Our 2003 western garden design awards: 15 winners offer planting, paving, and problem-solving inspiration

Sunset, Feb, 2003 by Lauren Bonar Swezey

The garden, which slopes away from the house, was parceled into a series of terraces to maximize the usable area. The upper terrace--with its outdoor kitchen, dining patio, and seat wall--is the main entertaining area. Surrounding it are many colorful native and desert-adapted plants that provide creatures with food and shelter. A small pond in the back welcomes visiting birds.

An intimate gathering spot on the middle terrace has a built-in fireplace edged with a low seat wall; square cutouts in the wall frame views of the desert.

The lowest and most intimate terrace--screened by an existing California pepper tree--is reserved for a spa. "It's a wonderful series of spaces for outdoor living," noted a juror. "The subdued colors and gentle transitions to the desert make the garden very unobtrusive."

DESIGN: Natural Order Inc., Tucson (520/792-9274)

REGIONAL

Mountain refuge

Aspen, CO. It's difficult to improve on nature when you're already surrounded by native woodlands. That's why this casual retreat particularly impressed jurors. "It's like a wonderful sanctuary scooped out of the forest," a juror observed. "The stone wall and spruce trees form a striking transition between the manmade and natural landscape." Even more remarkable is the fact that the site began as a barren lot stripped of plants.

The design--a collaborative effort between owners Dick Gallun and Judy MacGregor, designers J. B. McCarthy and Ace Lane, and foreman Manuel Duran-evolved as the garden took shape. The sunken terrace grew from a need for more privacy from a nearby pedestrian path. The clean, simple approach came from the owners' appreciation for Japanese gardens.

A dry-stacked stone retaining wall, made of native sandstone and accented by large moss-covered boulders, defines this outdoor living area. Within its walls, a flagstone terrace and spa are connected by two gravel-covered terraces. Around them, rocks and shrubs are carefully positioned to achieve the simple overall mood. As several jurors remarked, anyone would immediately feel at peace here.

DESIGN: Noble Design Studio, Carbondale, CO (970/963-7027)

REGIONAL

Gentle touch

Glen Ellen, CA. Perched on a hill overlooking the Sonoma Valley, this elegant landscape rests gently on its oak-studded lot. "You definitely know it's in California," a juror observed of the regionally appropriate landscape. "The oaks, the grassland, the clean lines of the pool area ... such restraint!"

The owners asked designer Stephen Suzman to create a landscape that appeared as if it were part of nature. That meant disturbing the 1/2-acre landscaped area as little as possible and incorporating materials from the land.

Stone used in walls that separate the native grasslands from the pool area were gathered on the property. Native brodiaea bulbs disrupted during construction were transplanted to another part of the garden.

Although the steel-and-concrete pergola next to the pool was built for this project, its cast-concrete pillars were distressed to make them look old, and its steel lath was allowed to rust in a nearby field for several months before it was installed.