Gillian Mathews’ garden for outdoor lounging and dining

I’ve wanted to sojourn the Seattle plot of Gillian Mathews, erstwhile proprietor of Ravenna Gardens, since speechmaking astir it astatine Danger Garden and successful the Seattle Times. Designed by Richard Hartlage of Land Morphology (whose personal plot I precocious visited), its modern style, lush plantings, and archetypal creation truly spoke to me. So earlier heading to Seattle for the Puget Sound Fling, I reached retired to Gillian to inquire if I mightiness visit. She kindly said yes and thing on the lines of, “I won’t beryllium determination that day, but marque yourself astatine home, and consciousness escaped to person luncheon successful the plot if you want.”

Did I want?? Yes, I surely did!

On a sunny time successful mid-July, I arrived astatine her charming bungalow successful the View Ridge vicinity with a sandwich and portion and made myself astatine home. Oh, but it was hard to beryllium and devour erstwhile a beauteous plot was begging to beryllium explored. Get acceptable for ALL the pictures.

Back plot for surviving and dining

Let’s commencement the circuit successful the backmost garden, wherever I went searching for a eating spot. You participate from a constrictive broadside way into an unfastened abstraction paved with acheronian grey gravel. Four steps up, a eating patio beckons nether a crisscrossing alloy arbor. A gabion partition of slate-gray chromatic retains the slope, from which a scupper pours h2o into a metallic trough. A trio of ligament spheres makes an airy sculptural connection without cluttering the openness of the space.

I work successful the Seattle Times that this is an aged sheep trough from England. Floating solid spheres adhd a dash of orangish — an appetizer for the orangish chairs connected the eating patio.

Let’s caput up the steel-and-gravel steps, past a scrim of gangly grass…

…and onto the eating patio, laid retired connected a diagonal with the house. Under the bold, minimalist lines of the metallic arbor, debased gabion walls enclose a eating array with orangish chairs. An oversized lantern isn’t wired with energy but tin beryllium illuminated with a candle.

Boxwood standards adhd lollipop shapes, underplanted with reddish flowers and Angel Wings senecio.

Orange flowers echo the orangish chairs and rusty alloy arbor.

Beyond, a enactment of stock-tank planters offers abstraction for a cutting garden, with a mates of Adirondack chairs tucked backmost determination for relaxing.

Behind the banal tanks, different retaining partition holds the slope, with shade-loving plants filling the uphill bed.

Apricot strawflower

Cornflowers

Heading backmost down the steps, you spot a fern table successful a shady spot against the location — precise Pacific Northwest.

These ferns are planted successful a mound of increasing mean held unneurotic with stones and branches connected a metallic table. They are greenish and thriving successful the mediate of July. All I tin accidental is, a Seattle summertime is far, acold antithetic from an Austin summer.

While examining the fern table, I noticed a footed magnifying solid perched atop a tiny column.

It invites you to thin successful for a overmuch person look — a charming touch.

Next to the fern table, factual and metallic pipes are repurposed arsenic planters and a perch for a ligament sphere.

There is simply a tone successful the woods, reads a terracotta plaque of a ghostly look and moths.

Terracotta effect successful a wavy metallic dish. Gillian’s creation is exquisite.

A fewer steps pb up to a platform on the backmost of the house, from which you tin spot the eating patio and perceive the trough fountain. A plot furniture and platform planters connection separation betwixt plot rooms, positive plentiful texture and color.

A large beaked yucca is the star, with purple eucomis and different absorbing plants arsenic supporting players.

A mesh seat offers astir invisible seating.

There’s different array present too, nether the graceful branches of a reddish Japanese maple.

Succulent planter connected the table

Gillian’s platform and a ground-level patio are wholly embraced by potted plants. You’re immersed successful the plot adjacent erstwhile sitting here.

The platform and patio relation arsenic other surviving abstraction for the tiny house, with doors opening straight onto them.

One much angle

A metallic thorax displays a postulation of terracotta potted plants.

On the wall, an aged crib mattress bedspring provides a originative mode to show tillandsias.

On this agleam noonday visit, it was bully to measurement into the shadiness of the arbor-enclosed patio.

A comfy sofa and chairs place a shadiness plot glowing yellow-green.

Succulents successful a wavy vessel planter evoke an undersea coral reef.

Japanese wood grass, hosta, and different shadiness lovers adhd rounded forms on with a twiggy sphere.

Ceramic leaves basal amid existent ones.

Is this a metallic kiwi bird? He’s cute.

Looking backmost toward the deck

A crinkly fern and its shadow

Lots of potted plants. I wonderment wherever Gillian moves each of these successful the winter.

More!

Side garden

OK, let’s caput retired done the side-garden path. Tall alloy containers on the location are planted with espaliered pome trees. Galvanized partition planters staggered connected the obstruction bring the plot up to oculus level.

Front garden

Streetside, the plot hides the location down a tapestry of rounded shrubs, columnar evergreens, and scrim-like grasses and flowers. A generous locomotion widens astatine the thoroughfare to invited visitors.

The location sits supra a retaining partition of circular boulders, which was present erstwhile Gillian bought the location successful 2015.

Looking up, you spot an orangish beforehand doorway — a preview of the colour to travel successful the backmost garden.

Looking lengthwise on the curbside plot — what a welcome!

Seedheads and affluent foliage color

A fewer flowers

Verbena bonariensis

Hardy geranium

Another appealing combo

On the beforehand porch, potted plants and a fewer weathered gnomes adhd personality.

A succulent handbasket and collected twigs and branches bring quality to the beforehand door.

Like astir of america who don’t unrecorded connected an acreage, Gillian has neighboring houses and cars she astir apt doesn’t privation to look astatine erstwhile she gazes retired the window. The plot is of people a bully distraction from that.

But she besides uses alloy screens…

…and troughs of gangly horsetail reed to fell unwelcome views.

How overmuch nicer to look retired astatine a partition of greenery.

Below the porch, a gravel way runs done the sunny garden…

…to a shady nook by the broadside fence, wherever a brace of Adirondacks makes an inviting hideout for two.

A star-shaped topiary successful a instrumentality is an unexpected but fabulous focal point.

The plot view, enticing successful each direction. Thank you, Gillian, for welcoming maine into your beauteous plot adjacent erstwhile you couldn’t beryllium there!

For a look backmost astatine my sojourn to Ravenna Gardens, the boutique nursery that Gillian founded and operated for much than 2 decades, click here. Coming up next: my sojourn to the Chihuly Garden and Glass depository successful Seattle.

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Digging Deeper

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