APLD ~ APLD Members ~ Member of the Month

APLD Members ~ Member of the Month

Laurie Callaway, APLD
August 2005

Patience Pays Off

In 1999, I was lucky enough to be referred to a wonderful gardener and her beautiful Atherton , California home. Since then we have worked on many areas of her one-acre garden. Her back garden consisted of a sunken garden, pool, rose garden and 90x30 feet lawn, edged by a 20x90x15 Pittosporum tenufolium hedge,that obscured a back fence and neighboring two-story house on the north side of the property.

Entry garden installed in 2000 with an emphasis on a Four Season garden.

My client often mentioned her back garden and lawn, saying that from her house, especially from her raised porch and second story bedroom, she just looked out on an uninteresting green hedge and lawn. I suggested more interesting options, but time and other projects prevented us from ever making any changes.

In the summer of 2004, I returned from the APLD Conference in England enthusiastic about all the new ideas and gardens that I had seen. With a little persuasion, I convinced Barb that we should redesign the back garden to include: parterres to break up the expanse of lawn, a generous perennial garden to include some of the conifers and grasses that I had seen in England , and a Gazebo or Pergola to bring people out into the garden.

When the existing hedge was removed, we discovered a little surprise. At point 0 of the lawn the back fence was approximately 4' from the lawn. At point 90 of the lawn, the fence was 18' from the lawn. All problems create opportunities, as did this one. I was able to design a new sculpted hedge that camouflaged the difference in the fence distance variations. The sculpting fools the eye into thinking that the distances to the fence are the same.

Buxus sempervirens suffruticosa outline each parterre. Picea conica glauca, Lagerstroemia 'Natchez' and Cornus kousa punctuate the parterres to bring the eye off the plane of the lawn. The hedge consists actually of two plants, Prunus caroliniana standards (I call them 'Shrub on a Stick') and Pittosporum tenufolium. The Prunes caroliniana ('Shrub on a Stick') gave us instant screening from the house next door, while the Pittosporum hides the legs of the Prunus and gave me material to sculpt with. We plan to keep the P.caroliniana at 6'.

The new pergola looking north east. Rather than create a bisecting brick path to the pergola, flagstone steps were set in the lawn.
The pergola design was created to match the existing eyebrow over the living room doors. The 18 th century birdbath was converted to a fountain.
10'x6' brick pads were installed for the matching Lutyens style benches placed at each end of the lawn.
Cedrus atlantica glauca "Pendula" at each side of the Gazebo adds texture and interest. White Wisteria sinensis will soon cover the structure. Rosa "Eden Climber" is planted at the front of the Gazebo.
Looking back at the raised porch and house.
The parterres contain perennials that will bloom throughout each season.

Bottom Line: Patience is a virtue. Without the experience of the England APLD conference, I doubt I would have created as satisfying a solution for Barb's back garden.

About the Designer

Laurie Callaway is a Garden Designer practicing in Palo Alto and the Bay Area.

While working full time in high-tech for such companies as Amdahl, Sun and Intel, she began the Garden Design program at UC Berkeley Extension and graduated in 1996 with a Certificate in Garden Design. She began her practice in 1998 and specializes in four season gardens; a garden that has leaf and flowering interest throughout the year. She also enjoys designing perennial borders and rose gardens.

Laurie has been featured in Sunset Magazine's Low-Maintenance Gardening and regularly contributes her talents to HGTV's television program, Curb Appeal . She is also a Certified member of the Association of Professional Landscape Designers (APLD).

Certified Members seeking to be profiled should send before and after photos with SHORT design intent statement to:

Bethany Dennis
APLD Communications Manager
Email: communications@apld.org
Phone: 717-238-9780

* PHOTOS SHOULD BE CLEAR COLOR PRINTS OR JPEG COMPRESSED FILES