Sanctuary Garden

Sanctuary garden

A peaceful courtyard garden in Santa Fe, New Mexico provides a space for meditation, reading, and quiet contemplation. A simple stone fountain and pea gravel mulch complement a low-maintenance, minimalist plant palette of drought-tolerant trees, shrubs, and grasses.

This courtyard garden was designed for a client with a stressful job that involved a great deal of travel. When home, the client wanted a quiet, serene, low-maintenance and flexible space where she could meditate, read a book over her morning coffee, and entertain. Pea gravel mulch creates an open and harmonious feeling, and moveable seating allows for maximum flexibility. Water bubbles up through the center of a simple bespoke stone water feature. Robinia pseudoacacia (black locust) trees provide a green overhead canopy, and Calamagrostis ‘Karl Foerster’ grasses soften and complement the existing adobe courtyard walls. An existing prickly pear cactus was retained, a symbol of desert beauty and tenacity.

The garden was featured in the Water Garden Idea Book, by Lee Anne White (The Taunton Press, 2004).