Site:
The residential site is relatively flat, and located in the Melrose District of Hollywood, CA. The garden space wraps the West and North side of the house, and connects to the house interior through the main living room and the master bedroom. The landscape also connects to a small storage garage on the Northeast side of the lot. The West aspect of the garden receives plenty of sunshine most of the day.

Uses:
The primary use of the garden is to work symbiotically with a young professional couple who are expecting children. The garden works as a place for human activities as well as ecological health. Human activities are planned with a garden program that includes a small lawn for toddlers to play, as well as areas to rest and converse in both shade and full sun. Ecological sustainability is achieved by including a recycled redwood deck and fence, stormwater detention, and extensive use of drought tolerant plants.

Concept:
The design concept is based on applying durable ordinary materials intuitively to the four main zones of the garden. The zones include an outdoor living room that is an extension of the main living area of the house interior, an active play area for children, a sun patio, and an aesthetically pleasing corridor that leads to and from the storage room.

Elements:
A recycled redwood deck connects the main living area and receives shade most of the day from palm trees. The deck has a table with chairs, which provides a shady gathering place for the garden -- it is elevated 20" and overlooks the lawn area. A custom fabricated steel planter is recessed into the deck and is flush mounted with the top of the deck. It is planted with Lavender to add fragrance to the garden. The lawn is planted with drought tolerant Bermuda grass, and is connected to the master bedroom by a plinth-like concrete step. A cast-in-place Portland Cement patio provides a space for lounging in full sun. The concrete from the patio continues as a path on the north side of the garden and is custom formed to allow rainwater flow away from the house into a detention trough -- the path leads to the small garage. A 12' tall Podocarpus hedge lines the corridor and provides privacy from neighbors to the north. The sun patio is bordered on two sides with plants picked by the owners -- a colorful and textural mixture of drought tolerant plants. Welded wire mesh is installed on the fence bordering the deck and lawn and is planted with climbing fig. A 6" layer of crushed rock is installed along the North corridor for rainwater detention and groundwater recharge. collapse