FormLA Landscaping

Home Improvement Professionals , Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers
13 Reviews
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FormLA Landscaping
13 Reviews

Contemporary Coastal Garden

The short walk to the beach feels less necessary, when your own garden mimics its charms! Full of vibrant, lush foliage native to LA's beach communities, this garden holds its color year round. Patios of sand colored gravel give a beachy feel to the fire pit lounge, BBQ bar and picnic areas.

2019 Native Plant Garden Tour | Garden 24

Each aspect of the garden supports the health of those who use it as well as the nearby ocean.
Country: United States
Zip Code: 90293
Others who worked on this project: Lesly Hall Photography, Theodore Payne Foundation
This Playa Del Rey Garden features nearly 100 percent California native foliage authentic to the beach communities of Los Angeles. Photo: Lesly Hall Photography
2017, 2016 Native Garden Tour, Playa Del Rey
Concrete pavers create clean lines restores the simplicity of the original mid-century clean vibe. Photo: Lesly Hall Photography
Step Through Strawberries
Tour goers revel in the chance to touch the ocean-like waves of this IdealMow meadow. Taller foliage and succulent with delightful blooms provide a subtle barrier between the front garden and the street.
IdealMow Meadow with Border Foliage
The architectural form of Juncus Patens `Elk Blue' makes it a favorite in modern and contemporary LA gardens. Its deep, dark blue-green provides a lovely contrast with the true green IdealMow lawn behind it, as well as the limpet shell blues and silvers of other natives in the garden.
Juncus Patens, Elk Blue
Interspersed with California native Giant Chain Fern, Alumroot's delicate pink bells dance a happy hello along the garden walkway.
Alumroot Welcome
Photo: Lesly Hall
Alumroot Welcome
Juncus patens provides vertical interest and an architectural structure. It exudes contemporary, clean aesthetic.
California Native Juncus Patens
Leymus condensatus `Canyon Prince` or Native Blue Rye adds vertical interest, architectural flair, and a pleasing silver-blue to this corner of the garden.
Canyon Prince
Permeable concrete pavers and sand-colored gravel patios define the outdoor dining and lounge areas.
Beachside Dining and Lounge
Container gardens soften walkway corners with color. Photo: Orly Olivier
Succulent Container Garden
A rain chain feeds a flowerbed of vibrant Island Snapdragon. Behind the al fresco dining area, an IdealMow meadow provides a soft protective boundary. Photos: Orly Olivier
Backyard Beach
King Protea blooms and fiery Chalksticks contrast with the lush greenery of the broader landscape. Photos: Orly Olivier
Fiery Container Gardens
Mahonia [Berberis] aquifolium leaves turn from waxy greens to bronzes.
Tall Oregon Grape
Concrete spheres in the fire pit add a playful air to a geometric beach lounge. As the garden matures, the fence line will transform into a hedge.
Beachside Fire Pit
Clean lines reflect the contemporary architecture of the beach home. Sand-colored gravel patios bring the feel of the beach home. Photos: Orly Olivier
Island Snapdragon, Concrete Pavers, Gravel
Pops of playful scarlet decorate the deep greenery of Island Snapdragon (Galvezia speciosa 'Boca Rosa')
Island Snapdragon
Buttons of yellow surrounded by pale pink-purple petals will emerge from deep green Sea Daisy foliage in May.
Beach Daisy
Photos: Orly Olivier
Contained Succulents
On sunny days, a sail covers the picnic area and shades the outdoor kitchen and bar. Photo: Lesly Hall
Beachside BBQ and Picnic Lounge
By the 2017 Native Plant Garden Tour, grape vines had formed a green and edible fence line.
Edible Fence
Trellises of edible grape surround an outdoor bar and BBQ.
Outdoor Kitchen and Bar
A container garden of succulents adds a pop of color and under-the-sea sensibility to the beach side bar.
Contained Succulents
Gravel defines the picnic patio and separates it from the outdoor kitchen workspace and walkway between the home and landscape. Sand colored gravel evokes the nearby beach and synchronizes with the natural wood of the fence and clean lines of the home. Photo: Lesly Hall Photography
Al Fresco Dining with Shade Sail
What better place for a lemon tree than next to the outdoor kitchen and bar?
Lemon Tree
The same entry decorated with pink Alumroot bells in 2016 now features a riot of greenery, as Giant Chain Fern and Juncus have established their territory.
Entryway 2017
Delicate stalks of pink-coral bells dance in the breeze. When not in bloom, Alumroot's foliage maintains a leafy vitality. (Heuchera)
California Native Alumroot
California wax myrtle (Myrica californica) will surround the fire pit lounge with a tall, water-wise hedge.
Californica Wax Myrtle
Inspired by nearby coastal bluffs and wetlands, this Native Garden Tour property features a wide array of plants native to LA's beach communities.
Coastal Curb Appeal
The dark, glossy leaves of Beach Strawberry provide a dense ground cover. Its delicate white blooms with buttercup centers are every bit as charming as its petite scarlet red strawberries. It is also a California native that will thrive with little water and no fertilizer or pesticides.
Beach Strawberry Blooms
Coast dudlleya thrives near the California coast. It loves sand and rocky environments. One of 2016's A-List blooms, its chalky center can be limpet shell lovely, while blooms range from buttercup to peach echo.
Coast Dudleya Swims in Beach Strawberry
Just shy of blooming, Coast Dudleya stalks play off the deep, dark green and playful blooms of beach strawberry in the home's parkway. Photo: Lesly Hall
Dudleya Blooms
Before
Prior to renovation, foliage against the home minimized daylighting in the home. The concrete path leading to the front door was most easily accessed via the driveway.
Contemporary Coastal Garden
Before
Without anything to engage the homeowners or passersby, mowing was the only reason to spend time in the front garden.
Contemporary Coastal Garden
Before
Much of the contemporary architecture was obsured by thirsty foliage without much variation in color.
Contemporary Coastal Garden