garden
landscaping
E
v ery h o m e g a rd e n er w an ts it: low
m ain ten an ce. “T h o se are th e first
w o rd s o u t o f m y clie n ts’ m o u th s,”
says B ruce C lodfelter, a N o rth
C arolina, U S -based landscape
a rc h itec t. T h is b u sy p ro k now s why.
“Ju st as th e proverbial co b b ler’s child h ad n o
sh o es,” h e says, “I d o n ’t have a lo t o f tim e to
sp e n d in m y ow n g ard en .”
T o m ake th e m o st o f th e tim e — an d
m o n ey — h e d o es have, B ruce cam e u p w ith
a n easy-care design th a t su b stitu te s to u g h
p ere n n ials in su b tle sh a d es o f g re e n in place
o f show y bloom s. “A nnual co lo u r is high
m a in te n an c e,” h e says. “P lus, m any annual
flo w ers d o n ’t p erfo rm w ell in th e h e a t o f
N o rth C aro lin a.” So h is g ard e n p u ts th e focus
o n p la n ts w ith bold, sc u lp tu ral sh ap es— som e
in big u rn s raised o n b ases— w hile accessories
an d fu rn itu re b rin g in n o te s o f v ib ra n t colour.
T h e lo w w a te r re q u ire m e n ts o f B ru ce’s
p la n ts m ake th e g a rd e n as e c o -frien d ly as
it is sim p le to ca re for. “ I’v e trie d to m ake
it n a tu ra lly su sta in a b le ,” h e says. “T h e re ’s
n o irrig a tio n sy ste m .” D ro u g h t-to le ra n t
se d u m rep la ce s g rass as a g ro u n d cover.
S u c c u le n ts th riv e in clay p o ts an d b e d s o f
p ea gravel (a m ix o f sm all ro u n d s to n e s), a
n o n -tra d itio n a l, in ex p en siv e, la n d sca p in g
ch o ice th a t a b so rb s ra in w a te r o th e rw ise
d e s tin e d to ru sh in to d rain s.
W ith less tim e n ee d ed to te n d his garden,
B ruce h as m o re tim e to enjoy it, h o stin g
casual g e t-to g e th e rs fo r frien d s. L ightw eight
fu rn itu re ca n b e readily m oved fro m g ard en
ro o m to g ard e n ro o m to go w ith th e flow o f
th e p a rty o r th e sp irit o f th e seaso n . W h ere
to d a y th e re ’s a table, th is w in te r th e re ’s a
b o n fire p it— a place frie n d s ca n g a th e r ’ro u n d
an d relax in th is easy-going g ard en . ■
Bruce designed his blue
table,
top,
by tracing a
w him sical outline on
cardboard, w hich h e gave to
a carpenter to w ork from.
“Its am oeba shape is a no d to
th e 1950s, w hen m y house
w as built,” h e explains.
