Designing with SucculentsHow to incorporate succulents and cacti into your garden design
Hollywood notables judge material estate by three qualities : privacy , privacy , and privacy . When Marg Helgenberger , longtime star ofCSI : Crime Scene Investigation , shop for a new home five yr ago , she found her sanctuary in a Spanish - Mediterranean revival meeting on a corner fortune in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Brentwood . landscape gardening enfold three side of the property , with elderly ficus tree diagram on the front and north sides . At the back of the theatre , a columned loggia afforded a sequestered entertaining infinite . Big enough to adapt her adolescent son and his friends , plus the family dog , the house “ had ripe bone and a great vibe , ” say Helgenberger .
A concrete , gasoline - fueled fire bowlful and butterfly swivel chairs linchpin a favorite entertaining spot for actress Marg Helgenberger . Photo by : Jack Coyier . SEE MORE photo OF THIS GARDEN
But after freshen up indoors , Helgenberger began to look more closely at the grounds . The ficus ’ age tangle of limbs felt tyrannical . The backyard , she return , “ had suffered year of disuse , not to mention uneven hardscaping . ” A 20- by 40 - foot swim pool overlook the south lawn . Even in Los Angeles , there ’s such a thing as too much glamour .
Helgenberger went back to her supporter Barbara Schnitzler , an architect with the New York design firm Dell Lane , who had handled the interior restoration . “ Barbara understand the space , what my needs are , and how I expend my Day , ” Helgenberger says . Since Schnitzler and her upcountry - design collaborator ( and sis ) Maggie Marra are on the East Coast , they pink Judi Bloom , a plant consultant based in Santa Monica , to round out the team . Their goal was to preserve the house ’s privateness while making the out-of-door areas more functional .
As a practical matter , Helgenberger also want her garden to be low maintenance and drouth broad . inhale by the Mediterranean architecture with its Moresque elements , she asked for some gravel , a lowly area of lawn , a fountain , some olive trees , succulent , lavender , and rose for switch off .
Downsizing the pool created more space for outdoor preparation and dining . photograph by : Jack Coyier . SEE MORE PHOTOS OF THIS GARDEN
Schnitzler suggested they begin by narrowing the kitty by 8 feet , create 300 supernumerary hearty feet of terra firma that now accommodates a build - in barbecue and a kitchen garden . On the pool ’s west edge , a new pool house with a tiled roof and archway echoes the expressive style of the chief household . A sheltered outside seating area area , nicknamed “ the kasbah ” for its alien atmosphere , is a favorite casual hangout spot . Just outside , a small patio , ground by a gas - fueled fire bowl , provides a focal pointedness for the garden .
Linking the pool theatre to the independent house ’s columned loggia is a 60 - ft concrete track with a band of square stone inset along its kernel . The paseo , which starts at the flame bowlful , becomes a rill during California ’s rainy time of year . “ I love the connection between fire and urine , ” say Helgenberger . “ It ’s very poetic . ”
Close to the theatre , Schnitzler and her squad updated a fount and added a raw terrace to produce a courtyard just outside the loggia ’s portico , shaded by an existing California pepper tree and a magnolia . A blazing regalia of colorful succulents occupies a large half - circle planting bed . “ The white arch cast this lush explosion , ” Bloom say . “ It ’s like a fiddling garden stage . ” splash body of water from the two - tiered fountain , the fragrance of citrus tree and aromatic herbs , and the intricate , jewel - like details of the succulents unmoor the courtyard from its Los Angeles backdrop . This secluded paradise could be in Spain or Mediterranean Africa .
The lush , green - grey and grizzly - puritanic leafage deepens this impression . In the pool area , Bloom planted Pygmy engagement palms with a carpet of blue - greenSenecio vitalisunderneath . To disguise the neighbor ’s fencing , she installed a podocarpus hedging on the slope above the pool . The calm palette throughout the property soften the home ’s imposing weighing machine , an force Bloom supported by maintain the overall flavour tidy and mod . “ Marg ’s style is a footling traditional , a little modern , ” Bloom say . “ I tried to interpret that into the planting strategy — not fussy , but as wide-eyed as possible . ” Low - slung , vintage patio furniture extends the radical .
Outdoor renovations to Marg Helgenberger ’s Los Angeles dwelling , like this gated privacy wall , make the grounds more inviting while maintaining their cloistered feel . exposure by : Jack Coyier . SEE MORE photograph OF THIS GARDEN
As private as her garden is , Helgenberger flavor how the space afford up for entertaining . “ I do big party well , ” she says . “ If I have 75 or 80 multitude here , they have plenty of places to sit around , one wholly different from the other . They can get together by the fire pit at the kasbah or at the walkover table near the barbecue . I put tables and chairs on the grass , and people have it away sit there . ” After Helgenberger got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in January , she celebrated with friends at the house . “ It rained , but it did n’t matter because people hung out in the loggia , where I had the Browning automatic rifle , ” she enjoin . Out front , a 5 - substructure bay laurel hedge put back the ficus trees — magniloquent enough to screen the entry court from the street but low enough to admit ample light . The hedge hold in a new , gravel - pave courtly landscape painting with a raised 12- by 14 - foot parquet circle and a second fountain . The crushed rock is a mix of cream , tan , and gray that harmonizes with the home ’s bright window dressing . It ’s an idealistic culture medium for drought - tolerant drifts that let in ‘ Little Ollie ’ European olive tree bush , Pittosporum tenuifolium(kohuhu ) , and immense century plant that Bloom transplanted from the garden at her beach mansion in Santa Monica .
Guests arriving for one of Helgenberger ’s events now go into via a long paseo - concrete pour in a design that resembles stepping stones - flank by stands of bootless olives ( ‘ Swan Hill ’ ) and yield trees , let in two lemon tree and a fig . For a Hollywood crowd , it make for a dramatic entrance , but Helgenberger enjoys it equally when home alone . “ I love sit in the living elbow room and look through the window onto the layer of foliation , ” Helgenberger says . Now that ’s enjoying your privacy . See a slideshow of all photos here .
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