedge.

The seating area and outdoor fireplace were awesome. I sat there ad admired everything for the longest time.

The furniture was perfect.

An alternative to solid stone is scored concrete with stone accents.

Here's a nice example.  I really like this look better--not so busy.  Another graden tour stop.

The concrete isn't smooth--it has a rough finish that mimics stone but the color is calmer.

It could be that I don't like crab orchard stone--its too orange.

Here's one of the nicest terraces I've seen.  Check out the fireplace.  The spa and pool aren't too shabby.
images from the First Multi List

So classy.

I think I'd like a Pergola

I've been thinking that the back of our house looks a little like a barn. 

I thought that might happen and even discussed this problem with the architect.  We considered adding a little roof between the first and second floors but didn't.

Now that it's Spring and Hot as Hades, a pergola is starting to seem like a good idea.

In our old house we had a pergola that covered the pool equipment.

A New Dawn Rose grew up over it.  It was gorgeous when it bloomed but it was a bear to prune.

 

I think a pergola could provide some shade --and maybe a little romance--in addition to adding detail on the house to break up the flat expanse.

Here are a few examples I especially like:

This one is Martha Stewart's-(of course).

The detail on the rafter ends is outstanding (of course). The vine is perfect and the pot of moss or whatever is just the right thing (of course.)

This pergola is in Turkey.

Now this is inspiration!

Can't you just feel the cool breeze and taste something sweet and exotic.

How about this one from OutdoorRooms?

I could string those ridiculously expensive lights from Restoration Hardware and sit out on cool evenings.

The pergola above is featured in an ad in Garden Design Magazine May/June 2011.

Or maybe it could be really classy and I could lounge under it with a mint julip.

This is probably more realistic.

The butterfly bushes are a little too much for me, it's not balanced. All the plants are at the bottom--I won't be too critical--maybe it's new.

This could work, too. 

It wouldn't provide any shade, but is would break up the flatness of the back of the house.

I like the triangular supports that attach to the wall.

I'd have to add a vine.

Maybe not wisteria--it grows crazy fast.

I think this one might be IT.

The details are too good!

Let me know what you think.

Would a bigger pergola that gives some shade be better, or a smaller one that doesn't block the light.

There are pros and cons.

Later,

Patti