Subdivision: Anasazi Meadows
Owner/ Designer: Joanie and Brad Wood
Garden Type or Feature: To enhance a natural meadow to the south, Joanie harvests seeds from her backyard natives, sprinkles them in front and relies on rain to help them germinate. To discourage rabbits and packrats in the unwalled front yard, Joanie relies on plants with repellant aromas, like lavender, rosemary, catmint, Agastache and Mexican oregano. And to satisfy her fondness for purples (and yellows), she planted purple coneflower, yellow flowering Hesperaloe, dwarf Russian sage, catmint, desert willow, purple penstemon, and even a purple rose and a purple crepe myrtle.
Artist in the Garden: Jay Leutwyler.
Description: In 2019, Joanie and Brad Wood traded the lush, humid environment of Washington D.C. for a high desert lot above a wide arroyo with stunning views. Then came the task of making the bare dirt into something beautiful. Armed with a design planned by landscape legend Judith Phillips and an eclectic sense of style, they set about making the property their own. Today it’s a colorful, comfortable work in progress they predict will take a few more years to finish.
Hardscaping came first, with paths, a network of swales and water catchment ponds, and then an unanticipated block stucco wall to enclose the backyard for their new pup, Maggie. That required major revisions to the design, which now reflects about 50 percent of Phillips’ recommendations and 50 percent the couple’s vision. They describe it as a mix of modern and rusty, natives and non-natives, stark sculptural elements and dainty flowers that blow in the wind.
Brad’s family contributed vintage weathered steel wagon wheels from the family farm in Arkansas that became an entryway sculpture – a keepsake that inspired modern Corten steel sculptures, borders and decorative panels.
Joanie carved out cool, protected spots for figs, crabapples and crepe myrtle trees juxtaposed with heat-lovers like beargrass, yucca, agave, ocotillo, and prickly pear cactus.
The crepe myrtles remind Joanie of her childhood home and serve as a homage to her late mother Maggie, after whom the garden is named. “I have a plaque with an Alice Walker quote that says, ‘In search of my mother’s garden, I found my own.’”
Two more unusual features reflect the Woods’ affection for their pets and sense of humor. They included a “cat” in the home design, an enclosed coyote-proof screened room for their two Siamese cats and built “Campo Fuego” at the end of a land split perched five stories above the arroyo. It’s used only for sunset watching, the fire pit still unlit as a precaution against wildfire.
Click here to download Maggie’s Garden – Plant List
Click here to download Maggie’s Garden – Outline
