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“ onetime schooling ” is how Michael Farndale depict the feel of his characterless front curtilage in Bothell , Wash. , before he began transform it . After have it professionally hardscaped with paseo , stepping Oliver Stone and rockscapes , he put out on his own to create a brilliant Zen - like garden populated with plants native to the Pacific Northwest . “ It was the typical gage yard from the sidewalk to the mansion , with a few scatter bush and English ivy taking over . My desire was a lawn - innocent landscape painting that would require no mowing , watering or fertilizing and would be inviting to wildlife , ” suppose Farndale .
Water flow from a sculptured fountain into an cloak-and-dagger artificial lake .
All that remains of the former yard are a few spirea , rhododendrons and maple tree diagram . The grass is totally gone and replaced by a colorful palette of aboriginal works carefully select by Farndale to boom in the Pacific Northwest climate . A lace - leaf Japanese maple that was crowd his front door was moved about 20 feet away from the house towards the street , where its beautiful Bonsai - similar anatomy can be fully appreciated .
A wooden - plank nerve pathway lead visitors through the garden in zig fashion .
To sum to the garden ’s Zen atmosphere , a meshing of stone and wood - plank pathway lead to areas of speculation , include a fencing - framed sanctuary where a Isidor Feinstein Stone Buddha principal presides and a sculpturesque fountain made of concrete by the entryway . Instead of downspouts , metal rainwater drains with finespun lotus - shaped cups transport water from the eaves to the vegetation below in bucket - brigade fashion .
A Buddha heading presides in this fencing - framed section of the garden .
Most of the works added by Farndale are perennials , including coneflower ( Echinacea ) , sea holly ( Eryngium ) , orchids ( Bletilla ) , blackberry lilies ( Belamcanda),Fritillaria , Mukdenia , Vancouveria , Dodecatheonand many others . “ We attempt to use as many native flora materials as possible , or at least plant that can stand firm dry summers . Our soils are very sandy and loamy , and can dry out very speedily . ” he says .
Farndale ’s rest home is located about 12 miles north of Seattle , at the Union end of Lake Washington . " Throughout most of the year , the weather feels like it ’s always leaping , ” he says . “ Average winter temperatures are comparatively mild ( about 40 degree F ) . ”
The elision is July , which is often warm and juiceless , with temperatures soar to the upper eighty or depleted 90s . “ summertime starts about July 5th , when it seems to stop raining overnight , averaging about six hebdomad of no rainwater until sometime in August , ” Farndale say . To keep his plants from withering during these prolonged dry spells , he instal a drip mould irrigation system throughout the entire landscape . In addition , a good portion of the rain runoff from the roof is plan to drain into the shopping mall of the garden and percolate into the ground .
Farndale ’s newly espouse ism of working with nature rather than against it has paid off , resulting in a yard that delivers great beauty with fiddling attention . “ The former old - school style take much more oeuvre to maintain than what it is today , ” he says .
Believe it or not , this garden requires less maintenance than the previous school lawn that was supercede .
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