Feeling blue? This contemporary garden is designed for sunny relaxation
Recently I was invited to visit a brand-new contemporary garden designed by Fertile Ground Gardens. Co-owner and designer Alexa Villalobos gave me a tour, explaining that the two-tone, blue-painted house is a vacation home for Portland photographer Ray Hendricks. The interior of the new home is all gleaming white surfaces warmed up with splashes of high-energy orange and blue in every room, and the garden was designed to reflect that casual, happy spirit and echo the color scheme.
Being a garden, green plays a big role in the color scheme as well, and green cushions on the patio seating riff on that. Blue appears in the blue-gray gravel, blue-glass fire pit, and the hammock fabric. Alexa says summer-flowering Pride of Barbados, orange esperanza, and lantana will add pops of vibrant orange, with plumbago, gopher plant, and purple lantana adding shades of blue and lavender.
She used color blocks of gravel to delineate “people places” (blue-gray gravel) and the planting beds (white gravel). Low-water agaves, damianita, gaura, and foxtail fern will eventually fill in the white-gravel beds, with more plants to be added this spring. (The garden was just installed last fall.) Around the perimeter of the yard, screening shrubs were planted to help hide the fence and neighboring houses.
It’s a very open garden, and so naturally I asked Alexa about shade from the Death Star. She said that in the late afternoon, the garden enjoys shade from a neighbor’s tree. With the central fire pit, perhaps this is more of an evening garden for the owner. And certainly he could add shade sails or a modern steel pergola as the budget allows later on.
Fertile Grounder Jamie Jack created this contemporary steel trellis, which is planted with ‘Tangerine Beauty’ crossvine on one side of the blue house. That orange-flowering vine is going to pop against the blue by next spring. The ‘Will Fleming’ yaupon hollies in front will grow tall enough to hide the trellis, however, unless the plan is to keep them clipped low. I wish I’d thought to ask Alexa about them.
In the corner opposite the hammock, more geometry comes into play with a circular gravel patio containing a round dining table and chairs.
A long, narrow back porch functions as a generous step between the house and garden, but there’s room for two pairs of modern, wire-mesh chairs.
My thanks to Alexa and to the owner for sharing this relaxing garden with me! It would be fun to get another look at it in a year or so, after the plants have filled in, if I’m so lucky.
All material © 2006-2015 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.
They hit the nail on the head for Modern. Love the colors. I would love to see it when the plants grow in some so I hope you get invited back.
Me too, Lisa. It’s always fun to see how much a garden has filled in over the course of a year. —Pam
I know how much you love color Pam but I’m afraid I would have trouble with a blue house even if it was a neighbor’s. I left my colorful mode behind long ago. I do love the clean lines of the garden and yes, I also had a question about shade. Easily added in the form of a pergola at a later date. Low maintenance is the key when it is a second home.
I love the blue house! I’d even love to have it as a neighbor. But you know me — I adore color. Certain kinds of houses wear it better than others though. Mine could never pull it off, so I put all my color in garden furnishings. —Pam
If this home is for vacations from Portland, perhaps the owner will be here only rarely in the heat of summer and in those brief visits, will actually appreciate hot bright sunshine? The oranges and blues are going to pop for sure, sunny day or not. That I’d love to see once everything gets established. I hope you get a return visit to record it all up and running.
The open nature of it all is a bit much for me considering the proximity of neighbor’s homes. I may complain about overhanging oaks, but I wouldn’t want to live without mature trees. My first purchase for that property would be a sun sail or two!
Mine too, Deb. But you’re absolutely right that his visits may be timed to the cooler times of the year, when sunshine is more welcome. —Pam
So my question is – with all this lovely summer furniture I see on blogs and in stores, how on earth do people take care of it during inclement weather? Do cushions get wet, and then naturally dry up? When weather is supposed to be bad, do folks rush out and remove all their cushions from the outdoor furniture??
This is such a puzzlement to me…
Cheers!
Kapila, I used to wonder this too. But then I purchased fast-drying Sunbrella cushions to go with outdoor furniture I bought, and they really do dry quickly. I leave them out all the time, regardless of weather or season. One garden I saw recently used covers on all the furniture until they wanted to use it, so that’s another option, although not very attractive in my opinion. —Pam
With that bright blue house in the background, the garden looks like an art installation. I like the use of blue and white gravel to differentiate the patio and surrounding area. I share the concern with keeping the sun at bay during the heat of summer.
The house really does draw the eye and add a lot of energy to this garden. I thought it was cheery and fun! —Pam
I like the way the geometry and colours on the ground reflect that of the house and it looks like there’s a good mass of surrounding shrubs that will grow to balance the open voids. I’d also want to plant a shade tree but of course Alexa has to go with the client’s wishes on that. Very elegant trellis. It has an almost Japanese aesthetic about it.
You’re right about the trellis, Catherine. It does have a bit of Zen-ness to it. I’m glad you enjoyed the virtual visit. —Pam