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Welcome to Meanwhile, on Remodelista, in which we take a look at the goings-on over on our sibling site. We’ve been noticing recently, both there and on our own site, a new love for the unpolished and uncultivated in landscape design. We know it’s not a look for everyone (hello, HOA!), but when the rewilded […]
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Beth Chatto’s “right plant, right place” motto? Turns out it can be applied to home design, too.
Los Angeles architect Patrick Bernatz Ward is guided by the same location-first ethos, taking pains to create homes that feel of a piece with their environments. In fact, he is so conscious of a project’s surroundings, that he often adds landscape design to his offerings (which also include interior and furniture design). And a visit to his website reveals nearly as many images of natural landscapes as images of interiors.
His interest in both the outside and inside is unusual for an architect, he concedes: “In California you really can’t separate the two fields, though, given the climate. Both should feel interwoven together.” Below, he shares the out-of-print landscape design book he calls “almost revolutionary,” the must-visit children’s garden in Southern California, and photos of his own garden and patio, which he overhauled himself.
My grandfather’s house was a Cliff May-designed ranch house in Orange County. The yard was filled with olive, pepper, and euclayptus trees. Behind the garden were the remnants of an old orange grove. There was a nice mixture of formal gardens (low hedges, patio/courtyard walls) and wilder landscaping. We spent many long days and afternoons barefoot running through the back acre and yard. It was a magical place!
Lawrence Halprin’s Process from 1981 is a wonderful book that explains Halprin’s intimate and almost revolutionary approach to landscaping. The Bold Dry Garden featuring Ruth Bancroft’s garden is also always influential.
@ruthbancroftgarden + @lotusland_gannawalska.
Tranquil. Thematic. Framed.
Any of the native salvias from California and the Southwest mixed in with a native cactus.
Canary pines! They were planted all over Southern California in the 1960s-1980s. I’d rather them be replaced with oaks or sycamores that would be more beneficial to the environment.
Aloe arborescens is one of my favorite plants. It’s drought-tolerant, easy to grow, and produces a beautiful red floral resceme in the fall in the northern hemisphere. Autumn light with the tinges of red is a really special time.
You can’t force your preconceived ideas on the plant and how it’s meant to look in the landscape. They will always do what they are meant to adapt to.
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Angus and Charlotte Buchanan—the co-founders of London-based creative design studio, Buchanan Studio—both grew up in the English countryside. Angus has vivid memories of entire seasons spent outdoors: “My parents are quite relaxed and bohemian,” he says. “They created this entire outside world.” Charlotte is more direct: “Your mother is a die-hard romantic who is incredibly nostalgic,” she asserts. A tour of the Buchanan’s own garden reveals that the apple hasn’t fallen far from the tree …
The Buchanans bought their home in Harlesden, north west London, in 2020. They had been hoping to leave the city, but the logistics of running their own studio and raising a young family stalled the plan. Instead, they purchased a handsome—if completely neglected—property that enabled them to tick off some of the lifestyle changes they craved. They added a dog to their family, designed their kitchen around a gleaming Aga, and set about transforming their urban garden into a whimsical outdoor world.
Now in its third spring, their family home has settled into a highly-anticipated rhythm that effectively sees their living space expand to the far reaches of their garden. As they raised the canvas awnings on their outdoor room, we visited the Buchanan’s garden and found a heady combination of nostalgia, romance, and re-use in this unlikely urban pocket of the capital.
Here, eight design ideas to borrow from their backyard oasis.
Photography by Alicia Waite, courtesy of Buchanan Studio.
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We learned this young: When the third little pig chose brick, he knew what he was doing. As a building material, brick has stood the test of time. It’s hardworking, aesthetically versatile, easily maintained, eco-friendly, and affordable. Although it’s sometimes considered a formal look for a patio, that depends on the type of bricks, the color, the pattern, and the application.
Here’s everything you need to know to design a brick patio:
Most bricks are composed of clay soil combined with lime and sand. Although red bricks are the most common, bricks come in many colors, including cream, grey, tan, buff, pink, brown, and black.
The color varies according to several factors: the relative proportion of lime, the color of the sand, and the temperature and duration of the firing. One strong attribute is that brick color doesn’t fade with age or wear.
If you’re looking for a weathered look and don’t want to wait years to get it, you can buy tumbled bricks. Used bricks are another option–try searching under “building materials” on Craigslist. But don’t buy unless you’re assured that any residual mortar has been cleaned off. Whatever you choose, make sure they’re bricks that will work well for a patio–they’re not too porous, for example, or prone to flaking in freezing temperatures. If in doubt, check with a stonemason or stoneyard worker.
Your choice of pattern will be largely determined by how much space you have and how much money you want to invest. Here are the most common patterns, from the least expensive and labor-intensive to the most:
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A scroll through landscape designer Molly Wood’s portfolio reveals gorgeous, rambling properties and infinity pools with views of forever, but it was a recent project on a much more modest scale that caught our eye.
Wood’s clients, a family in Newport Beach, had a ranch house on a lot measured in feet not acres, to which they hoped to add a pool, room to entertain, and more. “There was just an old entry pathway and some weedy grass on site when I got there,” says Wood of the yard. But Wood, who has been designing gardens in California since 1995, was undaunted by the constraints of the space, noting, “I always say, ‘This is California real estate: Let’s maximize it. Let’s use it.’ ”
But how? Here, she explains how to design a small, stylish outdoor space that takes advantage of every inch.
Photography by Lane J. Dittoe, courtesy of Molly Wood Garden Design.
“My first question is usually, ‘What do you want to do out here?’” says Wood. For this family, adding a pool was the top priority, but they also requested space to grill, eat outside, and entertain. Wood maps out the yard by function before she starts to even think about plants and hardscape materials.
To maximize the yard’s L-shape, Wood placed the pool cabana at the pivot point of the L, so it can be seen (and accessed) from both the far end of the pool and the dining area on the opposite side. You may not want or need to build a whole structure in your pivot point, but consider how the corner can serve both sides of your yard.
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