A Garden Lover's Dream

Take the Tour
This large, comfortable garden with wonderful "bones" is situated on two rectangular lots, the eastern edge of which overlooks the Arroyo Seco. The Monterey Colonial house, built in 1929, faces north and is shaded by six large Canary Island Pine trees. An oblong entrance yard at the front of the house gets shaded in the winter and blasted by hot sun in the summer. To solve the problem, the owners planted a blue oak grass "lawn" that gives a meadowy look to the area. Mature camellias grow near the house and flank a mature oak at the edge of this space. A white picket fence is backed on the inside edge by a dwarf rhaphiolepis hedge where a star magnolia and a dogwood complete the front planting.

The lovely spring blooming and drought tolerant heuchera (coral bells) line the paths which lead to a large open space with a citrus orchard displaying varieties of lemon, orange, lime, kumquat and guava. A hedge of heavenly bamboo covers the picket fence behind the trees.

In the perennial bed, roses, cistus, lavender, rosemary, and yarrow grow and blend with the borrowed scenery across the Arroyo. The rose garden on the other side of a second large oak has a three-foot high border with iris growing on both sides of the wall. Close to the neighboring house, the owner has placed a long border of white Amaryllis belladona, 'naked lady.' Between the rose garden and the walled garden, a large space is devoted to tulips and bluebells with a flowering peach overhead.

Stepping inside to a brick-walled garden, the visitor is at once comforted by the sense of privacy and intimacy offered by this type of enclosed space. This garden was updated a few years ago by Nancy Goslee Power. A deep purple wisteria cultivar stretches across the pergola on the southern part of the square patio. On another wall, a shaped white wisteria creates an interesting pattern. Dwarf rhaphiolepis edge the four low brick planter walls. Other notable plants inside the brick patio include a group of yellow clivia, a blood orange, euphorbia characias 'wulfenii,' and a green-leafed Japanese maple. Look skyward or you'll miss one of the most distinctive features of this garden - the wonderful umbrella shape of the London plane tree that shades the patio.

Another garden area on the west side of the bricked patio contains raised vegetable and flower beds. Several mature trees add interest to this edge: a jacaranda, a silk floss tree, a red flowered eucalyptus and a flowering crabapple.

The double lot has been extensively gardened for almost 75 years. The first owners were gardeners, and the present owners have lived in the house since 1970, experimenting with a garden look that fits with the architecture of the house and the surrounding vista. Using ideas and plants from other Mediterranean areas of the world, they have achieved what could be called a true "California" garden.


Take the Tour