If you’re designing a garden from scratch, Church suggested you look around: what plants are already happily growing in the landscape? Smooth the Sharp EdgesĪbove: Rounded edges soften a swimming pool in A Secret Garden. For more of this garden, see Designer Visit: Grow Outdoor Design’s Drought Tolerant Garden in Bel Air. Native Plants 101Ībove: Photograph courtesy of Grow Outdoor Design. Church’s gardens created spaces to lounge, cook, eat, or entertain outdoors. The idea is to blur boundaries between indoor and outdoor spaces so that home and garden are connected seamlessly. In fact, it is much more palatable to inhabit crammed quarters if you can do some of your living elsewhere. People need more space–but not necessarily indoors. For more, see Required Reading: Gardens are for Living by Judy Kameon. Someone else is maintaining it and paying the taxes you’re enjoying it.” Create Outdoor RoomsĪbove: Garden designer Judy Kameon transformed a Southern California courtyard into a “front room” of a 1930s home. For more, see Vineyard Haven: A Napa Valley Garden That Belongs to the Land.ĭon’t build a fence you don’t need, Church advised: “Instead, look out at the neighboring property. “Put as few obstacles and diverting lines between you and your view if you want it to retain all its drama.” Borrow Other People’s ViewsĪbove: Photograph by Mathew Millman courtesy of Scott Lewis.

“Distant views of mountains and water, intimate views of hills and woods, views over cities at night, all have an endless fascination for people,” Church wrote. … If a tree is choking your house or yard, by all means get rid of it.” Don’t Block a ViewĪbove: Photograph via RADD member Andrea Cochran Landscape Architecture. “On the other hand, some trees have got to go. A poorly sited tree–too big for your yard, or blocking a view–is a detriment, Church believed. “Consider pruning before chopping down perhaps it is possible to both keep the tree and reveal the view it supposedly hides,” he wrote. The job of a garden is to lure you outdoors to spend time in natural surroundings. “It’s no wonder that when we first think of a garden we think of a tree,” said Church, who considered trees “the greatest single element linking us visually and emotionally with our surroundings.” Some Trees Have Got to Go For more of her work, see A Peaceful Retreat in Northern California.ĭesign a landscape to take advantage of existing trees they will block wind and provide shade better than any other solution you can devise. Here are 10 garden ideas to steal from California landscape architect Thomas Church: Worship TreesĪbove: Photograph courtesy of Remodelista Architects and Designers Directory member Andrea Cochran Landscape Architecture. During a career that spanned four decades, he designed more than 2,000 gardens that capitalized on California’s perfect climate and the same restless urge for wide open spaces that propelled pioneers to cross mountains to get here. “Gardens are for people,” Church wrote in his 1955 book with the same title. We have Thomas Church to thank for that.Ĭhurch was California’s first great landscape architect, and during the course of the 20th century he gave us outdoor rooms, the kidney swimming pool, and an unshakable belief that our lives should be connected to the landscape. Icon - Check Mark A check mark for checkbox buttons.Ĭalifornia’s great garden designers borrowed nearly every good idea they’ve had from earlier centuries, and yet have managed in a mere hundred years or so to create an original and instantly recognizable style. Icon - Twitter Twitters brand mark for use in social sharing icons. Icon - Pinterest Pinterests brand mark for use in social sharing icons. flipboard Icon - Instagram Instagrams brand mark for use in social sharing icons. Icon - Facebook Facebooks brand mark for use in social sharing icons. Icon - Email Used to indicate an emai action. Icon - Search Used to indicate a search action. Icon - Zoom In Used to indicate a zoom in action on a map. Icon - Zoom Out Used to indicate a zoom out action on a map. Icon - Location Pin Used to showcase a location on a map. Icon - Dropdown Arrow Used to indicate a dropdown. Icon - Close Used to indicate a close action. Icon - Down Chevron Used to indicate a dropdown. Icon - Message The icon we use to represent an email action. Icon - External Link An icon we use to indicate a button link is external. Icon - Arrow Right An icon we use to indicate a leftwards action.

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California landscape design