Jay Sifford
82 Reviews

Pool-side Color Garden

This project was installed for long-time clients, in 2017 and 2018. The overriding principle was to create a colorful and textural garden around the swimming pool and home, a garden that was both exciting and nurturing, one that would function as a venue for entertaining just as well as for curling up with a good book.
Project Year: 2018
Project Cost: $50,001 - $75,000
Country: United States
Zip Code: 28270
Before
Photo by Jay Sifford.
Pool-side Color Garden.
Before
Photo by Jay Sifford.
Pool-side Color Garden.
Before
Photo by Jay Sifford.
Pool-side Color Garden.
Before
Photo by Jay Sifford.
Pool-side Color Garden.
The pathway from the pool deck to the pool equipment is anything but mundane. An abundance of texture and color lead the eye through the space and away from the equipment. Photo by Jay Sifford.
Pool-side Color Garden.
Juxtaposition. Variegated Japanese iris, Everillo carex, sedums, Black Scallop ajuga and Obsidian heuchera provide color, texture and contrasting shapes. Photo by Jay Sifford.
Pool-side Color Garden.
Black Scallop ajuga marries boulders to steps. Photo by Jay Sifford.
Pool-side Color Garden.
Colorful sedums, heucheras and ground covers pull the viewer through the space. Gravel provides a tactile experience and marries the stone steps to the travertine pool decking. Photo by Jay Sifford.
Pool-side Color Garden.
Path from pool terrace to the pool equipment. Photo by Jay Sifford.
Pool-side Color Garden.
Verbena bonariensis provides scrim in the pool area. Photo by Jay Sifford.
Pool-side Color Garden.
A long raised trough planted with Karl Foerster calamagrostis (feather reed grass) and verbena bonariensis runs the entire length of the pool. Photo by Jay Sifford.
Pool-side Color Garden.
Verbena bonariensis and Karl Foerster feather reed grass provide scrim to separate the spa/pool area from the lawn. Photo by Jay Sifford.
Pool-side Color Garden.
This gravel seating area, featuring a fire pit, was sited in the back corner of the backyard. A slight berm was installed to provide some separation between this area and the rest of the garden. Photo by Jay Sifford.
Pool-side Color Garden.
Modern adirondack chairs provide seating in the fire pit area. Photo by Jay Sifford.
Pool-side Color Garden.
Pool-side lounging space. Three Thunderhead pines, surrounded by 'Golden Pacific' shore junipers, provide rhythm through the space. Photo by Jay Sifford.
Pool-side Color Garden.
Pool-side lounging area. Photo by Jay Sifford.
Pool-side Color Garden.
Photo by Jay Sifford.
Pool-side Color Garden.
Photo by Jay Sifford.
Pool-side Color Garden.
Variegated Japanese iris provide a vertical element in this perennial bed. Photo by Jay Sifford.
Pool-side Color Garden.
Photo by Jay Sifford.
Pool-side Color Garden.
Photo by Jay Sifford.
Pool-side Color Garden.
The volume of pool equipment and HVAC made hiding it impossible, so we directed the eye away from it by providing a winding functional gravel pathway bordered by ferns and flowering shrubs. Photo by Jay Sifford.
Pool-side Color Garden.
Cut-in boulders, ferns and flowering shrubs create an interesting understory to existing holly shrubs that have been creatively pruned into trees. Photo by Jay Sifford.
Pool-side Color Garden.
Photo by Jay Sifford.
Pool-side Color Garden.
Photo by Jay Sifford.
Pool-side Color Garden.
The clients wanted a functional meandering pathway from driveway to pool deck. Perennials reminiscent of the client's childhood home garden add a sense of journey referencing both space and time. Photo by Jay Sifford.
Pool-side Color Garden.
Repeating an installation of Karl Foerster feather reed grass creates continuity between perennial garden/pathway and pool decking. Photo by Jay Sifford.
Pool-side Color Garden.
The pool is nestled into a contemporary garden. Photo by Jay Sifford.
Pool-side Color Garden.
Potted 'Feelin' Blue' deodar cedars flank the loggia. Photo by Jay Sifford.
Pool-side Color Garden.
Colors, textures and shapes provide interest near the pool. Photo by Jay Sifford.
Pool-side Color Garden.
The garden that flanks the sidewalk from driveway to front door creates expectation and a sense of journey. Photo by Jay Sifford.
Pool-side Color Garden.
'Radiance' abelia and variegated Japanese iris pull from the brick color, while the Black Scallop ajuga pulls the bronze window color down into the garden, grounding the home. Photo by Jay Sifford.
Pool-side Color Garden.
Globosa blue spruce and Black Scallop ajuga. Photo by Jay Sifford.
Pool-side Color Garden.
Front cascade. Two narrow weeping Alaskan cedars flank and frame the front porch. Photo by Jay Sifford.
Pool-side Color Garden.
Coordinated pots flank the front porch. They are simply planted with Obsidian heuchera and fastigiate yew. Photo by Jay Sifford.
Pool-side Color Garden.
Diabolo ninebark, Radiance abelia, Butterfly Japanese maple, and Black Scallop ajuga provide waves of color and texture that ground the home into the landscape. Photo by Jay Sifford.
Pool-side Color Garden.
View from the driveway. Prudently shaped planting beds gracefully pull the eye to the front porch on this large infill home. The Corten steel sculpture pulls color from the bay window roofing. Photo by Jay Sifford.
Pool-side Color Garden.
Front sidewalk. Photo by Jay Sifford.
Pool-side Color Garden.
Photo by Jay Sifford.
Pool-side Color Garden.
'Grey Owl' junipers, 'Crimson Fire' loropetalum and edgeworthia play well off of one another with regard to color, texture and shape. Photo by Jay Sifford.
Pool-side Color Garden.
Obsidian heuchera and Black Scallop ajuga balance each other with regard to color without introducing a matched planting scheme. This provides additional interest and creates more of a garden feel. Photo by Jay Sifford.
Pool-side Color Garden.
Photo by Jay Sifford.
Pool-side Color Garden.
Pool-side lounging area. Photo by Jay Sifford.
Pool-side Color Garden.