Arcadia Garden

The home is part of a lovely residential community east of Pasadena that is home to the Los Angeles Arboretum and Botanic Garden and the Santa Anita Racetrack.  The property was graced with many lovely specimen trees, but there was a strong need to unify the materiality of the garden and harmonize the existing landscape.  We addressed these issues as we worked with the clients to develop a landscape for living outdoors in a sequence of garden rooms.  These distinct spaces start at the back of the house and progress to a bocce court in a hedged garden at the rear of the property. The clients had enjoyed playing bocce on vacations abroad, and they thought it would be fun to have a court for family play when their adult children visit.  Our overall goal in the garden was to create a richly varied outdoor living experience with a coherent flow between garden areas that are clearly part of a unified whole.  

Off the house, we added an outdoor living room with a fire pit and an area for dining.  These areas connected to a remodeled pool area and the existing outdoor living space with a fireplace and BBQ. 

Beyond these living spaces lies a lawn area and flowering perennial and rose beds which can be enjoyed from the pool area.  Layered beyond this open area is an enclosed garden with a large Bocce Court and fruit orchard set among stately Chinese Elm trees at the rear perimeter.  

In the front garden, we removed thirsty lawn from under the lovely heritage native Oaks that date back to before the residential neighborhood was developed.  We replaced the grass with a carpet of native Oak woodland plants.