turning over a new leaf

Scrap the fussy foxgloves, forget the flagstone with the weedy seams. This year’s garden is color-crazy and exotic--comfortably mussed yet disciplined around the edges. Bits of water flow through it like a song. And instead of gazing at it from a window, more than ever we’re living, cooking, playing and even sleeping among its hedges.

So says a group of L.A.-area garden experts we consulted about today’s state of the yard. Knowing how hard it is for gardeners to reinvent the plot, pitch the leafy losers and agonize over novelties, we did the legwork ourselves. We discovered that today’s hot plants are architectural. Succulents--fleshy aloes and agaves and rosette-shaped echeverias--lead the pack, but bamboo, grasses and large-leafed tropicals such as gingers and elephant’s ears follow close behind. While blooms are a plus, dramatic foliage is even better, especially in blue, gold, purple or chartreuse. If it blooms, look for flame reds and bordello fuchsias. And don’t hesitate to mix, says Kate Stamps, a designer in South Pasadena who has fiddled lately with a border of pink, orange and magenta.

Another plant trend concerns edibles--vegetable beds, mini-fruit orchards, herbs tucked among perennials. If you grow your own, you know they’re “safe,” untouched by toxic chemicals.

Designwise, the focus remains on the house-garden connection--the need for garden rooms and plants to jive with architecture and interiors. Not surprisingly, given the current mania for mid-century, modernism has hit the landscape. This means gardens with simple lines and plants organized into graphic blocks. Single-plant thickets will circle patios and swimming pools a la Thomas Church and Garrett Eckbo, great California designers whose ideas are being revived. From the ‘40s through the ‘60s, they emphasized unfussy outdoor life amid undemanding plants. Some of these tough favorites, once scorned as too common, are back, too: New Zealand flax, cannas and agapanthus. At the same time, the formalism of California in the ‘20s, the “Santa Barbara” style of Italian- and French-influenced designs, still applies for a vintage house. But even formalism is more relaxed and gardeners can borrow freely among aesthetics. In fact, says Judy Kameon, a designer in Elysian Park, “What’s old is sticking to one style. What’s more exciting are style hybrids, like Tropical and Old Hollywood; Japanese and Modern; Woodland and Japanese.”

The delight is in the details: graceful pergolas roofed with vines, patterned paving, bubbling fountains--anything that draws you out to appreciate the living world. As we reach for novel plants, we’ll experiment with new materials. Sasha Tarnopolsky, a landscape architect in Los Angeles, likes metal, fiberglass and shade fabrics as alternatives to wood for arbors. Derrik Eichelberger of Santa Barbara, another landscape architect, is smitten with recycled glass mixed with concrete as raw material for paving stones. And all our experts value water in small amounts--ponds, moving rills, tiny, well-placed spills. The sound is crucial--to block city noise, draw birds and cool a dry, hot day. Large, thirsty lawns, on the other hand, are on the outs, though still coveted by some for recreation. Bigger news concerns compost (we’ll all be making it) and glazed pots (they’re splashy focal points). As to furniture, it should be comfortable; as to lighting, keep it subtle. Above all, says Gary Jones, owner of Hortus, a nursery in Pasadena, let your landscape be your stage. “This is a time of personal gardens,” he observes. “To create places that express themselves--who they are, what they love--people are feeling free to ignore ideas about what should be. Next to that, borrowed style looks silly.”

The focus remains on the house-garden connection--the need for garden rooms and plants to jive with architecture and interiors.

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Garden tool purveyor Bob Denman of Denman & Co.: --On color: “We see more garden tools in pale greens and grays--a bad trend. They should be bright--red, orange, yellow--so you can find them.”

--On age and convenience: “Tools are evolving to accommodate creaky, cranky baby boomers like me. Mid-length tools keep you from bending over so much. Tools with extra-long handles work your thigh muscles, not your lower back. Kneelers, wrist supports and hand pruners reduce discomfort caused by carpal tunnel syndrome and arthritis.”

--On favorites: “Mine include Corona hand pruners, easy on the wrist; the Water Coil Hose, which rebounds after stretching; and the short-handled Red Pig Slope Hoe, designed for hillside plots.” *

Garden designer Ros Cross of Praxis Modern Gardens: --On edible gardening: “Try easy things. Mix roses and other flowers with mesclun, chard, snow peas, citrus and herbs.”

--On lawns: “Where it’s appropriate, I replace them with gravel or meadows.”

--On design: “I like a natural, wild feeling within a strong structure--clipped hedges with wildflowers.”

--On arbors: “A grapevine on an overhead trellis provides both summer shade and, when the leaves are gone, warm winter sun.”

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Landscape architect Mia Lehrer of Mia Lehrer + Associates: --On structures: “Living arbors have tremendous drama as three-dimensional transition rooms between the house and garden.”

--On swimming pools: “We try to make the pool an integral part of the garden; when it’s not being used, it should look like a reflecting pool.”

--On thirsty plants: “If you plant what are considered water guzzlers--azaleas and camellias--in the right shady place, they don’t guzzle.”

--On garden furnishings: “Modern collectibles are being rediscovered, thank God. Those pieces were well-designed, comfortable and built to last.”

--On garden paths: “For me, the importance of garden itinerary walks has been a revelation--the richness of changing views as you move through the outdoor space.”

