Backyard retreats: from the porch to the patio, for fun and for quiet, here are the inspiration and advice you need to create a sanctuary of your own

Sunset, June, 2002 by Ann Bertelsen, Sharon Cohaon, Peter O. Whiteley, Thomas J. Story, Steven R. Lorton, Mary Jo Bowling

* A Zen master could summon peace of mind on a packed city bus. The rest of us need help. Some privacy. Flowers. A little breeze ferrying the scents of a summer day. Whatever space you have outside that belongs to you, whatever its size or shape, it can be claimed as a place of refuge. On the following pages, you'll discover how homeowners from Seattle to Tucson made their escapes, and how you can too.

Porch

Paradise

Ann Bertelsen

Tropical plants, exotic accessories, and the right frame of mind create a personal resort in the suburbs

At dawn on weekdays, Davis Dalbok tends his garden, then has breakfast "in the tropics" before dashing down the freeway to his city office. His tropical escape is his remodeled porch, which looks like it's in Bali or Hawaii.

Welcome to Fairfax, California, where Dalbok has created his own resort using subtropical plants and exotic accessories to capture the flavor of the South Sea Islands. "Many homeowners don't realize that they can take advantage of microclimates within their own gardens," says Dalbok, whose front porch was once a drab concrete slab.

A plantscape designer who travels the world to discover unusual plants and accessories, Dalbok says that it's possible to cultivate a subtropical oasis throughout the mild-winter West. The trick is to devise adequate sun shields with roofs, awnings, and tall plants to retain sufficient moisture throughout the garden.

To set the stage for his garden, Dalbok ripped out much of the original porch and added French doors and granite columns. He replaced the concrete with colorful slate tiles and used those colors in his palette.

The 8-foot-deep porch is edged by a 12-foot-long garden bed, where Dalbok planted tall banana and palm trees to act as a backdrop and provide shade for more delicate plants like maidenhair ferns. To get smaller layers in front for visual interest and as a way of framing the space, he placed bromeliads and philodendrons in a 5-foot-long wooden trough at the edge of the porch. The trough adds 2 feet of garden to the porch and offers excellent drainage for potted plants.

Spots of color and luscious foliage come from large ceramic pots and containers filled with blooming plants, which are changed with the seasons. A mix of bamboo and teak furnishings and artifacts like Indonesian and African figurines complete the illusion.

Create an exotic retreat

* Use overhanging eaves and awnings, large trees, or decorative elements like umbrellas to provide partial shade.

* Use troughs and containers to bring the garden onto a patio or deck. Don't limit your "garden" to the existing dirt bed by your porch or deck.

* Always layer plants, using tall ones in the back and smaller ones in front to create different levels to stop the eye and enrich the composition. Experiment with plant combinations and container placement before making final decisions.

* Rotate showy plants, such as orchids, begonias, and bromeliads, into your garden for color all year.

* Let plants grow full and loose so your garden always looks lush.

* Pay close attention to watering subtropical plants. Some need more moisture than others. Bromeliads, for example, can survive up to a week without water, whereas maidenhair ferns need watering at least twice a week.

* Look for exotic accessories in your local stores--many now stock reproductions of antique statuary and wood carvings at reasonable prices.

DESIGN: Davis Dalbok, Living Green, San Francisco (415/864-2251 or www.livinggreen.com)

Bamboo chaise (page 107) from Bamboo Hardwoods, Seattle (800/783-0557 or www.bamboohardwoods.com)

RAMADA

A regional tradition lives on in Tucson Southwest romance

Sharon Cohaon

When Ann and Mike Liebert throw parties in their Tucson garden, guests are always slipping away to spend time in the ramada. The structure, with a beautiful nighttime view of downtown Tucson, feels like a retreat and draws guests like a magnet. "It's irresistible," says Ann.

This twiggy shelter--open on three sides to let the breezes blow through--was designed and built by Ed Kisto, a member of the Tohono O'odham, in the authentic Southwest style. Native Americans have been constructing similar sun shelters in the Sonoran desert for centuries using natural materials.

Ann always admired these traditional ramadas, but the idea of having one in her own garden occurred to her while she was working as a docent at the Arizona-Sonoran Desert Museum. A fellow docent there, landscape architect Jeffrey Trent, told her about Ed Kisto and his artistry as a ramada builder, and he brought the two together. Though these structures were originally used to shelter workers from hot sun during harvest time, the Lieberts' ramada is strictly for leisure--eating pomegranates with their grandchildren or relaxing after dinner.

Much as the Lieberts like using it, they also love just looking at it. "I ask you," says Ann, "Could there be anything more Southwestern?"

Raise a ramada

* Choose materials to reflect your region. Though traditional ramadas were made with mesquite poles, ocotillo canes, and saguaro, these materials are not readily available in nurseries, and laws prevent harvesting from public land. Try eucalyptus, fir, or pine branches, or bamboo poles and palm fronds. Wood and stakes from a nursery or lumberyard would work. Build a more permanent structure with a solid or partially open roof; some modern versions even incorporate fireplaces, ceiling fans, and chaises.