How to Create a Clutter-free Garden

An Arizona landscaper shows how to banish clutter from your life (or at least your backyard).


The courtyard becomes an outdoor room
The courtyard becomes an outdoor room


Reclaim the entry
Every garden needs at least one area where you can shut out the world. This entry in a 1960s-modern home in Paradise Valley, Arizona, is that spot for landscape designer Brian Kissinger and his partner Todd McCandless.

Why it works: With its front gates closed (frosted-glass panes let in light), the courtyard becomes a private outdoor room. A canopy of date palms shades a small collection of subtropical plants and helps cool the space in summer.

Adapt the idea: Don't have a whole courtyard to play with? Block off a corner near your entry with a trellis, train a vine to clamber over it, then tuck a bench behind.


More like a nature trail than a garden walk
More like a nature trail than a garden walk


Make a park out of a path

Kissinger made his entry path feel more like a nature trail than a garden walk. Thyme grows between steps; boulders, cactus, and rosemary fringe the path's edges.
Indispensable herbs

Why it works: Even before his guests get to the house, wide steps (made of concrete aggregate) encourage them to slow down and enjoy the garden.

Adapt the idea: If your yard doesn't have enough sun for thyme, tuck Corsican mint or Japanese sweet flag between your steps or pavers; both have scented foliage. Stagger your pavers to slow the "journey."
More on garden paths


Restrict the supporting cast
Restrict the supporting cast


Limit your plant selections
Give the stars of each bed--such as these barrel cactus--enough room to show off. Then restrict the supporting cast to a few plants that complement them.

Stone mulches cover the bare soil, emphasizing the clean, graphic look.

Why it works: Well-spaced plants, arranged by kind, are more calming than a chaotic jumble of different types. You can appreciate each one's form more easily.

Adapt the idea: If cactus won't be happy where you live, plant a grid of carex, deer grass, or Phormium tenax 'Jack Spratt'.


Especially symbolic in this garden
Especially symbolic in this garden


Add objects with meaning

An Indonesian Buddha's head is especially symbolic in this garden--Kissinger has taken up Buddhism.

Why it works: Meaningful treasures remind you to slow down and live in the moment.

Get the feeling: Tuck a favorite find or two from your travels or flea-market forays beside rocks or among shrubs.


Easier on the eye than mixed planting
Easier on the eye than mixed planting


Use one plant per pot

Kissinger set one plant into each white ceramic 'Cylinder' container, from Gainey Ceramics (gaineyceramics.com).

Why it works: A single plant with a bold, sculptural shape is easier on the eye than a mixed planting. And a white pot allows it to shine.

Adapt the idea: You don't have to buy large, expensive specimens like Kissinger did--try smaller agaves or ferns instead.
Gorgeous agaves


Unpatterned concrete in pristine white
Unpatterned concrete in pristine white


Use a neutral color palette
The patio floor is unpatterned concrete in pristine white.

The chairs and tables, from the 1966 Collection by Richard Schultz, are also white.

Why it works: Neutral colors are restful to look at, and here, they frame views rather than compete with them.

Adapt the idea: Try pewter-colored furniture with blue-gray cushions on bluestone pavers, or teak with sandy peach fabric on Arizona flagstone.


As relaxing as a spa
As relaxing as a spa


Create an oasis

"I wanted to create the feeling of a David Hockney pool painting. A simple rectangle of blue", says Kissinger.

His oasis features date and Bismarck palms in the background.
All about garden palms

Why it works: A place that indulges your senses and feels like an escape can be as relaxing as a spa visit or an island vacation.

Get the feeling: Find a scenic spot away from the house. Set up a Bali-style teahouse (eastwestteahouse.net), or just sling a hammock.


Less clutter, less stress
Less clutter, less stress


Less is more

Kissin­ger's mantra: Provide enough detail to make the garden feel like a relaxing retreat, but not an iota more. Less clutter, less stress--isn't that what we all crave?

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