The garden lures you down for closer inspection

Sunset, July, 1991

Formal design and easy maintenance mark this San Francisco garden, whose symmetrical plan was created to be viewed from above. Although it lies a floor below the main level of the house, the garden lures people out for closer inspection. Since there were no views from the property, landscape designer Chris Jacobson focused the garden inward. A long rectangle dominates the garden's center, ringed by a path and tall hedges. Several seating areas and changes of level make the slender lot seem bigger.

The rectangular plan frames a composition of lush, rambling plants. Intermixed in the main bed, azaleas, deep pink alstroemeria, white fortnight lilies, and spiky golden New Zealand flax add color among the evergreens; two silver dollar gum eucalyptus (E. polyanthemos) rise behind. A drip system waters the garden once a week for 15 minutes.

The surrounding path, which leads to a garden-wide bench, uses 12-inch precast concrete squares, sold at most home centers. The squares were set on compacted soil and spaced 2 inches apart, with a layer of gravel between them.

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