South Seattle Garden Design, Gravel Seating Area
Above is a recent sketch I did for a garden design in South Seattle. Below you can see the existing site conditions:
Existing Site: a strip of lawn flanked by gravel.
The idea behind this design is to get rid of the plain strip of lawn, create a seating area, and add some privacy planting. The lawn does not currently serve much of a purpose, except space for maybe throwing a ball, or a dog run. In addition, the house borders a couple parks, so this lawn space is not as desirable compared to the expanse of the parks.
The builder of the house put gravel around every non-lawn surface in the yard, so re-using the existing gravel will be key to saving money and recycling a material that already exists on-site.
Another aspect of this scheme is taking advantage of the soil (if any) below the existing grass for planting beds, since the client doesn’t require a huge swath of gravel to hang out in. The gray bricks that currently surround the perimeter of the grass will be reused to border the new planting beds.
All these ideas come together to form this scheme which creates a sunny seating area, with scattered 2’x2′ pavers that already exist elsewhere in the yard, with a dry creek and water collecting bowl as a focal point. The new border planting will make the yard feel more lush and less harsh. It will also serve as a buffer between the house and a new public trail that is planned for the other side of the fence.
Stay tuned to see where this design goes in the upcoming months!
-Erin
