2000-2001 Western Garden Design Awards

Sunset, Feb, 2001 by Lauren Bonar Swezey

* Owners Victor Vasquez and Scott Aycock wanted a garden where they could relax and socialize with their neighbors. In response, designer Carrie Nimmer turned the formerly flat, open landscape into an inviting courtyard garden to match the house's Spanish-Mediterranean architecture. Boldly colored red walls frame a courtyard filled with wildflowers, desert shrubs, cactus, and succulents. Inside the walls, colored concrete paving leads to built-in seating. Plant-filled containers add color and texture to patios and walls. "Its a wonderful example of how to turn a useless garden into a highly useable one," responded a juror.

DESIGNER: Carrie Nimmer, Landscape Designer, Phoenix (602/254-0300)

GARDEN DETAILS: CASTRO VALLEY, CALIFORNIA

* Details make the difference

Excellent craftsmanship combined with a striking fusion of materials made jurors take note of Abe Rindal's Northern California garden, designed by Mathew Henning. On a flat suburban lot surrounded by looming homes, Henning created a garden filled with sophisticated details that draw the eye inward, away from unattractive views.

* Jurors were particularly impressed by the paving designs: Ribbons of black slate dissect larger bands of a multicolored African slate and exposed aggregate paving "to suggest the complexities of circuitry or programming in the high-tech world where the owner works," explains Henning. To soften the hard edges, Henning left planting strips between the paving and filled them with baby's tears. "It's truly original and beautifully executed," said one juror.

DESIGNER: Mathew Henning, Henning/Anderson, Oakland, CA (510/531-3095)

GARDEN DETAILS: TOPANGA, CALIFORNIA

* Hilltop haven

Imagine: You're hiking in the Southern California hills above Topanga Canyon. The weather is hot and dry. Suddenly you come upon a pond you want to swim in, with a spectacular view of distant valleys and mountains. * For Ralph and Deborah Weiss, this isn't a fantasy, but a scene from their backyard swimming pool, designed by Nick Williams. Keeping the surrounding landscape in mind, Williams created a "natural watering hole" edged with boulders, flagstone, and native plants; a sandy beach entry adds to the illusion. On the canyon side of the pool, an infinity edge, or drop-off, offers bathers an unobstructed view. "The pool integrates perfectly into the landscape," observed a juror.

DESIGNER: Nick Williams, Nick Williams & Associates, Tarzana, CA (818/996-4010)

COLORFUL BEDS AND BORDERS: REDWOOD CITY, CALIFORNIA

* Plant lover's paradise

Finally, Pamela Ryan was going to have her own garden. After years of waiting, she had a vision of the beds and borders she wanted. In fact, she had sketched a number of different possibilities when she met designer Bernard Trainor. Recognizing Ryan's love for unusual plants and her desire for a casual design, Trainor created exuberant borders filled with stunning displays of plants in various textures and colors. * Around an easy-care chamomile lawn, blowsy grasses (bronze-colored Carex testacea and Miscanthus sinensis 'Variegatus') contrast with bold foliage of angelica and Verbascum bornbyciferum 'Arctic Summer' Intermixed are orange-, purple-, and red-flowering perennials, including Agastache aurantiaca 'Apricot Sunrise', Euphorbia griffithii 'Fireglow', Geum 'Borisii', Penstemon barrettial 'Burgundy', and Verbena bonariensis. In keeping with the casual theme, Trainor bordered other beds with gravel and edged them with woven eucalyptus branches. Jurors were bowled over by the plant combinations.