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Some residential district push back the wild and inflict a homogenized identity on the landscape , but not so in Paradise Valley , a pocket-sized town in the Phoenix region . While in other part of the region the desert is losing earth to development at an alarming charge per unit ( one source estimates 1 Akko per hour ) , Paradise Valley resident are proud of their Sonoran surroundings — home of the famed Carnegiea gigantea cactus — and fight to maintain its unity . As one of the wealthier residential district in the area , the lots are large , which enables the town to give nature plenty of elbowroom . And the views of nearby Camelback Mountain are arresting . As landscape architect Christy Ten Eyck says , “ It ’s one of the few places where you really feel like the Sonoran Desert is alive and well . ”
look Camelback Mountain , this Paradise Valley , Arizona , garden by Christy Ten Eyck uses desert - friendly plant life to couch the view , including an ocotillo and cask cactus on the left wing and a soft delimitation of deer forage . Photo by : Steve Gunther .
base in both Phoenix and Austin , Ten Eyck was foretell in to create a garden at the Paradise Valley home of an architect twosome who had just build a studio apartment addition on their 1960s home ; she was given devoid rein , though a circumscribed budget — always an interesting challenge . So she sustain the design simpleton , sustainable , and savvy , and pay up attention to the land while take care for manner to be originative and appropriate with materials , including a little recycling where the opportunity rise up .
grammatical construction of the novel addition had left the landscape around the house a passel , looking like the aftermath of a hard - fight battle , strewn with construction textile debris , churn - up and compacted soil , and broken plants . The first club of business was to rub out the cicatrix , depart with an arroyo - a small watercourse that ’s ordinarily ironical except after heavy rain - that had been damage by grading . As Ten Eyck says : “ The arroyos are beautiful and lush , and are the passing conveyor of water supply . They are the lifelines of the desert . ” And Paradise Valley is committed to taking good care of them . Once indigenous plant such as palo verde , desert lavender , chuparosa , and mesquite were in place , a topdressing of aboriginal decomposed granite made the repaired country blend into the desert . Using the same granite bounded by blade edging , discerning footprint were added as access for hiking into the arroyo .
Using a simple combining of material — decomposed granite , blade edging , and cervid grass — Ten Eyck make beds and walkway , and a defined path to the homeowners ’ computer architecture studio apartment , discreetly separating body of work and home . pic by : Steve Gunther .
Next , Ten Eyck consider how salutary to carve up the place around the planetary house to produce useable outdoor living areas that allow the homeowners to enjoy the view . For this she used materials that impose order while blending nicely with the innate landscape , interlocking places for action with planted expanse . Her thinking was to “ produce blank outside by building defined , order gardens that then melt into aboriginal revegetated areas . ” For plantings , a simple , low blade edging was used as boundaries for bottom of desert - well-disposed species such as ocotillo , barrel cactus , prickly pear , cervid grass , palo blanco tree , and coral industrial plant . A large steel plantation owner hold a palo brea tree underplanted with Mexican coast banksia . No need for Cor - Ten sword in the desert ; regular steel works just fine in the humbled humidity , and the geometric lines of the edging and planter , and the warm orangish - brown coloration from the sparse level of preserve rust lend a polished rusticism to Ten Eyck ’s layout .
When it came to the hard - surface region , Ten Eyck continued to be mindful of getting the most bang for the buck , while still being stylish and eco - witting . For the surface of bed and walkways , Ten Eyck played with color and texture using gray Mexican beach pebbles and the ruby break up granite . For the terrace on the north side of the house - a prospicient , narrow place butt against by a fence typeset up as a dining area - she chose expose - aggregate concrete . When a subdivision of the survive concrete entry landing was break up and off to make way for a planting bottom , the pieces were repurposed as a stepping - Oliver Stone walkway along the west side of the home . Overall , concrete economic consumption was minimized in the garden , not just for budget reason but also because it ’s a much hotter surface in the desert than materials like decomposed granite , which also absorbs rain better than concrete . Some concrete was call for , though , because it ’s a better burst for areas inclined to bodily process like outdoor parties .
When a concrete landing was partially deconstructed to make way of life for a planting bottom , the pieces were sprucely repurposed into a stepping - Harlan Stone path . Photo by : Steve Gunther .
In some cases , plants attend to as standpoint - In for constructed element . Muhlenbergia rigens(deer grass ) make a edge between role life and home life by specify a decomposed - granite walkway direct to the architecture studio , keeping node from walk through private areas of the garden . Where a view - block wall once stood between the house and Camelback Mountain ( Ten Eyck likens this previous arrangement to a “ compound ” ) , a words of cervid grass now gives definition without limitation . Says Ten Eyck , “ By taking the wall down and connecting the house with the natural desert , it allow nature to be part of the homeowner ’ everyday aliveness . ” A grouping of Adirondack chairs place behind the quietly rustling , grassy border allow a front - rowing opinion of the raft , and is the gross spot to recognize the day with a cup of coffee or to watch the lambency of a desert sundown .
On both micro and macro levels , Ten Eyck ’s overture is earth - friendly . Within its border , the garden is drought - large-minded , permeable , mintage - appropriate and scummy - impingement . And she made the most of simple materials ( as a garden - heating present , Ten Eyck gave the homeowners planters made from leftover steel tube ) . The web site also welcome in the larger landscape , embracing the Sonoran Desert and blurring the edges between construct garden and nearby nature , recognizing that the desert itself is a paradise .
A dining terrace makes minimal use of heat - absorbing , expose - aggregate concrete . The remainder of the long , narrow-minded space is surfaced in decay granite and Mexican beach pebble , with planting beds define by steel edging . Along the wall are warmth - and drouth - tolerant palo blanco tree diagram and coral industrial plant . Two steel planters made from leftover pipe were a garden - warming present from Ten Eyck . Photo by : Steve Gunther .
originative RECYCLING
Assess : Before getting too cryptical into a garden - building labor , take stock of what you have . Budget is a big factor for most people , but even if the sky ’s the boundary , it ’s still smart to be thrifty and preservation minded . Assign funds to the things that matter most . If a patio or fence is still in near shape and serves its purpose , maybe it ’s better to keep it and find ways to enhance it . If a large tree is still healthy , consider contain it into the plan rather than chopping it down .
prognosticate : Before construction and landscape crews show up with backhoe , chainsaw , and jackhammers , check that everyone clearly knows what stays and what last . They ’re on a charge to get in and get out efficiently , and they ’re more accustomed to wipeout and rebuilding than press the utility of each element as they go . If you ’re going to be finding young purposes for material , take reward of the strong proletariat and large equipment while they ’re on site so you ’re left with musical composition in size you’re able to manage after .
Reassign : Recycling is n’t just about cans and bottles in a bin under the sink . Being originative about repurposing fabric can offer spectacular design possibilities , and it keeps them out of the landfill . We ’ve all heard if it ’s not broke , do n’t fix it , but if it is break , maybe there ’s an interesting way to use it , like Ten Eyck ’s walkway of concrete piece .
