DOVER

OAKLAND

2022

This duplex garden came preloaded with history… layers of it. The garden had already been shaped by many hands. The client’s father, now deceased, a devoted gardener filled it with cosmos, freesias, and quiet intention. Later, two close friends lived there and left their own mark. By the time we arrived, it wasn’t a blank slate, but a space, already rich with memory. The design became less about making something new and more about continuing a conversation already in progress. Passed a garden shared between generations of people, shaped by memory.

The client was gracious and easy. She wanted a little more structure, something that could hold through summer without losing spring’s magic. We kept the moves minimal. A new drainage system catches roof runoff and reroutes it into the planting beds. A hydrology experiment endeavor that worked too well. When the basement started to show signs of moisture, we dialed things back and added a failsafe outlet for big storms.

Planting-wise, we threaded carefully between the old and the new. Agaves, dudleya, yarrow, and buckwheat fill out the dry season with sculptural brilliance. The the clients father’s beloved spring bloom still steals the show. Wild, full of saturated hues, and impossible to ignore. People slow their cars to stare. The cosmos wave back.