A GARDEN OF OPPORTUNITY

A landscape designer incorporates sound, movement, color and scent into her drought- tolerant gardens to fully capture the calming essence of nature.

PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE. And it paid off for the homeowners of this home in the Noe Valley neighborhood of San Francisco, who had long formulated their backyard wish list and finally seized an opportunity to break ground when their neighbors embarked on a teardown giving easy access to their backyard for construction. “Our task was to maximize a tight budget and carefully coordinate with the neighboring construction schedule,” says Steve Ritchey, landscape architect and owner of Seed Studio, who was tasked with the outdoor renovation.

Dissecting the Dream

The couple wanted to create a mid century style space with clean lines that was simple, relaxing and conducive to gardening. They also wanted to employ concrete, gravel and wood.

“The existing circulation was more of a loop, and we wanted to bring the yard together and make for a smooth flow through a few rooms instead,” Steve says. “They also wanted a main patio for dining and grilling, and a mid tier for relaxing with a fire pit, and some gardening areas mixed in between and around these two spaces.”

The Action Plan

To bring the vision to life in this 1,200- square- foot space, Steve designed a “floor plan” that neatly tucked each feature into a series of tiers. “It’s a series of rooms that lead / terrace up the slope. From above, the floor plan takes on a very mid century style geometric aesthetic with a mixture of straight lines and the semi- circle as the focal point,” Steve says.

The design is driven by the way the homeowners wanted to use the space. “Think about functionality first; the floor plan should derive from the use cases for the space,” Steve adds.

Balancing the Budget

For this project, Steve says the key to staying on budget was meeting a timeline. “By timing the installation with a neighboring house that was torn down and rebuilt, we had easy access to the yard for a short period of time, when we did the bulk of the work,” he says. “We also maintained a simple materials palette and minimized grading work.”

This cost- minded design wasn’t without its small splurges. “I did convince [ the homeowners] to do the semi- circular concrete seat wall for the fire- pit area,” Steve says. “They weren’t sure about this, as it was an additional cost that wasn’t technically necessary. I’m glad they went for it, as to my mind it makes the space.”

What’s Steve’s advice for planning and managing your own budget? “Realize the difference of wants and needs, and that sometimes the garden will need something that isn’t on the want list,” he says. “Investing budget in one focal element of the space can upgrade the feel of the whole space. I also advocate for removing items from the scope of work to do the remaining elements well versus trying to do a lot of things cheaply.”

THE GARDEN FEATURES A LARGE FIRE- PIT AREA INCORPORATING A LENGTHY CONCRETE SEA WALL TO HOST LARGE GATHERINGS.

( TOP) STEVE IS TRAINED IN BOTH ECOLOGICAL DESIGN AND PERMACULTURE DESIGN. SEED STUDIO IS PARTNERS WITH 1% FOR THE PLANET, JOINING A COMMUNITY OF BUSINESSES BY CONTRIBUTING TO NONPROFITS SUCH AS THE NATURE CONSERVANCY OF CALIFORNIA, POLLINATOR PARTNERSHIP, URBAN SPROUTS AND THE CALIFORNIA NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY.

( ABOVE, RIGHT) MIXING CONCRETE, GRAVEL AND WOOD MATERIALS WAS A PART OF THE MUST- HAVE LIST. STEVE USED SIMPLE, CLEAN LINES TO CONVEY THE MID CENTURY LOOK. ( BELOW, RIGHT) EXISTING WOOD RETAINING WALLS WERE REUSED AND FACED WITH NEW BOARDS, WITH CONCRETE AND GRAVEL PATIOS LENDING AN OVERALL LAID- BACK MODERN VIBE.

( ABOVE, LEFT) THE GRASSES ARE CALAMAGROSTIS X ACUTIFOLIA ‘ KARL FOERSTER’ AND THE SUCCULENT BEHIND IS AN AGAVE ‘ BLUE FLAME’. ( ABOVE, RIGHT) IN THE FOREGROUND IS A TYPE OF SENECIO CYLINDRICUS. IN THE BACKGROUND ARE ECHEVERIA SUCCULENTS. ( OPPOSITE) STEVE BROKE THE LONG GARDEN INTO TIERS, EACH WITH ITS OWN DISTINCTIVE FEATURES. THIS FIRE- PIT AREA FEATURES A CURVED WALL THAT WAS A SMALL SPLURGE, BUT IT GIVES THE SPACE A UNIQUE AND MEMORABLE ELEMENT.