Here’s a look at one of the landscape designs by L. A. Peluso Designs several years after its installation in the San Jose neighborhood of Willow Glen in San Jose, California. The mature Chinese elm at its center (on the right in the photo above), is the only plant material salvaged from the original garden in this garden renovation. Designing around a mature tree is a common challenge in established neighborhoods. Only plants well-suited to competing with existing roots for space, nutrients, and water are able to establish themselves. The shade cast by a mature tree also has to be taken into consideration when selecting the plant palette.
This low-water garden design qualified for a homeowner landscape rebate through the Santa Clara Valley Water District’s Landscape Rebate Program. See Valley Water for current information on how to qualify for a landscape rebate. This garden design features low water plants such as Phormium, Coprosma, Santa Barbara Daisy, lavender, thyme, California native Salvias, and more.
This client asked that an existing bench be repurposed, so in the new garden design this bench was placed at the crossroads of the primary path leading from the sidewalk to the door, and the secondary path, which itself leads from the drive over to the primary path. The bench provides a welcome for visitors and the homeowners can relax while enjoying or tending to the garden. The urn is a focal point and is intended to be converted to a fountain sometime in the future. Additional, close-up photos of this garden can be viewed in this blog post (click here).
- Photography by Jewel Photography of Sacramento, California