The front yard of this classic Spanish Colonial Home badly needed an update. Taking my cue from the architecture of their house, I endeavored to create the feel of a classic Mediterranean courtyard. I used a diminutive classic Moorish/Mediterranean quatrefoil planter as the anchor to the space with a grid of of pre-cast concrete pavers radiating outward. Dymondia margaretae fills the spaces between the pavers. I put a very informal low hedge of Teucrium chamaedrys at the outer edges and anchored the two front corners with small trees (Lagerstroemia indica ‘Tuscarora and Euphorbia cotinifolia).
Color and texture are carefully balanced while the DG floor keeps it from being chaotic.The two corners of the yard are anchored by a Crape Myrtle in one corner, and the deep maroon Caribbean Copper Plant in the other.
Their beloved Hybrid Tea Roses were balanced with the addition of some carefree white Flower Carpet Rosebushes and Burgundy Iceberg Roses flanking the front walkway. Orange Alstromeria plays off against Lavandula ‘Otto Quast’ - its opposite on the color wheel. Two large distressed ceramic containers containing Kumquat trees flank the stately arched plate glass window while Echium candicans adds drama to the area.
The result is an exuberant garden filled to the brim with flowers and textures. The plants are all hardy and drought tolerant - a mixture of California Native and Mediterranean.