Yard of the Week: A Space for Growing Food and Entertaining
A landscape architect brings clean lines and a welcoming vibe to an overgrown Seattle yard
Looking at this beautiful garden full of edible plants, grasses and flowers, you’d never guess it was born out of conflict. The first conflict was the traditional Victorian-era house versus its owners’ desire for a more modern yard. The second was one spouse’s desire for clean organized lines versus the other’s desire to go wild and woolly with plants. Landscape architect Leslie Batten of Board & Vellum helped strike a compromise that made all these factors — traditional, modern, clean and whimsical — work together in beautiful harmony. The design includes a mini orchard of fruit trees; edible gardens in raised beds; strawberry, raspberry and pumpkin patches; and a large, inviting entertainment space.
After: With the overgrown area cleared, there was room to install raspberry and pumpkin patches along the property line. The pumpkin patch quickly became the talk of the neighborhood.
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Work with a landscape designer
The landscape architect added new concrete retaining walls that have a clean look. The homeowners “knew they were living in a traditional house but were drawn to a more modern look for the landscape,” Batten says. The simple walls, steps and front walk provide a clean transition from the sidewalk to the house. Ornamental grasses out front include blue oat grass (Helictotrichon sempervirens, USDA zones 4 to 8; find your zone) and ‘Karl Foerster’ feather reed grass (Calamagrostis x acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’, zones 4 to 9).
“Originally they wanted to fence in the front yard. But once they saw how open and good the front yard looked, they wanted to leave it open so they could be better connected with the neighborhood,” Batten says.
7 Ways to Create a Neighborly Front Yard
“Originally they wanted to fence in the front yard. But once they saw how open and good the front yard looked, they wanted to leave it open so they could be better connected with the neighborhood,” Batten says.
7 Ways to Create a Neighborly Front Yard
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‘Autumn Joy’ stonecrop (Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’, zones 3 to 10) and ‘Full Moon’ tickseed (Coreopsis ‘Full Moon’, zones 4 to 8) add color out front.
This flagstone path leads down the side of the house to the backyard. Just past the pumpkin and raspberry patches is a mini orchard that includes an apple tree, an Asian pear tree and a plum tree.
How to Grow 10 Favorite Fruit Trees at Home
How to Grow 10 Favorite Fruit Trees at Home
Through the back garden gate, the irregular flagstones give way to rectangular concrete pavers. The lines of the backyard design are cleaner and more modern, balanced by the natural forms of the plants. For example, creeping thyme creates softness on the ground around the pavers.
After: Batten matched the existing pavers and extended the patio to make room for a large outdoor dining table and a smaller one with an umbrella. There’s also plenty of room for guests to mill about. Local firm Concrete Dreams and Foundations completed the concrete work.
The tree to the left was existing, and the homeowners added strawberry plants beneath it. Batten placed steel edging to keep the gravel out of the ground-level beds, and to keep the strawberry plants from spreading onto the gravel area.
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The tree to the left was existing, and the homeowners added strawberry plants beneath it. Batten placed steel edging to keep the gravel out of the ground-level beds, and to keep the strawberry plants from spreading onto the gravel area.
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“One homeowner was really into everything looking very clean. The other wanted to grow anything and everything, so the design is ‘functional wild,’” Batten says. This meant composing the central gathering area from raised beds — they provide the clean lines, while the avid gardener could go wild with plantings within them.
The designer used pea gravel on the ground in the raised-bed area. “We wanted something softer than the pavers around the raised beds. I presented them with this gravel, and they liked the light tannish colors and the warm contrast it provided to the gray pavers,” she says.
The raised beds and the new fence are cedar, chosen for longevity. Contemporary Homestead completed all the carpentry work in the garden.
The designer used pea gravel on the ground in the raised-bed area. “We wanted something softer than the pavers around the raised beds. I presented them with this gravel, and they liked the light tannish colors and the warm contrast it provided to the gray pavers,” she says.
The raised beds and the new fence are cedar, chosen for longevity. Contemporary Homestead completed all the carpentry work in the garden.
Batten extended the edges of the beds on the patio-facing side to serve as extra seating. The homeowners provided all the plants in the raised beds, which include arugula, sunflowers, zinnias, tomatoes, zucchini, herbs and more. “They wanted to attract bees to the garden to pollinate the plants,” Batten says. There are also grapevines in the back corner of the yard.
The built-in benches flip up for storage. The homeowners keep cushions and gardening tools inside.
The fire pit is wood-burning but has technology that makes it smokeless. Batten designed a small concrete pad in the center of the raised beds so the couple and their friends could gather around the fire.
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Shop for a fire pit
These pictures were taken in early morning. It’s easy to see why the homeowners like to enjoy a cup of coffee out here to start their days.
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Browse patio furniture in the Houzz Shop
“My clients wanted privacy, but they still wanted some visibility that a solid wall would not provide,” Batten says. She custom-designed the cedar fence, which lets in light and adds more clean lines to the yard.
Bright green golden sweet flag (Acorus gramineus ‘Ogon’, zones 5 to 9) and ‘Setsugekka’ sasanqua camellias (Camellia sasanqua ‘Setsugekka’, zones 7 to 10) line the fence. “Both of these are evergreen. When the rest of the garden is sleeping, [the homeowners] still have the strong visual of these plants,” Batten says. “These camellias add verticality without taking up too much space horizontally, and they provide winter blooms.”
The three-part composting bin in the corner was also part of the project. The homeowners can compost all their garden waste and then redistribute the soil in the yard.
Batten tends to call up the homeowners when she’s in the neighborhood to see if she can stop by. “It’s really fun to see what they are growing and to watch the garden evolve,” she says. “And they are really generous with what they grow.”
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The three-part composting bin in the corner was also part of the project. The homeowners can compost all their garden waste and then redistribute the soil in the yard.
Batten tends to call up the homeowners when she’s in the neighborhood to see if she can stop by. “It’s really fun to see what they are growing and to watch the garden evolve,” she says. “And they are really generous with what they grow.”
More on Houzz
Browse thousands of patio photos
Read more landscape stories
Hire a landscape contractor
Shop for your outdoor spaces
Yard at a Glance
Who lives here: A couple
Location: Seattle
Size: 1,440 square feet (134 square meters); 36 by 40 feet
Landscape architect: Leslie Batten of Board & Vellum
Landscape contractor: Avid Landscape Management
Before: “They had a gigantic holly tree in the right corner of the front yard that made the house too dark, blocked their view of the street and was prickly,” Batten says. And the house felt disconnected from the neighborhood.
The project had humble beginnings. When the homeowners first called Board & Vellum, they had a rock retaining wall along the right side of the house that was an overgrown eyesore and a waste of space. “All we did was connect them with a contractor that could clean it up,” Batten says. But with that part of their yard looking so much better, they became more ambitious, and the project grew to a redesign of the entire yard. The homeowners were eager to be able to grow their own food and flowers, and they wanted a nice entertainment space for their friends and family.