A simple garden design for a Redmond, Washington residence, balancing access and soil stabilization with a low-cost, colorful, fragrant, and edible landscape.
A steep slope just a few feet from the house had a small deck and limited outdoor access. To create a healthier living experience, the garden design expanded outdoor activities by extending the deck, adding short walls, structuring paths, and growing edibles.
A small area of aromatic perennials under a bedroom window was protected from the wind by a fence on one side and a privacy screen of daphnes on the other. From late winter through spring, this arrangement would allow fragrance to drift up into the windows on sunny mornings.
The deck extension created a covered outdoor room for garden-tool storage. A row of columnar evergreens hid this space from street views and gave the deck a greater sense of enclosure.
An apple espalier, kiwi trellis, and grape arbor structured a safe, level corridor along the top edge of the slope. The corridor was warmed by winter sun and cooled by shade during the summer.