New Gardens of the American West

The Landscape Architecture of Design Workshop

The American West presents particular challenges for those who create garden design. Beyond issues of arid climate, fragile soils and short growing seasons, landscape architects often face vistas that tend to overpower the intimacy of a garden space. In its designs for garden spaces in the intermountain West, Design Workshop has crafted the smaller outdoor room by grounding it in this vast context. This may be achieved by framing views and anchoring the large scale with symbolic references, but also by helping to integrate the interior of a home with its outdoor spaces. In the end, the goal of all these designs is to cultivate an experience of nature for people and to bring the eloquence of the land into the home.

The book features a series of 10 residential landscape designs by Design Workshop in the mountains and deserts of the American West. Highlights include resurrection of ancient Spanish irrigation channels called acequias on the grounds of New Mexican estates; water-harvesting techniques and erosion prevention strategies that allow for the growth of lush landscapes in arid climates; siting of new homes to capture magnificent views, and water features that create mountain streams out of irrigation ditches and ponds.