Garden Art Group

A COUNTRY GARDEN IN PALO ALTO

This couple had lived in this rather historic property for years. Now their children were ready for college, and the landscape was ready for an update. When we were called in, the front entry was overgrown and shaggy, the rear deck was rotting, the brick porch was sagging, the back garden was a jungle of weedy shrubs, and the spa deck was on its way out. The good news was the swimming pool was in good shape. We added arcs and curves to offset the lines of the angular house: our contractor managed to get a nice curve into the new fence along the entry drive; the flagstone path swerves gently thru the new plantings leading to the front door; the new Ipe decks at the rear and around the spa are segmented arcs; and the old brick terrace is now a stone circular deck edged with a curving wooden bench. Finally, we accented the angular pool and gridded pavings at the bottom of the garden with a curving concrete bench and a wood-fired ceramic Thai urn from the Richard Gervais Collection. Other Asian artifacts, such as the Vietnamese containers and stone lintel ornament, are also from the Gervais Collection.