The Vision and Landscape Design for Rewilding our Land
I’m finally ready to share the vision and design for our land. We sketched the general concept over the Winter of 2020/2021 soon after we moved to this property. Over the last year and half we’ve explored a myriad of avenues, fine-tuned details, and zeroed in on our intentions. I’ve spent nearly every day through the seasons looking at the landscape from various locations at different times of day and evaluating the environmental conditions in order to create a beautiful and purposeful outdoor space that we love. It’s an unconventional concept - unlike any backyard around. Originality aside, it fits the contours of the land seamlessly and meets a variety of objectives that are sure to provide visitors of all types with an experience that positions everyone in communion with the land at large. There is no short and fast answer for how this design was conceived. Here I’m diving deep into the factors that influenced my design.
Perennial garden designed by Piet Ouldolf
It’s a monumental task to design a landscape that translates in 3D form to an enduring beautiful and functional space. I’ve needed to consider a long list of factors that impact the feasibility of my design. To name a few: financing, man-power, time, climate, lifestyle, soil type, maintenance, aesthetic, the experience it creates, and water accessibility. Within all the factors lies additional complexities that require creative problem solving because they’re all woven together like an intricate web. Adjusting one aspect has a ripple effect throughout the rest.
Mind you, I’m a Master Gardener with zero experience as a landscape designer. This is 100% DIY. Designing and installing this residential landscape has been a complex and enjoyable challenge. (I’m afraid I’ve fallen in love with a whole new artistic medium!) My intention behind sharing my design with you is not to offer you advice on this topic, because surely you can seek that from someone more seasoned. I’m sharing my design considerations to offer context to the projects l publish on my blog as this design continues comes to life. Perhaps you’ll learn something along the way and be inspired to rewild bits of your own outdoor space too. Mostly, I hope you enjoy this adventure along with me as my husband and I work to rewild the land around our home.
All journeys begin with a dream, and here’s ours:
Beth Chatto Drought Tolerant Gravel Garden
THE DREAM
We dream of a backyard that is wild. It’s one that echoes the rocky desert trails and the forested understory of our high alpine desert region. It’s a natural landscape filled with native plants, many medicinal, that require low water and minimal human-intervention in order to thrive. It’s a sanctuary for us, the guests we entertain, the family we’ll raise, our pets, and the myriad of small creatures that find their home-spaces dwindling. We envision sitting spaces to watch the alpenglow and spaces to host family dinners al fresco. We want places to walk barefoot, pads to picnic in, and meandering pathways to get lost in blooms abuzz. Rob wants utility space for woodwork. I want rows to teach tiny hands to cultivate between the sweet peas and apple tree. We both want versatility and room for this space to transform as our life will no doubt change as the years progress. Privacy is a must, yet community is in mind too. This is no ordinary backyard filled with uniform shrubs, nor religiously mowed each Saturday afternoon before the broadcasted game. This is a place where the soil remains true and the plants shape-shift with the seasons. It is dry yet lush; windswept yet calming. It’s made to be lived in, to be wildcrafted with and to be engaged with in reciprocity . This land is also made to be an example to others of the miracles possible when we return to our roots. This is a landscape, rewild.
Scenes of Piet Ouldolf’s wild perennial garden
What would an adventure be without a challenge or two? Here are the natural resources and limitations that are defining the boundaries of what is possible:
THE CONSTRAINTS
Man-power, time, and money are limiting factors that we’re constantly considering, financing being the greatest hurdle. This endeavor is fully self-funded. As a result, the man-power is our own plus the occasional helping hand from dear friends and family. I plan and budget for each phase one at a time, and we do what we can with what we have. I thrift, trade, and bargain hunt regularly for the tools and supplies needed for each project. Some family members have gifted us money towards planting trees, for which we are incredibly grateful.
From an environmental perspective, soil type, average rainfall, USDA hardiness zone, irrigation access, sun exposure, wind exposure, weed pressure, square footage, the contour of land, and the cardinal directions all influence the practical parameters of this design.
