by Konrad Gauder Back to Publications For more images of this project, go to Woolsey Street, Berkeley In 1982, my wife, Denise, and I moved into her childhood home. It was a run-down, Berkeley Craftsman-style house, vintage 1910. The house had been unoccupied for seven years, but it held out lots of promise. What garden there was consisted of a strip of Bermuda grass sloping to the street in front of the house. Old bottlebrush, hibiscus and an invasive flowering quince decorated the foundation. Overgrown roses gave an unkempt appearance to the narrow strip of side yard, and in back of the house was a poorly constructed concrete-brick patio surrounded by shrubbery, a Japanese maple, and plum and mulberry trees. We kept the maple.
Design goals We decided to tackle the prospect of transforming the house and grounds ourselves. I had been designing and building gardens for several years, and Denise was studying to become a landscape architect. Our plan was to bring out the potential of the house by adding natural-looking redwood trim and siding, gently curved beams and well-proportioned detailing. Once the house was completed, it inspired us to create a garden that would reflect its new, alpine, chalet-like appearance. We wanted to integrate house and yard and to get away from the flatness of the city lot. We also wanted to create a miniature landscape to fit the scale of the small property (16 ft. x 40 ft. in front and 20 ft. x 40 ft. in back). At the same time, we hoped to make the space appear larger by choosing smaller-scale features, including plant and leaf sizes. Privacy and security from a busy city street were important. We also wanted to have a view of the rear garden from the house and sitting areas or outdoor rooms from which to enjoy the garden. Finally, we wanted it all to be low-maintenance. An entry garden on a busy street We designed a slightly formal entry garden with carefully joined stonework and neat, dwarf plants to enhance the house. The property sloped gently to the street and could have been retained with a rock garden, but too many dogs had easy access to the property for that delicate kind of garden to be safe. We decided, instead, to build low stone walls interconnecting large boulders placed along the perimeter like precious stones in a necklace. These stone walls act as retaining walls for two raised beds, which now flank the driveway. We decided the naturalistic style I had developed in my practice would perfectly suit our miniature landscape and keep it from looking contrived. As part of that style, we built rock outcroppings in front and back (more than 20 tons of boulders and 10 tons of smaller rocks were used) to create structural focal points around which to plant.
 In the raised beds in front, around the carefully placed boulders, we planted well-behaved, naturally dwarf trees and conifers and low plants that would hug the rocks as in an alpine environment. These plants fit the scale of the landscape and require very little care.
Due to our closeness to a busy city street, privacy and security were also important in the front and side yards. But we also felt that openness and light were important. To meet both these needs, we settled on a gate and fence design that incorporated 2-in. spaces between vertical 2-in.-wide boards. It serves as a substantial barrier to the outside world while allowing ample light to enter.
The trellis above the entry gate has large timbers that mirror those used on the house. The sturdy proportions of the trellis give ample support to the Chinese wisteria vine (Wisteria sinensis 'Cookes Purple') we planted to climb upon it. We chose the wisteria for its purple color, as well as its tendency to bloom several times a year. Its moderate sized leaves are in scale with its environment.
A mountainous vista in miniature In the rear garden we wanted a full privacy barrier, but didn't want to block the light there, either. We chose a 6ft.-tall board-and-batten fence topped with 18 in. of diagonal lath, which raises the height of the fence without blocking light. The original back porch was in sad condition, so we demolished it and replaced it with a curvaceous, gracefully cantilevered deck. A built-in bench on the deck provides a great vantage point from which to view the garden.
 To create a central brick patio surrounded by sloping, raised beds, we built low, concrete retaining walls around the perimeter of the property. The walls retain the raised beds and provide solid anchors for our fence posts, which we bolted to the walls on the outside. The fence totally hides the walls from our rear neighbors' view.
The boulders and retaining walls set the stage for the creation of a miniature amphitheater of planting beds, which eliminates the flatness of the city lot. By incorporating boulders, we reduced the amount of walking space, creating a sense of perspective as the eye travels micro distances. The effect is like viewing a mountain landscape in miniature,
Our plant materials suggest an alpine environment, yet maintain the scale and texture of a small garden. We chose trees and shrubs whose eventual size would not overwhelm and dwarf the garden, selecting them for their finely textured leaves or needles, their slow growth and their limited mature size.
Creating a low-maintenance garden We live in drought-stricken California, so we grow trees, shrubs, hardy perennials and ground covers that do well with little water, We water only twice a week; an irrigation system makes the job easy and efficient. These same plants make for a low-maintenance garden-they require little deadheading, clipping or dividing and no staking. Conifers for structure We selected a number of dwarf conifers for the structure their foliage creates throughout the year and to give the flavor of an alpine environment. One of the more striking cultivars selected for the rear garden is the dwarf Colorado blue spruce (Picea pungens 'Glauca Globosa'), distinctive for its low (18-in to 24-in.) growth and its fine texture as well as its striking gray-blue color. This plant, which grows only about one-half inch per year, contrasts wonderfully with bright greens and purples and can be used alone or in drifts that mass the color for a broader effect. A pine tree whose name describes its appearance, the multi-branched Japanese umbrella pine (Pinus densiflora 'Umbraculifera'), occupies center stage in the rear garden, where it shelters the patio and provides handsome structure when viewed from the porch. With an expected mature height of 12 ft. to 15 ft., it won't dominate its limited space.
