Linda and Doug Coburn had a vision for their bland front yard in Edmonds. Instead of a lawn that ran from the street to a narrow planting...
Linda and Doug Coburn had a vision for their bland front yard in Edmonds. Instead of a lawn that ran from the street to a narrow planting bed with a few rhododendrons huddling against the house, they wanted a space that would offer privacy from the street and enjoyment to passersby.
Large rocks were part of the Coburns’ vision. They knew they didn’t want a fence or hedge, which they thought would be too unfriendly. Rocks and mounds of soil, along with plants, would create the character they sought.
They chose their own rocks on an excursion to Marenakos Rock Center in Preston (near Fall City). Their two boys, Kai, 14, and Li, 12, picked out some rocks too, totaling 10 altogether.
When Linda Coburn arrived home the evening of the rock installation, she was shocked, certain they had ordered too many rocks for the small space.
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“It looked like the moon,” she said. But after soil was placed around the rocks and the plants went in, the garden looked just right to her.
Structure and focal points
The rocks add structure and focal points to the garden.
One of the rocks in the garden was already there, half buried in the earth. Doug Coburn insisted it could be rescued, despite his wife’s doubts. A boom truck was able to pull it out of the ground and relocate it, and now it makes a low bench next to the patio. The family has christened it “Doug rock.”
The only built feature saved from the old garden is the S-shaped entry walk, which provides a pleasant meander from the street to the front door.
The cracked rectangular pads of concrete at the front door came out. A new circle of concrete was poured at the entry and covered with random bluestone. The original entry walk, being sound, was covered in bluestone to match the rest of the garden paving.
Bluestone is also used for the circular patio that creates the central space in the front yard. Because no lawn is left, the patio creates an open area that is a foil for the densely planted beds, and serves as a sitting area. The patio is dry-laid on crushed rock with no mortar involved. Stepping stones, also bluestone, connect the patio to the entry area and lead in the other direction to the side yard.
Saving greenery
Three plants from the old garden were worth saving. An evergreen magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora), too big to move, stayed where it was, as did the vine maple (Acer circinatum). An 8-foot-tall rhododendron was moved away from the house to sit by the street as part of the informal privacy planting.
The garden is still young, planted last September. The plant palette, 85 kinds, reflects the Coburns’ desire for a garden full of texture and interest all year long.
Three Japanese maples (Acer palmatum) give an Asian flair when set against the rocks, as does a weeping full moon maple (Acer japonicum ‘Green Cascade’). Three Thunderhead black pines (Pinus thunbergii ‘Thunderhead’) add evergreen structure, along with a bristlecone pine (Pinus aristata).
Linda Coburn likes hot colors, so red Knock Out roses add easy-care summer color, and a mutabilis rose (Rosa mutabilis ‘Typo Ideale’) blooms all summer with flowers that change from apricot yellow to scarlet.
Perennials add summer bloom, including daylilies (Hemerocallis), Mexican daisy (Erigeron karvinskianus) and giant hyssop (Agastache rupestris).
The walkers in the neighborhood comment on how much they enjoy the yard, and the Coburn family uses the patio for morning coffee and evening dining, sheltered by the vision realized in their new garden.
Phil Wood has a degree in landscape architecture and designs and builds gardens. Write to him at thegardendesigner@seattletimes.com. Sorry, no personal replies.