Member of the Month for APLDWA
January 2016
Member since 2001
Susan Harrison
Private Gardens Design, Inc.
Susan Harrison
Private Gardens Design, Inc.
While winding down a career in medicine, Susan began designing landscapes professionally in 1990. She became APLD-certified in 1999, becoming one of the chapter founders six months later, and was part of the chapter's winning team at the 2000 Northwest Flower and Garden Show. In the first years of her practice, she quickly saw the value in closely controlling construction of her designs and developed a team of professional builders to serve her clients. This tight-knit company infrastructure, paired with a select group of carefully vetted subcontractors, means the resulting landscapes are infused with design intent. No one ever has to ask, "Why did you hire a designer?" It's obvious.
Looking up the stairs that rise from the cottage to the pergola & kayak shed.
The main courtyard garden that links the cottage with the house.
"Landscape design is both an art and a science," Susan says, "balancing what is aesthetically pleasing with the practical demands of your site, lifestyle and budget. Our ability to foresee the finished garden in plan form is a key part of what makes us unique in our market, as well as finding and incorporating an original element of style in each property and for each client.
Channel Retreat
The washboard rill & Equisetum hymale.
Walls, planters & stairs make the link. {See before photo}
Long view to the cottage & pergola.
Stairs to the pergola seen from near the house.
Soils: Shallow rocky clay on bedrock.
USDA Plant Hardiness Zone: 8-9
Program: The clients were hoping to screen their garden spaces from the west neighbor's shared driveway, garages and home in a way that provided functional outdoor rooms. They wanted views from the home’s second floor library inside to the garden terraces.
Design: The design investigation focused on the long, narrow lot configuration, with a gravel drive sweeping down to the front door, passing three other thresholds along the way. With the reconstruction of the house and other buildings complete at the beginning of the landscape design process, the challenge was to organize the approach to the house to accommodate vehicles, people and garden spaces. In addition to four thresholds at four different elevations, the house, cottage, kayak shed and garage were all slightly misaligned with each other, complicating the desired orthogonal layout. A major wall defining the west boundary emerged as the primary organizing element, shielding the garden spaces from the neighbor. A small, constructed woodland makes the transition from the auto court down to the kayak shed, where a pergola creates a lateral balcony overlooking a series of planters and stairs past the cottage to the house. A steep washboard rill flanked with equisetum hymale adds gentle splash to the journey down to the house.
The large knobs of waterside bedrock are connected to the quietness of the uphill woodlands by this series of paths, stairs and planter walls.
The landscape designer was involved with all phases of the landscape master planning, planting design, irrigation, lighting design, drainage plan and the personal selection of the plants.
San Juan Contemporary
The reflecting pool in the Entry Courtyard defines one side of a conversation corner near the front door.
A gently swerving stair accesses the sport court from the house.
Around the corner from the East Garden, large concrete slabs lead out to the sport court staircase, infinity lawn and the view of the bay and islands. Carex and Mondo grass in paving interstices.
Curves in the retaining wall and a band of paving mark the pivot point between the house grid and the infinity lawn.
A "sunning terrace" moves relaxation out under the open sky and serves as a departure point for other garden spaces.
Landscape Design: Private Gardens Design, Inc.
Site description: Suburban lot, 1 acre. House sits high on a hill with views of Similk Bay and Skagit Island to the southwest. Neighbors are located to the north on an upper hill, looking across the property. The rear garden backs up to exposed bedrock at the toe of the uphill surrounding slope.
Soils: Rocky clay.
USDA Plant Hardiness Zone: 8-9
Program: The clients requested a comprehensive landscape design. They gave the garden designer great freedom to create a garden that is contemporary with new naturalistic and ecological planting ideas, like coastal prairie plantings.
Also, they expressed a desire for multiple areas to entertain family and guests in a unique and modern setting. The plan should include a sport court, a fire feature, screening for septic system components, and an arrival courtyard with water feature. A generous auto court was requested for parking. A small lawn for the children and dog was the only turf required.
Design: The design attempts to honor the power and beauty of site's spectacular setting: sweeping water views of the San Juan Islands, the effects of the winds and the sunsets.
There are a series of outdoor rooms extending the interior layout of the house. These rooms include an arrival terrace paved in Pennsylvania bluestone with a modern reflecting pool. I saw the water as a slot in a uniform field of paving . . . ultra simplicity.
A secluded fire terrace, off the great room at the northeast side of the house, is walled by the stone embankment and can also be entered through a gated ceanothus hedge from the parking area.
Curved concrete walls and serpentine staircase lead up to the sport court.
A small "infinity" lawn was leveled by a ha-ha. All plantings are on a low-flow irrigation system. Low-maintenance, drought-tolerant mixed plantings were selected for cuts, fragrance and seasonal interest.
Broad curving retaining walls and stairs lead out into informal spaces as one moves downhill away from the home into a coastal prairie.
Susan Harrison
Private Gardens Design, Inc.
www.privategardendesign.com
Contact Private Gardens Design, Inc.
1609 12th Street, Suite 101
Bellingham, WA 98225
360.725.1333
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