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John Decker

John Decker

Boulder, CO, US

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Small-Space Garden

A garden should act to extend the usable and aesthetic space of a dwelling. It should be designed and managed to quickly reach meta-stable climax conditions and require decreasing amounts of maintenance as it matures. This requires consideration of larger climatic factors as well as a harness of microclimatic variations created by the mass of the building and the shape of the land. It should also include species  with unique hardiness characteristics that expand the diversity and exotic qualities of the seasonal displays. It should also be ecologically balanced and arrayed to allow reduction of bio-mass mostly on-site, thus generating little organic addition to the waste stream. Materials should be positioned to create outdoor rooms and "play to windows" to create scenes and to frame views. The intent of this garden is to address all of those things while at the same time serving as a laboratory for continuous horticultural and aesthetic experimentation.  

 
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Status: Built
Location: Boulder, Colorado
My Role: Principal designer, horticulturist, builder

 
Plan concept
Plan concept
Approach
Approach
Savannah
Savannah
Cactus spring
Cactus spring
Spring awakening
Spring awakening
Hardy banana
Hardy banana
Sun-sculpture
Sun-sculpture
Side-yard and light-sculptures
Side-yard and light-sculptures
Water-wise beauty
Water-wise beauty
Back yard long view
Back yard long view
Seasonal tropicals
Seasonal tropicals
Floral yield
Floral yield