Land Size, Contour, Exposure, + Hardiness Zone
We’re located in zone 6a. Summers are very hot, dry, and windy. Winters are snowy. Spring and Fall are often cool, and (we hope) rainy. This land map covers about .37 acres of our property. It is highly exposed and regularly breezy or windy coming from the north. Because this land was historically used for agriculture by early 1900 pioneers, it slopes about 2* downward to the northwest from the inflowing irrigation water-box on the eastern border.
Soil Type + Weed Pressure
The soil type for most of our land is sandy loam, which means that it retains a good amount of nutrients but drains water quickly. On these parts of the land, weed pressure is fierce; primarily bindweed being the problem. In other areas, it’s brick-hard compacted clay. In those areas, it is weedy dirt but they’ll be easier to eliminate and suppress.
Water Access + Rainfall
On average we receive less than 3 inches of rain per month, and in the summer months often just a trace. The ongoing mega-drought in the West, climate change, and the massive influx of population are putting significant pressure on our state’s water reserves. Our flood irrigation is the only source of water for the property, aside from the culinary water taps on the house.There are zero sprinklers. Our lot size is an unsustainable piece of land to water with city water considering our dry and windy summers along with our low rainfall and soil type. The water source from the canal is not clean enough to pass through drip irrigation fittings without constant clogging so it must be utilized in a flood style or via pump and wide mouth pvc pipe spraying water overhead. We only have water access from the canal May-September and this may become even more limited in future years.
With a strong understanding of our constraints we map the path forward. The layout and design begin to take shape.
Our landscape design for the Pioneer House. The transparent grey orbs represent the shadows cast from trees once they reach maturity.
THE LAYOUT
I think of this landscape like an outdoor home with rooms and hallways leading us on an immersive and experiential journey from one to the next. Each room serves a different purpose and provides a different experience, yet it’s all cohesively tied together through echoing shapes and details. There are areas for work, lounging and entertaining. My intention with this design is to transform my constraints into strengths that are beautiful and fit our lifestyle needs.
Hugelkultur Berm Border
The trees along the western border will provide much needed shade in the afternoon hours, in effect cooling the whole yard, especially over the gravel. The northern border of trees provides privacy and wind protection yet will not impact the need for full sun in the kitchen garden. The eastern border will be planted with tall perennials to offer privacy while allowing morning sun. The raised earth of the berm also helps provide scale to the yard and an enclosed or protected sort of feeling.
Gravel Driveway & Roundabout
The curb in the front is already cut to allow for a second driveway into the backyard via the long gravel stretch and roundabout shown on the map. This space is perhaps the most versatile. The gravel reduces our water consumption and maintenance needs by taking up a large part of the land and provides a large area for truckloads of compost to come in or plant material to be driven out. It will serve nicely for gatherings and bonfires, or parking, should I choose to host gardening classes onsite in the future. It also leaves us with the space to build a casita at any point in the future should we want a guest house or onsite rental.
Wild Waterwise Garden
The limiting environmental conditions point me in the direction of planting large swaths of native, waterwise perennials and hardy trees instead of the traditional lawn surrounded by plants that require supplemental irrigation in order to survive. The waterwise beds positioned in various areas around the yard are connected by a series of meandering pathways that lead us on an immersive journey through a native wild landscape. It will change through the seasons providing constant interest through varying colors, textures, blooms, movement and scale. Moreover, it will require little supplemental watering while providing habitats for local birds and pollinators. All the beds are set up with drip irrigation and adaptor pieces to connect a culinary water hose.
Native wilflower Meadow
The viewer exits the more formal waterwise garden and enters the wild and whimsy native rock mountain meadow. Here lies a mowed path and pad for summer picnics. It’s a truly divine space to hide away and enjoy kitchen garden snacks and a good book in the summer sun. It is positioned in full sun, right next to the bees and garden, so it lures predator insects, birds, and pollinators. In return for offering a habitat, we get a self-balancing garden ecosystem and loads of honey. Once established, the native wildflower meadow needs very little supplemental watering.
Kitchen Garden + Orchard
The kitchen garden, featuring perennial and annual vegetables, fruit, and herbs, along with the orchard is exclusively watered through flood irrigation. The berm that extends east to west serves as a protective barrier between the gravel roundabout and the growing space. It provides privacy when working in the garden but also creates a stable micro-climate of the growing space where temperatures swing less drastically, habitats are formed and wind exposure decreases.
