John Russell Landscape Architect's Blog

The Modernist Garden

johnrusselllandscapearchitect — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 14:09:13 +0000

Entry Walkway

This is an entry into a backyard garden. The concrete step stones were dry laid in crusher run limestone gravel. Massing was created with Indian hawthorn, lambs ear and dwarf yaupons, with the “tunnel” formed from wax myrtle and Nellie R. Stevens holly. Birmingham, Al.

The Modernist Garden

This modernist garden was design as a transitioning materials walkway. The patio is graded from stamped concrete to solid concrete step stones, to running concrete step stones in crusher run gravel and finally to crusher run gravel only. Crisp edging is provided by metal. Plantings consist of native plant material and vegetables. Birmingham, Al.

This side garden was designed to address the following issue; The house was only visible from the end. In order to create a visible entry, we framed in the sidewalk to the front with and staggered perforated brick wall, custom metal arbor, and subtle plantings of azaleas, hydrangeas and dogwoods. Birmingham, Al.

Metal Arbor and Brick Wall

The Spiral Garden

johnrusselllandscapearchitect — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 14:00:09 +0000

The Spiral Garden

The Spiral Garden was designed for the curator of the Birmingham Botanical Gardens and built for a show in Knoxville, TN. The design is based on an overlay of the Fibonacci sequence, ADA, and the structural unit of CMU (8”). It was designed to pull the visitor up though a ramp along a series of cascading pools with fire burning at the uppermost fountain and steps down. The elements of fire, water, earth and sky were all present in the design. Changes in structure (cascades) were a reflection of quantum changes in the basic building unit. The proposed stone is travertine, which has spiral shells (conforming to the Fibonacci sequence) embedded. Not built permanently.

The Spiral Garden Display

Bringing the Appalachian Mountains Home

johnrusselllandscapearchitect — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 13:48:39 +0000

Appalacian Mountain Stones

Who says you can’t move mountains? Through carefully planned creative landscaping, I was able to create a mountainous feel in this clients backyard. This stream and pond were created as a part of a courtyard renovation. The owners wanted to create a sense of being in the Appalachian Mountains. This was achieved by using native mountain materials such as native stone, ferns, serviceberry, rhododendron, leucothoe, etc. The patio is stamped concrete in a brown tone to match the natural stone.

Drawf Hookera and Stream

A detail from a smoky Mountain style courtyard with a planting of dwarf hookera, stamped concrete and a stream.

Dry-Stack Stone Steps

These dry-stack stone steps were part of a transition from a stone patio to an upper garden. Directly to the left attached to the steps is a small architectural waterfall with pond.

Knoxville, TN

Curb Appeal

johnrusselllandscapearchitect — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 13:37:08 +0000

This planting plan was designed to create curb appeal. The issue was that from the street the garage was highly visible, but the front door was hidden.

Lawn Architechture

We used carefully selected plantings of miscanthus, sedum, black-eyed suzie and liriope to screen the garage, frame the view to the house and literally point the way to the front door. A mass planting of hollies at the far side of the yard screened the neighbor’s house reinforcing the view to the door.

Knoxville, TN

John Russell Landscape Architect

johnrusselllandscapearchitect — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 16:26:29 +0000

I am excited to be able to offer my customers and friends a blog that will keep you up to date on my most recent projects. Photos will be added shortly with details of each project.

If you are located in the Birmingham, Alabama area and want to know what I can do for you, visit my web site at www.johnrusselllandscapearchitect.com.

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