When we first met our clients at their property, we were struck by the truly unique architecture of their historic Bakersfield home. Nestled away behind beautiful stucco walls, their stunning mission-style home is definitely one-of-a-kind. They absolutely loved their home, but over the years, had become more & more disappointed with their garden. The rear landscape, due to shade conditions, always struggled to keep a healthy lawn space. The main patio in the backyard simply did not compliment the home’s unique style & architecture. They were happy with their existing pool but felt like what surrounded it was a mess. They desperately wanted a garden that would be as impressive as their home.
Our designers began by addressing the hardscape in the rear landscape. Again, we wanted a finish that would tie-in well with the mission style of the home. Our clients had always been drawn to Saltillo tile, but were concerned about its overall longevity & maintenance. We came up with the perfect solution: Saltillo tile stamped concrete! The pattern & color beautifully mimics the look of Saltillo tile with the strength & durability of stamped concrete. We used this stamp to create a rich patio directly outside their backdoor & for a number of walkways. While our clients did love this stamp, they wanted something a little more contemporary to off-set it near the pool deck.
Our contemporary hardscape solution was to create custom-framed pavers that lead from the back patio to the pool deck. These were individually framed & poured in a light tan to compliment the home’s stucco colors. We stamped the pavers with a natural texture to give them a rugged look. Our clients loved theses pavers so much that we added an additional passage garden using them that brings guests in from a side entrance to the rear garden.
While our clients wanted more hardscape for entertaining space in the back yard, they also wanted to make sure that the landscape did not become too sterile with all this new concrete. In order to alleviate this, we added ribbons of synthetic turf throughout our pavers to give a lush feel throughout the new patio. This effect blended perfectly with our next big task: completely eliminating our clients old, tired lawn.
We completely removed every bit of our clients’ lawn in favor of a lush, synthetic turf thatch. Our clients were initially skeptical, especially due to the fact that they were worried that their dog would not like the synthetic turf. Their worries were quickly removed because as soon as we laid the new synthetic turf, their dog was in love. He was rolling around & enjoying the synthetic turf almost as much as our clients were loving the new green lawn. These new patches of synthetic turf now created a lush frame for the view to the pool. Our clients would no longer have to worry about mowing, edging, watering, or fertilizing their grass & it would be beautiful every season!
Our next task was to create a planting palette that would beautifully balance our hardscape additions. Our clients already had a beautiful collection of towering, specimen palms in the front & rear landscape. We added hundreds of lush tropical plants & blooming perennials to create a lush, garden oasis. We also added a beautiful Bougainvillea espalier that follows along our clients staircase to add another pop of green & color.
Once the main landscape & hardscape areas were addressed, we were left with one more challenge: create a phenomenal entry to the property. Once again, our clients had the benefit of towering palms but the entry itself lacked a measure of drama that this home definitely deserved. We selected our beautiful Monticello fountain to create a powerful presence as guests first enter the property. Its large scale was a perfect complement to the towering palms & grand architectural entry. Also, our clients now had a soothing visual right outside their main sitting area windows.
While our clients had always had a beautiful one-of-a-kind home, now they truly had a garden that matched it in every way.
Since 1953, Monji Landscape Companies has been a leader in landscape design, landscape construction & landscape maintenance.
