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Last summer,
a Houston couple by the name of Turner called us and asked us if
we could
design a landscape out of natural materials that would also
reflect their passion for collecting abstract and contemporary
art. They wanted a garden water fountain and colorful vegetation
that also combined certain aspects of the irregular geometry
that characterizes abstract art. They wanted a very subtle blend
of regularity and irregularity, and a combination of curved and
linear elements that would suggest a natural sense of movement
from the edge of the property to the back of their home.
We began our
work by constructing a garden water fountain at the very end of
a brand
new swimming pool the Turner’s had just had installed. We
built the basin in the shape of distorted figure-8 that bent to
the left and right of what would ultimately become a walkway
over the water. We used a gunite concrete substructure that
would seal the basin and keep it waterproof, and then we
concealed the top of the concrete with a decorative stone-clad
overlay whose blue-gray color complimented that of the home.
When we finished it looked like a small stone well filled with
clear, running water that drained into the pool on one end. On
the same side of this drain, we built a stone sculpture out of
three stones planed into cubes. The cubes were piled one on top
of the other, so that when the structure was complete, it looked
like a sculpture made from boulders on some far Pacific island.
The water rose out of the stone at the top and flowed down all
four sides of the sculpture into the pool.
The new
water fountain and surrounding basin now gave us an ideal
center point around which to plant a flower garden replete with
a number of species. On the left, we planted Mexican sedum to
add a lime green contrast to the surrounding landscape, and we
planted golden globe to provide flowering ground cover. To add a
three dimensional element to the garden, we planted foxtail
ferns to provide year-round greenery, and bird of paradise for
its resplendent, seasonal blooms. Farther back from the fountain
itself, we planted a river birch tree that framed the entire
garden from the vantage point of the pool and added an
additional aesthetic at night as a backdrop for up lighting. To
emphasize the unique aspect of our water garden fountain we
planted pink and red pentas on the right that drew the eye
upward toward the stone sculpture, and we trained a vine to grow
up the far wall of the home that would mirror its unique cubic
design.
We then
completed the project by building a walkway that led from the
front of the property to the home. We constructed this walkway
out of stepping pads that actually float on water. This allowed
us to build the walkway straight over the water in the center of
the garden. We deliberately used this design in order to blend
regular material with irregular material. The stones move in a
progression from asymmetry to symmetry the closer you get to the
house. The very first stepping stone has only two straight
sides, for example, and the second has three. Each stone that
follows becomes increasingly square as it passes over the garden
water fountain until it finally reaches the back patio of the
home.
For more the 20 years
Exterior Worlds has specialized in servicing many of Houston's
fine neighborhoods.
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