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The goals of this landscape design project in Carmel, California were several. The new owners, retiring to their new home near the Estuary in Carmel had lived for several wonderful years in England and they wanted An English Garden. What sort remained vague, but the property suggested its own development.

Because the front yard was sloped, terracing was a natural approach. Slopes are somewhat tiring, both visually and in standing on or walking through them. Sloped properties are also less accessible and less safe. and terracing is usually the most suitable treatment of a sloped landscape, especially where there is to be a walkway.

But not only did I want to create several elevations, which would have the effect of expanding the property and provide for a variety of planting options, I wanted the yard to be graceful as well. As it was when I encountered it, it was much too static. The landscape called out for the instillment of some grace and motion.

The landscape design, shown below, called for two dry-laid stone walls, arching through the property with a brick walkway winding up through it. My thinking was that rather than simplifying having an access from the driveway to the front door, make it an enjoyable passage as well.

Notice that the stone walls mirror each other, creating a harmony of line. The line of the lower stone wall is picked up by the walk way. They dove-tail to create an S curve.

Because the soil here is sandy with nearly no rocks and absolutely no large rocks, digging out the terraces was easily achieved by using a Bobcat (this was the landscape project I first learned to use heavy equipment), and then finishing the trenches by hand.

Here you can see the walls in progress. I left the holes to fill with plants. I also built some brick and terra cotta tiles into the walls and I built stone randomly into the brick walk.

This integrating the two structures helped bring unity to a fairly diverse landscape. As you will see further on, I also used brick and stone together in other aspects of this landscape project.

Terracing the landscape was a way of creating various elevations of planting areas - allowing the creation of the quintessential  English Garden with diverse plants growing on, in over and in front of dry-laid stone walls.

 

In England, many of the available garden stones come from limestone deposits. Limestone is a sedimentary stone (which when subject to heat and pressure becomes marble, a metamorphic stone.)

 

The stones used here, called King City Stone, are also a sedimentary stone, very similar in composition and attributes to limestone. This kind of stone is easily split and also easily shaped with a chisel.  Notice the close joints. Shaping the stone made it possible to have no gaps, except those planned in for growing plants. (There is now available a Carmel Stone, very like this stone, which was not available at the time of this landscape creation.)

This was the completion of the landscape for the front of this Carmel home. We will next look at the area that this walkway leads to - the patio and primary outdoor living areas.

 

(The brick walkway with stone, shown below, was laid on sand

with the outer courses and the steps build in mortar.)

 

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To go to page 2 of this project brief, click here.