gardens with house

Another important element to the overall design scheme is the incorporation of sculpture, intended to encourage interaction between the landscape and the art. Roundout, 2005, an aluminum piece by Travis Constance, is found amid native grasses, including feathery yellow Nassella tenuissima, which acts “as a nest for the sculpture,” says Wyllie. It is joined by a cotoneaster, a flowering plant with red berries, and a yellow-blooming acacia.

“[The kids] are engaged, using the mounds as barricades or inventing other worlds,” says Peterson.

A series of mounded earth forms offers an enticing topography for play, including one that holds an in-ground trampoline.

A zigzag hedge garden is meant to “feel a bit like a garden in England,” says Gina Peterson.

“We sculpted the lawn, so it became layered, almost like an amphitheater,” says Wyllie, who salvaged stones from the site to create steps down to the yard.

The property is divided into zones, including a shade garden with a meandering path of staggered concrete pavers flanked by bamboo. As this area is sloped, the designers created a swale effect with permeable river rocks on one side.