Garden in the round: a spiral labyrinth organizes this planting in Pacifica

Sunset, Feb, 2005 by Lauren Bonar Swezey

Ahna Pietras-Dominski has always been artistic--she designed colorful reversible neckties while living in San Francisco during the 1980s. So it's no surprise that she also took an artist's approach to designing her backyard in Pacifica.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

The garden's most dramatic feature is what Pietras-Dominski calls a "double Archimedes' spiral," with two paths that swirl around a rock border accented with ornamental alliums. "It's a mini labyrinth that has both a spiritual and a physical presence in the garden," she says.

To build the 10-foot-diameter spiral, she and her husband, Tony Dominski, dug compost into the soil, covered the soil with landscape fabric to keep weeds down, then marked out a double spiral on the fabric using a hose and landscaping spray paint. They cut out the portion where the sod would grow and outlined the shape with bender-board. The couple arranged 15 allium varieties in ascending order, by height, and planted the bulbs through x's cut in the fabric. They added decomposed granite to cover the fabric.

The spiral has become a conversation piece for visitors, most of whom can't resist the opportunity to stroll it.

PHOTOGRAPH BY THOMAS J. STORY