Scot Eckley is a garden designer who specializes in making spaces for out-of-doors living. However, when it came to the small city garden he and his wife Devin Fitzpatrick share along with their child, Eden, he encountered some minor issues.
Eckley characterizes their less-than-favorable property in the Maple Leaf community as "...a typical sloping Seattle backyard, in a so-so neighborhood, with panoramic views of the neighbors on all sides." What sort of design-build guy doesn't like a test?
A low sustaining wall functions as a planter and bench, the graphic element of the stone-walled vegetable beds, when the plants die down during winter.
Eckley worked on the hardscaping first, which engaged flatting the land of the property to make dry-stacked stone and terraces to separate the space. Eckley decided to choose gold gravel for the dining room floor to get the reflection of the light and to make the space brighter and larger even on gloomy days. He further explains, "I always think a garden has to look great on the worst day of the year, even on January 6th."
When the Dutch door of the old house opens, the view of the back garden and the sun can be seen and the breezes come in. The bluestone steps lead down the sitting area and gravel-floored dining room.
There were controversies when it came to plans, as Eckley chooses a clean-lined, strong modern look, and he believes that plants have a valuable function in both texture and shrubbery color than flowers.
The garden designer wanted more flowers and a more conventional English garden, for cutting and fragrance. He ended up with a lot of lilies, hydrangeas and anemones to share for the house, together with the nostalgic pleached hedge touch. Still the entire garden looks modern and clean lined, with a simple and rich design.
The husband and wife team have made the yin and yang environment by integrating textures, traditional sensibilities and modern materials into a little and smart garden for living in the outdoors.
