PC
JUNE
2002
Gridlock
Lisa and Greg Westerman’s
lush tropical perimeter of
plants is juxtaposed against a
rigid architectural grid of white
crushed granite, a teak deck
and concrete pavers lined with
river rocks. This nook of land —
just 15 by 23 feet — can
accommodate dining for four
and lounging, not to mention
the family dog, compliments
of a six-by-eight-foot spot of
grass. Designed by Lisa Pope
Westerman.
Urban
Slivers
By Erica Levit
and Lisa Pope Westerman.
Photography Jack Thompson. Art
Director Chris Promecene.
16
Secret Sources:
Alamo Stone, 1400 Anderson St., 713.349.8484.
Best selection of gravel.
The Blair House, 4901 Rose St., 713.869.5558. Imported
plantation-grown teakwood.
Buchanan’s Native Plants, 611 E. 11th St., 713.861.5702.
Aquatic plants.
Camp Logan Cement, 1212 Asbury, 713.869.3385.
Great source for concrete.
Fajkus-Swallen Landscape, 1117 Autrey, 713.521.0505.
Espaliers.
Gregory/Henry Landscape Design, 1219 Durham,
713.426.3311. For the ultimate urbanscape.
Houston Garden Center, 1700 W. Loop North,
713.426.3030. Best place to buy bulk. Source for
mondo, pampas and liriope muscari grasses.
The Office of James Burnett, 3313 D’Amico Ave.,
713.529.9919. For landscape design.
San Jacinto Stone, 195 Yale St., 713.868.3466. Crushed
granite and river rocks.
Smith & Hawken, 3935 San Felipe, 713.621.9395.
Naturally polished river rocks.
Thompson + Hanson Nursery & Garden Center, 3600
W. Alabama, 713.622.6973. For unusual grasses such
as zebra, blood and giant purple fountain, as well as
orchids, bamboo muhly, sago palms and succulents.
Don’t miss their twice-a-year shipment of California
succulents and hard-to-find plants that live well in
Houston.
Urban Iron and Woodworks, Bill McMaster,
281.772.0688 (by appointment only). Arbors and
horizontal fencing.
Vogler Sheet Metal Co., Inc., 705 Shepherd Dr.,
713.861.1154. For custom metal finishes such as
copper and stainless steel.
Turning Japanese
George Lancaster’s Japanese
soaking tub sits atop a wooden
deck backdropped with a shojilike Japanese screen. The quintessential Buddha watches over this
garden, which is lined with a
three-by-three-foot grid of concrete pavers filled with mondo
grass. After drying off, lounge
amidst this collage of bamboo
and assorted grasses. Designed by
Steve Henry, Gregory/Henry
Landscape Design.
Narrow Minded
Jay and Michelle Davis’ slender
Zen-like haven, centered by a low
fountain and buffered by a wall
of bamboo, is an extension of the
interior living space. The patchwork of various stones and
gravel in this minimal courtyard
gives new meaning to the word
“hardscape.” Designed by
Cochran + Cochran.
Ring Around the Collar
This witty, conical-shaped
installation of vanilla limestone rocks,
arranged at James Burnett’s own office, is a
folly worth following. Designed by
James Burnett, landscape architect.
2002
Power Plant
In Cynthia Tole’s urban garden, water trickles
down from the canales (gutter scuppers) into
the livestock tanks 20 feet below. This subsurface irrigation system elicits water up through
the gravel into the zigzag planters to nourish
organic heirloom plants (from nonaltered
seeds thousands of years old), including a
melon variety from Thomas Jefferson’s garden.
Designed by architect Robert Morris, The
Studio of Robert Morris Architects.
Rock On
Concrete pavers organize this orthogonal grid
lined with crushed limestone — an effect softened by a backdrop of sculptural foxtail ferns.
Garden in Houston’s Magnolia Grove designed
by owner Steve Rooke and architect Steven P.
Dumas, Los Angeles.
As city dwellers, we can’t help yearning for a bit of fluffy texture, a sprig of jasmine or stately
sculpture. Urbanscape is the new landscape. So, put a permanent spring in your step with an
organized patch of greenery, or take on the dirt with a low-maintenance design of rocks, concrete
and a mere sprinkling of green. We promise, you won’t find any lawnmowers in these backyards.
17
RICHARD PAYNE
Falling Water
Surrounded by horsetail and complementing a house sheathed
in galvanized metal,
water cascades from a
stainless-steel trough
into a pool of water
below. Designed by
Glassman Shoemake
Maldonado Architects.