The Grass Terrace + Patio Herb Garden
On top of the terrace, and just off the patio lies a the only patch of grass. Easily watered with an overhead spraying hose, it will be nice to have a small space to be barefoot near our outdoor dining and entertainment space (that also homes a patio herb garden ripe for daily cutting). It’s fenced in by a retaining wall of perennial plants, but also has pathways connecting it to a shaded bench on the lower level, as well as the wild waterwise garden. This winding bed integrates the contours of this otherwise awkward space into the landscape and ties it all together..
THE DETAILS IN THE DESIGN
Inspirations
I’m drawing my inspiration for stylistic choices from legendary modern garden designers in Europe and blazing mediterranean gardenscapes. I look to Piet Ouldolf’s “Blazing Garden” and recently discovered Beth Chatto’s “Gravel Garden” for inspiration in plant selections and arrangement choices. I love the effortlessly elegant and organic vibe of columnar cypress, russian olive trees, rustic juniper, combined with aromatic herbs and the crunch of rustic pea gravel underfoot. I love multi-tiered landscapes and ample spaces inviting a sit down for a cappuccino or a game of dominos at a cafe table in the shade.
Planting Strategy
Aside from planting for sustainability and suitability for soil type, I’m planting for seasonal interest. Spring is for early blooms and nectar amid a wet and resinous backdrop. Hardy flowers such as snowdrop, hellebore, tulip, narcissus, iris, and yucca are a gardener's best friend. Summer is for tall swaying grasses, flowers, food, creeping ground covers, and plants reaching toward the blazing sky. I imagine Mexican feather grass, Russian sage, yarrow, wormwood, silver sagebrush, stonecrop, sedums, rabbit brush, white swan echinacea, salvia, lavender, rosemary, elderberry and mullein to name a few. Autumn is for blazing color and dancing leaves. Dogwood, burning bush, and all the deciduous trees on the land will surely do the trick. Winter is for structure to reveal the bones of the garden and winter’s frosty kiss. The uncut seed heads of the water-wise plants will dance like the nutcracker’s sugar plum fairies in the field.
Color Story
Just like interior design I’m electing to stick to a color palette for blooms and foliage. Desert plants are often variations of cool-toned greens and silvery blues. They’re like that so they can reflect the intense sun rays and not get burned. I love a garden that is calming, so I’m opting for blooms of white, yellow and buttercream to contrast shades of hazy purple and blackberry. As the seasons change, the foliage will turn to shades of bright yellow, yellowish greens, and deep warm tones. The winter color scheme remains cool, where brown earth tones highlight the cool winter sky and the long shadows cast from a low southern sun.
Now that we’ve mapped our conquest, the only thing left to do is get to work. Here is a side by side comparison of where we started and where we are currently at in executing our plans.
Land map as of Spring 2021. This is the land as we purchased it.
Land map as of Summer 2022
THE PLAN
As you can see, we still have much to do. My spirits are buoyed knowing how much we’ve already accomplished despite all the ugly parts of my garden that remain. We work when mother nature lends a helping hand with rainfall and comfortable temperatures - that is, in the spring and fall. We’ll take on one project at a time as our budget allows. Our plan may or may not change depending on what challenges or opportunities arise. This rewilding process is a slow and ever evolving journey. It moves at nature’s pace, and that’s just the way we like it around here.
Fall 2022
We’ll finish planting the berm along the east and west border.
Spring 2023
I’d like to install the retaining wall and extend the berm across the entrance to the kitchen garden; planting as soon after as possible.
Summer 2023
I’ll spend this time period killing all the weeds on the east side of the yard to prepare for the wild water-wise garden
Fall 2023
Install the Wild Waterwise Garden.
Spring 2024
Install gravel road and turn-about. Then after all of this, we’ll address the front yard (said with mixed exasperation and excitement)!
Tell me what you think of this design in the comments and share your questions.
Are there any considerations I’ve forgotten? What would you do differently? What would you apply in a rewilding project of your own?