Various dwarf Hinoki cypress (Chamaecyparis obtusa) contribute their lush, needleless, whorled foliage in luscious colors from rich green to gold. Ranging from 2 ft. to 6 ft. in height, the cypresses offer us years of tidy, slow growth.
Deciduous trees for color Complementing the conifers are deciduous trees, which provide dynamic color from spring's first blush through the brilliance of autumn. The foliage of a wonderful dwarf birch (Betula alba 'Trost's Dwarf') arches gracefully over a large vertical boulder. The tree's delicate texture and weeping habit complement the rock and contrast with the house's natural-wood siding. I had collected at least eight different varieties of Japanese maple (Acer palmatum) over the years, and I decided to place them in the planting palette. We put the larger ones next to large rocks in the backyard and nestled the smaller ones next to the brick stairway beside the entry gate to the side yard.
Broad-leaved evergreens Among my favorite large shrubs is manzanita, noted for its sinewy, burgundy, smooth limbs and trunks, as well as its small, oval, gray to bright green leaves and inverted, pale pink, urn-like flowers, which appear in late January through early February here. I placed a Sonoma manzanita (Arctostaphylos densiflora 'Dr. Hurd'), an unusually water-tolerant cultivar with medium growth potential, in the back garden. Its position behind two closely spaced blue spruces allows the spruces' color to perfectly frame its smooth burgundy trunks and bright green foliage.  PerennialsSome perennial plants, such as lavender cotton (Santolina chamaecyparissus) we picked for foliage color. We clip the lavender cotton and allow it to hug the rocks. Its striking gray foliage cools the eye in the bright southern exposures in which it thrives and contrasts well with greens and purples, Two durable, dependable, shade-tolerant, easy-maintenance, low-growing perennials-purple-flowering bellflower (Campanula muralis) and sea thrift (Armeria maritima)--add neat, self-contained foliage and wonderful flower colors that don't overwhelm the eye. The sea thrift is notable for its peak displays of pink, ball-like flowers on graceful stems, Several varieties of creeping thyme contribute their rock-embracing tendencies to the garden and provide a wonderful variety of colors-silvery gray to golden yellow foliage and white to lavender blossoms.
One of the real surprises was dwarf germander (Teucrium chamaedrys 'Prostratum'), whose habit of running underground without being invasive was a delightful discovery. It grows between rocks, while avoiding more open areas. This fine-textured, beautiful plant requires no clipping and, therefore, little maintenance.
Pink-flowering alpine geranium (Erodium chamaedryoides) and blue-flowered carpet bugleweed (Ajuga reptans) contribute color and durability to the shady areas. Alpine geranium blooms from spring to fall while remaining compact and nori-invasive. This green-leaved bugleweed provides a bright accent among rocks and sends up 3-in. flower spikes in the spring. Its foliage forms a neat 1-in tall mat.
Ornamental grasses To provide a vertical element and emulate the profuse growth of grasses in mountain areas, we planted ornamental grasses, most notably Helictotrichon sempervirens and blue fescue (Festuca ovina 'Glauca') and green fescue (F amethystina). We placed them next to vertical rocks, in drifts on slopes and under taller trees. The grasses are as easy to maintain as the rest of the garden. Both the 3-ft. tall helictotrichon and the 6-in. to 12-in. tall fescues require only a tiim in the late fall or early spring to rid them of dead leaves. In addition, their fine textures and handsome colors allow us to use them as interesting color accents--i.e., green fescue planted under blue spruce.
 An alpine water featureMore than a year after the completion of the garden we decided to add a water feature to the northeast corner of the rear garden, It would provide further privacy by drowning out city noises while adding the tranquil feeling of a mountain stream and a place of rest. We created an upper falls area and small pond, a gurgling stream bed and a lower cascade with a strong, reciiculating waterfall. A large boulder was imposed in the space where we intended to build the lower pond. Rather than try to move it, we incorporated it into the composition. We placed stones into a concrete shell to form the falls and beside it to frame the cascade.
The garden and its stream have been a favorite play area for our two young daughters who have grown up scampering on the rocks, splashing in the water and spinning fantasies under the trees. In the course of routine weeding or pruning, I periodically encounter miniature kingdoms among the rocks and beneath shrubs, encampments of tiny Indians or groups of wild tigers and bears, even giraffes and elephants, hidden in the underbrush.
Our garden has become a place of peace and repose, a resting spot where the hurried and troubled pace of life outside can be set aside and inner thoughts and dreams can be realized. |
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