Continuing with our preview of gardens for the Watersaver Landscape Tour to be held on October 24th. When friend and fellow blogger Heather Ginsburg of Xericstyle, who also works as a conservation consultant for San Antonio Water System (SAWS), contacted me about previewing gardens for the tour I jumped at the chance to visit these very special gardens. Pam Penick of Digging joined me from Austin for a day of garden tours, so after seeing Pat Mozersky's lush foliage garden we drove just a few blocks to tour an entirely different landscape style: a modern xeric garden.
CorTen steel terraces, edges softened by Ruby Crystals grass front the street. CorTen requires special installation techniques to keep the welds hidden so the weathering effect is consistent. A horizontal wall sculpture created from excess steel cuttings adds dimension.
Limestone block planters mix up the textures.
Red-spined barrel cactus echo surrounding tones
Agave 'Kissho Kan' are symmetrical scene stealers along the front limestone walk.
Susan Bhatia and her husband recently built this sleek modern home, totally changing their style from their former traditional Tuscan home. The Bhatias knew the look they wanted and worked closely with landscape architect Warren Pape of Texas Landscape Nursery to see their vision realized. Susan is a fun and enthusiastic tour guide supplying a story or background on each plant in the garden. It's a new garden, installed less than a year so we'll see plenty of room left for growth along the way.
The front entry bridge allows a view right under the house. We'll see this again from the back on our tour.
In the steel planter just below the front steps is a garden of tiny cacti and succulent specimens.
To the right another sculpture, this one more angular, from excess steel pieces. A mix of different size gravel directs rain runoff through the landscape.
Golden barrel triplets line the front walk. Smaller gravel mulches the planters.
Yucca Rostrata add their own sculptural presence to the front wall. Cow's tongue agave (l) and variegated Agave Americana Medio-picta 'Alba' break up the mass of gravel.
Russellia in the bed along the wall attracted numerous hummingbirds during our visit. Golden sedum adds another shot of color.
Variegated Flax repeats the corner line of the house while softening the gravel along a side street.
Large Cor-ten planters anchor the corner. Under the top tier is a catchment for air conditioner condensate to be used for garden irrigation. The tall plant on the right is Nolina, possibly N. Nelsonii.
Variegated Agave Americana as sculpture.
A closer view of the hummingbird magnet Rusellia.
Ocotillo in steel boxes lining the side yard.
The newly planted Horsetail Reed near the drive will be sheared off for a contemporary effect.
CorTen planters in the side yard off the kitchen. This area is behind the ocotillo row.
Three planters with golden barrel cactus dress a stone wall on the opposite side yard.
Just a small area of lawn
And a spectacular pool in the courtyard.
The backside of the entryway bridge (which was visible in an earlier photo of the front) allows runoff to wash underneath and out to the front terraces.
More photos of the pool. So stunning, couldn't help it.
Artificial turf alongside the pool for low maintenance.
A few favorite items from previous gardens. Susan has had the plant in the corner for more than 20 years.
Back out front we'll end with this scene of silvery dichondra and agave color echoes.
The Bhatia's garden will be open Saturday, October 24th from 9am to 4pm for the Watersaver Landscape Tour.
In addition to scouting gardens for SAWS (is that actually called work?), Heather also writes articles at the GardenStyleSA website. If you haven't signed up for the emails including Heather's excellent tips on watersaving gardening yet, I highly recommend it.
The landscape fits the clean, simple lines of the home. I can only dream of having a garden that looks that pristine.
ReplyDeleteI know, it's so different from my flea market, passalong plant style too.
DeleteWhat an amazing series of garden vignettes the Bhatias have established. Their style might be described as somewhat austere but the effects are anything but. I certainly hope you'll have the chance to be invited back for a followup visit once some of the plantings are a bit more mature. It will be fascinating to see how the relationships between plant and planter evolve as the green overtakes the steel in each case.
ReplyDeleteI'm very drawn to this visually though it represents a polar opposite stylistically to my own spaces. I find it very soothing and love how contemporary it is. Thanks to The Bhatias, Heather, and to you as well for this stellar "pre-tour" look at their gardens. Absolutely stunning!
There are just enough grasses and softening plants to keep it from looking too severe. It works beautifully with the house and the surrounding neighborhood.
DeleteA follow up would be nice to see in a year or two, maybe we can work something out.
Not my style, but I love this house and its landscape. Sleek and pleasant. Thank you Shirley!
ReplyDeleteI know, it's wonderful to enjoy all styles of gardens.
DeleteWow...that's pretty fabulous! I was thinking about how many more plants I would need to stuff into some of those spaces when you reminded us just how big some of them will get. Thanks for the tour (and the FB heads up!).
ReplyDeletePam and I discussed that while we touring the garden. In our climate those agaves will grow fairly quickly to full size.
DeleteA great garden for our hot, dry area.
ReplyDeleteWould be good to see it in a year or two, when things really fill in.
It works well in our climate and with the terraces and slope it can take our occasional downpour too.
DeleteGreat house and garden. I love the pool also, you could have posted many more pix of that. The huge windows around the pool--love that, too.
ReplyDeleteOnly hope the horsetail planter is completely enclosed--here, that stuff can go under a lot of concrete and come up everywhere...
The pool could have its own post I was so taken with it. The house would fit beautifully in Southern California too. I have not seen the horsetail reed that out of control but we get cold enough to slow it down in winter so that might help.
DeleteI enjoy the minimalist landscapes if only for their tidiness. Perfectly suited to modern houses and easy on the care. I fear I would have difficulty keeping myself from inserting a few seeds here and there. I'm excited that I will actually see this garden on the tour. Thanks for the pre-tour.
ReplyDeleteIt wouldn't take long before I'd start sticking in random plants too.
DeleteAll newly installed gardens have a sparse look, but it seems entirely appropriate here. As things grow and fill in the look will soften but in the meantime there is no feeling of rawness like I get around here with new plantings. Spectacular, and very well presented.
ReplyDeleteIt is spectacular and truly special in the sense of a vision realized. Many of the plants selected were quite large for a new installation making it look more mature than a similar new landscape might look. The gravel also helps give it a feeling being established a while.
DeleteShirley, you captured Susan's garden to a T! She has such wonderful style and I believe she is an artist even though she says she isn't. She is! Her and her husband are the envy of a very high-end neighborhood - and are beautiful, sharing, and kind people. Thank you for sharing, and for your shout outs, Shirley. See you soon - Heather
ReplyDeleteThank you for giving me the opportunity to preview these gardens.
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