Ode to the Outdoors

Urban homeowners are now paying closer attention to the outdoors. And about time in this day and age of rising green consciousness.

No paradise would be complete without a garden, especially when it is an extension of a high-end home in an exclusive gated and guarded community. Add this to the fact that the owner who is both a builder and contractor who does not pull any punches, and you have a garden landscape that is a fitting tribute to the property.

A firm believer in the philosophy of teamwork, he roped in the expertise of a team of landscaping professionals from Just Right Design and Nature Décor who worked towards the owner’s broader aim of a crisp, contemporary design placing emphasis on ensuring adequate privacy and shade.

From conceptualization to completion, the team’s approach was nuanced rather than strictly black and white. “Landscaping the garden grounds was a constantly evolving process where we kept what worked and abandoned those that didn’t, such as the choice of plantings, materials for the hardscape and even the dimensions of the outdoor structures, shares YK Tang of Just Right Design.

At the front yard, the curving driveway frames lush, layered masses of plants such as the cabbage and livistona palms and elephant’s ears. The swaying fronds of the palm trees not only screen out the house opposite but send out a cheerful welcome to guests. On the sloped side of the driveway, flowering shrubs, a single filicum tree and a trio of gardenia carinata vie for attention, with the latter sending whiffs of fragrance into the air.

Slender lines of attractive and low-lying foliage plants flank both sides of the front entryway. Held back by brick edging, the plantings not only provide a convenient link between house and garden but extend a friendly appearance without getting in the way.

The gardens on both sides of the building are long and narrow, creating a strip of land whose dimensions can seem almost discouraging, at first glance. They have, however, been designed to be people-orientated with plants playing a secondary role of softening the hardscape and endowing the space with beauty. Long pathways of stepping stones snake through both the side gardens making them perfect for taking long, leisurely strolls and working off the pounds.

It is at the west-facing rear garden where the owner and his family can unwind or entertain friends. The owner is able to indulge his passion for koi where an above–ground free-form pond hugs the foundations of the building just off the pavilion and right through outside the audio room. This not only ensures the security of the prized fish but literally places the fish at the tip of their owner’s fingers.

From the bottom of a flight of steps down the pavilion, a pebblewash walkway that has been gently graded with the natural fall of the land enfolds the perimeter of the koi pond, setting the stage for exploring the grounds and enjoying the garden views. Topped by a semicircular pergola supported on tapered stone columns, the imposing structure casts cool shade in the garden’s otherwise sunny exposure. The curve of the overhead beams also broadens the garden vista giving the outdoors an illusion of enlarged space.

With its richly diversified palette of flowering plants, shrubs and trees flourishing in the dappled shade, and the sights and sounds of birds, the back garden is a peaceful retreat from the rest of the world promising many years of outdoor pleasure to come.

Granted the landscape design team had their fair share of challenges in seeing both home and garden take shape, but all have come up smelling like roses. As for the owners, they can rightfully claim to have found their piece of paradise on earth.