Plant Gardens 101

The Houston climate makes it one of the best places to plant a garden in the United States. Houston experiences a warm climate much of the year, and even though it is exceptionally hot in the summer months, the humidity latent in the atmosphere serves plant life very well. Because of the richness of the soil, the moisture content of the atmosphere, and the relative infrequency of hard freezes in the winter, virtually any type of plant species can thrive here. Tropical flowering plants, a variety of shrubs, perennials of all colors, and a rainbow of seasonal flowers can all be grown successfully in this part of the world.

With such a diversity of plant life available, Houston gardens can follow both traditional and non-traditional forms depending on the needs of the client. Our philosophy is to always respect the architecture with a design that mirrors structural keynotes and adds an organic sensibility to the façade of the house. As such, we prefer to view a garden in the context of the surrounding residence and particular neighborhood. We have all seen hundreds of amateur gardens throughout the city that are basically flower beds clustered at the bases of trees. While there is nothing inherently wrong with this approach, it lacks the ability to significantly differentiate one residence from the other. (more…)

We were contacted by the owner of a Houston, Texas home who asked us to design a series of gardens and landscaping features that would compliment and expand the Mediterranean theme of his house into the surrounding landscape. This house sat on a very large lot of several acres in a secluded Memorial Drive neighborhood located near the 610 Loop. The home featured a symmetrical, linear appearance in spite of its two-story build, and our client wanted a landscape and garden design that would follow these same principles of self-contained regularity and subtle linear motion.

Creating a Mediterranean theme in a Houston, Texas garden and landscape is a bit more complex that it might appear at face value. The southern coast of Europe—particularly in Italy and Greece—is a mountanous area where homes and gardens are built on steep angles and sharp vertical rises. Gardens and fields are often built in terraces that climb the mountains due to the limited planting area and rough, rocky terrain. Limestone is the predominant rock type in Italy and Greece and has become iconic of this part of the world in our collective consciousness. Mediterranean homes and gardens are historically famous for their white stucco walls, olive groves, and carefully sculptured greenery embedded in a rugged limestone backdrop. (more…)