Dramatic views of this desert garden
Fancy plants and plantings are not the way to show off a Southwest garden, according to Phoenix landscape architect Steve Martino.
“Native desert plants are already state-of-the-art,” he says. They’re perfectly evolved to cope with their conditions, and nature has already come up with all the best combinations. “You’ll never improve on what you see in a desert wash,” he adds. So why compete?
Martino doesn’t. He uses native plants in the most natural way possible and saves his ammunition for architecture. “That’s where I like to show off,” he says. People’s problems — shade, privacy, and traffic management — are the same, he explains. Only the solutions vary. “I try to resolve them as creatively as possible.”
The Paradise Valley garden pictured here, which Martino renovated, is a good example. The homeowners needed to direct visitors to their entry, which was half hidden by a second-story addition. They wanted a new garden section that reminded them of Baja California. And they needed a dog run that didn’t destroy the aesthetic of their garden. Here’s how Martino tackled those problems.
Enhanced entry
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| Steven Gunther |
| A path, walls, fountain, and a row of lady’s slipper all point the way to the hidden front entry. |
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To direct visitors to the front door, Martino erected a decorative fence and circular fountain. He gave the front walk a trapezoid shape that literally points toward the front door. And the fountainhead, designed by Scottsdale architect John Douglas, also leads to the entry. Baja bowl
Martino removed a tamarisk grove from the rear of the property to reveal a splendid view of Camelback Mountain — a perfect spot for the new Baja garden. Martino installed a dramatic amphitheater that incorporated his characteristic tilted walls. He filled it with plants mostly from Baja. Chunky red lava rock serves as mulch. The amphitheater encircles a seat wall, and a large firepit centers and warms the space.
Clever dog run
Separating a wall into segments is another one of Martino’s architectural trademarks. He used this technique to create a dog run in the side yard. Corrugated metal segments make up the front of the run; the neighbor’s block wall provides the back. From one direction, the metal wall looks continuous. But from the other side, metal mesh strips between the staggered panels come into view; these serve as windows for the dogs. The landscape’s drama demands strong materials and colors, as does the desert sun. “It flattens texture, and subtlety gets lost,” Martino says. “You have no choice. You have to be bold.”
Garden design: Steve Martino, Steve Martino & Associates (602/957-6150). Paint colors and fountainhead: John Douglas, Douglas Architecture and Planning (480/951-2242).
