We were contacted by the owner of a Houston, Texas home who asked us to design a series of gardens and landscaping features that would compliment and expand the Mediterranean theme of his house into the surrounding landscape. This house sat on a very large lot of several acres in a secluded Memorial Drive neighborhood located near the 610 Loop. The home featured a symmetrical, linear appearance in spite of its two-story build, and our client wanted a landscape and garden design that would follow these same principles of self-contained regularity and subtle linear motion. Creating a Mediterranean theme in a Houston, Texas garden and landscape is a bit more complex that it might appear at face value. The southern coast of Europe—particularly in Italy and Greece—is a mountainous area where homes and gardens are built on steep angles and sharp vertical rises. Gardens and fields are often built in terraces that climb the mountains due to the limited planting area and rough, rocky terrain. Limestone is the predominant rock type in Italy and Greece and has become iconic of this part of the world in our collective consciousness. Mediterranean homes and gardens are historically famous for their white stucco walls, olive groves, and carefully sculptured greenery embedded in a rugged limestone backdrop. The challenge lay in taking an essentially three-dimensional landscaping style and transfering it to a Houston property. As we all know, this part of Texas is very flat, so a hillside garden is out of the question in the literal sense. However, using a combination of symmetrical forms and linear progressions, along with some innovative garden materials, we were able to mimic several aspects of seaside European terrain. The key to doing this was to establish a combination of circular forms and linear patterns in the multiple garden elements we designed. French and Italian gardens place a heavy emphasis on order and symmetry, and both tend to utilize right angles to establish form. We planted a variety of low level growth around the house and rear swimming pool patio to emphasize its walls and corners. We then added three keynote forms to the landscape to create a Houston equivalent of a Mediterranean garden. The first of these forms was a knot garden centered on the front door, located just in front of the home’s motorcourt. We planted boxwoods in three circular rows that looked like terraces on a hillside. In the center of the knot garden we planted Loropatalum, punctuated with a lone Crinum lily as the center piece. The rich purple of the Loropatalum draws catches the eye, and the vertical dimension added by the lily draws it upward to the front entrance of the house. Moving then to one side of the house, we transformed a substantial portion of the yard into a parterre garden that centered on a large glass room that extended from the west wing of the house. This garden was populated by low-growth rose bushes whose amenability to constant trimming makes them an ideal plant material for parterre gardens, and whose colorful blooms a made them stand out from multiple vantage points throughout this Houston neighborhood. The garden borders were made from of boxwood hedges, and the central pathways were made using European limestone gravel that mimics the color of the limestone cliffs of the Aegean and Adriatic Seas. We then completed the design by adding dwarf yaupon, a small shrub that bears a curious resemblance to clouds, all along the borders of the gravel walkways. This helped create the impression that the garden was located on a hilltop near the sea, and that the clouds were rolling across the shoreline. One of the most appealing attributes of this Houston, Texas property is its superb location. The back of the yard borders a 50-foot ravine carved out of the earth by a major tributary of Buffalo Bayou. This seemed to us a natural destination spot for garden guests to visit after strolling around the west wing of the home to the pool. To encourage them to do so, we planted an alley of crepe myrtles leading from the pool area all the way back to the woods along the ravine. We then built a walkway out of limestone aggregate blocks that started at the parterre garden, ran alongside the house to the pool, then ran straight out through the alley of trees to the scenic overlook of the forest and stream below. For more the 20 years Exterior Worlds has specialized in servicing many of Houston's fine neighborhoods.

'Iceberg' roses and 'Grosso' lavender catch the setting sun and provide a serene welcome home.

APLD 2021 Silver Award Winning Landscape Design. Galvanized troughs used for vegetables in the side yard. An expansive back yard landscape with several mature oak trees and a stunning Golden Locust tree has been transformed into a welcoming outdoor retreat. The renovations include a wraparound deck, an expansive travertine natural stone patio, stairways and pathways along with concrete retaining walls and column accents with dramatic planters. The pathways meander throughout the landscape... some with travertine stepping stones and gravel and those below the majestic oaks left natural with fallen leaves. Raised vegetable beds and fruit trees occupy some of the sunniest areas of the landscape. A variety of low-water and low-maintenance plants for both sunny and shady areas include several succulents, grasses, CA natives and other site-appropriate Mediterranean plants complimented by a variety of boulders. Dramatic white pots provide architectural accents, filled with succulents and citrus trees. Design, Photos, Drawings © Eileen Kelly, Dig Your Garden Landscape Design

Photo Credits: Steven Thompson

Wooden gate with warm stucco walls opens to winding gravel drive leading to this Mediterranean estate. Monterey cypress hedges line the drive with opening for a gate to the guesthouse. Photo by David Palermo Photography, Santa Barbara.

Photography by Matthew Momberger

Small, formal patio space set between a sunroom and an outdoor porch. Bird sculpture on plinth set in the adjacent walkway.

Pollinator Pathway Project in Pound Ridge. When we started it was a steep grassy slope and it was challenging to grow grass on the slope. We immediately designed a pollinator perennials garden. Designer:: Peter Atkins. Peter Atkins and Associates. LLC.

A natural rock pathway winds around a beautiful garden outcrop providing lawn access to driveway and parking. Redmond, WA.

We always like to show a little bit of 'behind the scenes' from MiaFleur, so you can get a feel for the family behind the brand. This is the timeline of our garden evolution! As we're sure yours is, our home and garden is our sanctuary and we spend many hours planting, faffing, and rearranging! Would love to know what you think :-)

Honey locust trees (4" caliper at install) line the driveway towards the estate entrance. A planting of evergreen/ornamental trees & shrubs at the left corner filter direct views of the main house from the public road. In the background, stone piers and a wooden enclosure hide the refuse dumpster.

disappearing fountain set in black gravel

Bluestone front walk and circular peastone drive Photo by Pete Cadieux

Coming home has never felt better...This complete exterior home renovation & curb appeal has vibes of Palm Springs written all over it!!! Views of the Organ Mountains surrounded by the Chihuahuan Desert creates an outdoor space like no other. Modifications were made to the courtyard walls, new entrance door, sunset balcony included removing an over designed standard staircase access with a new custom spiral staircase, a new T&G ceiling, minimized obstructing columns, replaced w/substantial cedar support beams. Stucco patch, repair & new paint, new down spouts & underground drainage were all key to making a better home. Now our client can come home with feel good vibes!!! Our next focus was the access driveway, taking boring to sophisticated. With nearly 9' of elevation change from the street to the home we wanted to create a fun and easy way to come home. 8" bed drystack limestone walls & planters were key to making the transition of elevation smooth, also being completely permeable, but with the strength to retain, these walls will be here for a lifetime. Accented with oversized Mossrock boulders and mossrock slabs used for steps, naturalized the environment, serving as break points and easy access. Native plants surrounded by natural vegetation compliments the flow with an outstanding lighting show when the sun goes down. Welcome to your home!!!