Botanical backyard garden in historic Fernandina Beach
Our clients wanted to create a botanical wonderland to compliment their beautiful new pool house. This project was an incredible opportunity to flex our creativity because not only was it a blank canvas but it was also for two of the coolest clients and friends we know! We presented them a design with several elements that we’ve been dreaming about implementing and they were all in. This unique property featured a large open lot surrounding a newly installed pool and a small cottage pool house. We utilized a long path connecting three outdoor rooms to create a sense of purpose and to create the boundaries for several different themed gardens.
Each room touched on different senses. This first room featured 2 large cedar raised beds (constructed by Jax Woodcrafters of Atlantic Beach) made from seamless 15’ long cedar timbers. Both beds were joined by large black steel moon gate arbors and the entrance and exit. These beds will be filled with beautiful flowers to celebrate the sense of sight. A narrow 36” long path joined this room with to the next room which flanked the end of the pool deck. This simple room features 4 Veradek Corten steel L-shaped corner planters and is surrounded by a scent fill garden featuring Sambac jasmine, banana shrub and osmanthus. The leveling process in this area created a fairly dramatic elevation change (by Florida standards) so we constructed a beautiful staircase made from cement heartwood timbers leading to the pool deck. A long curved path wrapped around the corner of the pool deck leading to the last room. This dramatic curve created a beautiful garden space that we filled with a yoshino cherry and 2 massive cepholotaxus drupacea. The last room encompasses the sense of taste with four 2’x5’ raised beds made from thick slabs of bluestone perfectly sized to fill with an array of herbs and edible flowers.
This garden was built for avid gardeners that have the time, passion and plant resources to take proper care of the foundation we installed and to fill it with perennials and seasonal color as the seasons change. That being said, there is not one single blade of grass anywhere on this property and once the main plant elements are established there will be no need for supplemental watering.
Every element of this design excites us. We were given carte blanche to design a space that tapped into all our creative juices! We love the massive 15’ ylang-ylang tree that anchors the back corner of the property and provides protection for our custom designed bluestone planters. The beautiful cedar beds built by Jax Woodcrafters paired perfectly with the two massive black moon gate trellises from Gardenary. And our longest crushed stone path yet gave us the geometry to create several garden spaces that we filled with our favorite plants. This project was the perfect opportunity for us to utelize our experience and horticultural creativity! We are so excited to see this Fernandina, Beach garden mature into a beautiful garden under the care of two very capable and energetic gardeners.
