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You’d think it would take a lot of land to maintain two knot gardens, a
cottage garden, white garden, fruit arbor, fountain area, grass lawn, lap pool,
and pond. But Betty does it all on a third of an acre. She attributes her
knack for gardening in small spaces to her maternal grandfather in Taiwan, where
she grew up until age 12. “It inspired me to see how much bounty could come out
of three pots in his rooftop garden,” she recalls. Of course, the California
climate also motivates her to maximize the yard. “No matter what the season,
people naturally gravitate outside,” she says. “It stays nice so long, I can
even have a child’s birthday party outdoors in February.” Still, there’s
nothing to compare to spring. When the flowers start bursting into bloom, Betty
sets up shop under the fruit tunnel. It might be a buffet for friends or a long
table where 3-year-old Pippa, 6-year-old Sam, and 9-year-old Henry can snack and
enjoy crafts too messy for indoors.
(i) The pond in spring. (j) The garage looks old, but it’s really cinderblocks clad in
raw tree slices. (k) A carved redwood bench by John Nethercott is a nod to
California in its choice of wood, but has a decidedly Old English gothic look. (l)
Henry and Sam’s birdhouse decor.
Forgoing the typical plus-size family room, Betty and Peter opted for a
kit-built English conservatory just off the kitchen. “It’s all glass, so you
really feel like you’re outdoors,” Betty notes. “This is mainly where we eat and
where the kids do their homework.” After dinner, it’s just a few steps beyond
the conservatory to the porch, where California deck meets English pergola. “The
columns are reproductions from a garden house in the Cotswolds and would have
been part of a structure with three walls and one side open,” Betty says. “Here
we leave it entirely open, of course. My husband insisted on the rockers—they
remind him of his East Coast roots. What we’ve done is combine snippets of
places we love.”
(m) The family takes meals at an antique French table in the conservatory, a
four-season indoor-outdoor room. (n) Fresh flowers are easy to come by. (o) Limes prove
handy for lime-tequila chicken marinade. (p) Smothered in clematis and
climbing roses, reproduction oak columns lend an air of age to a porch by John
Nethercott.
An English Country Garden page
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