--On garden lighting: “A little drama is always a struggle. I’ve started hanging lanterns from trees and using candles in a major way.”

Suggestive of the jungle’s wild abandon, large-leaf tropicals add an exotic charge to a conventionally green garden.

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Landscape architect Derrik Eichelberger of Arcadia Studio:

--On design: “If a garden is a room, the plants are the paint and wallpaper. A truly great garden is based on how the space is broken down and how the sequence of experiences is expressed. Most plants are interchangeable and replaced anyway over time.”

--On succulents: “They’re structurally beautiful, nearly maintenance free and particularly gorgeous when they bloom. My favorites are Opuntia ‘Santa Rita,’ Euphorbia lambii and Aloe ciliaris.”

--On naturalistic ponds: “I think vernal pools and seasonal wet zones are going to become more popular. They’re great for attracting wildlife.”

--On the color orange: “I only like it if it is growing on a tree.”

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Landscape architect Sasha Tarnopolsky of Dry Design: --On plants: “For novelties, I like Yucca whipplei, Aloe arborescens and Dasylirion longissimum. For bulletproof types, I love Westringia fruticosa and Kniphofia uvaria.”

--On design: “I see simpler

plant palettes used in a semiformal organization with broader ‘brush strokes.’ ”

--On water: “At Dry Design, we’re getting away from water in contained pools to investigate how it moves, i.e., through channels surrounding the user, or in simple cisterns where it spills out and disappears into the earth.”

--On furnishings: “We bring functional elements of home into the garden--fireplace, stove, sink, shower and (we hope, in the future) a bed.”

--On tools: “I don’t go anywhere without my F-4 Felco secateurs.”

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Landscape designer Melinda Taylor: --On keeping it simple: “I saw a really good garden composed of only three succulents--jade (the typical crassula), Aloe arborescens and Agave attenuata. It looked full, natural and complete.”

--On design: “We could all benefit from leaving the formal traditions to places where nature seems more overwhelming and welcoming back some sense of the wild.”

--On high maintenance: “It’s a thing of the past. We don’t live in an era of people taking on a job and tending to it quietly and conscientiously for 20 years.”

--On garden ornaments: “I’m tired of the tasteful globe, the obelisk--the ‘found’ objects from expensive stores. I like people’s individual expression, even when it doesn’t quite click for me.”

This year’s gardens are color-crazy and exotic--comfortably mussed yet disciplined around the edges.

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Nurseryman Gary Jones, owner of Hortus: --On color: “Thinking that gardens are only about color is a thing of the past.”

--On design: “I’m seeing plants planted in rows, especially on diagonals. We really yearn for the lost agrarian look.”

--On paving: “I predict a huge trend toward beautiful, handcrafted paving, intricate designs of stones set on edge, exposed aggregates of colored stones and mosaics.”

--On water: “Simple, unpretentious water features throughout the garden are surprises and rewards for strolling and exploring.”

--On furnishings: “Put them in to be used, not to look pretty. There’s ‘honest’ and phony furniture. Everyone can spot the difference.”

--On lawns: “They’ll disappear. Or should.” *

Kate Stamps of Stamps & Stamps: --On plants: “Old favorites look new when combined with more unusual plants. For example, daffodils with hellebores and euphorbias, or Campanula takesimana ‘Elizabeth’ with ‘Gertrude Jekyll’ roses.”

--On design: “The serenity and solace of a garden is more pronounced when the hand of man is not so obvious.”

--On paving: “I’m using brick, tile and stone in sand beds. I hate grout this year. And I’m doing less paving on paths--more grass and decomposed granite.”

--On lighting: “Too much strips away the feeling of peace in a moonlit garden.”

--On landscape trends: “Hopefully, our gardens outlast them. Gardening is a process, not a result.”

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Garden designer Nancy Goslee Power of Nancy Goslee Power & Associates: --On plants: “I heard tropicals are in and conifers out. Conifers are majestic and strong, tropicals sensual and decadent. Don’t we need both?”

--On edibles: “Plant rosemary to rub against, beans on the arbor, fraises des bois for children to find.”

--On garden rooms: “They should be easy to use, ready to go! If you have to drag everything outside every time, you just won’t.”

--On color: “I’m dying to cater to my inner Barbie and do a hot pink garden.”

--On travel: “When I go to Spain or Bali or Brazil, I pick up garden influences I can borrow from later. Japan will be my next big inspiration.”

--On tools: “For digging, weeding, getting a plant out of a pot, nothing works like an old 8-inch chef’s knife with a broken point.”

In today’s garden border, succulents are apt to take the place of fussier, thirstier perennials.

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Landscape architect Lisa Gimmy: --On design: “There’s a growing sophistication about it and a sensitivity toward the connection between gardens and the regional landscape. People are veering away from what’s trendy and relating more to where they live.”

--On outdoor living: “The kitchen garden is increasingly a place for family activities, incorporating dining and play space in addition to areas for growing flowers, herbs and vegetables.”

--On garden furnishings: “I hope the focus on them fades. Yes, the garden is an outdoor

living room, but it’s about more than cool tables and chairs!”

--On lighting: “Inspired by theatrical lighting designers, some people are using colored filters to accentuate the color of different foliage, flowers and berries.”

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Plant purveyor Gary Hammer, co-owner of Desert to Jungle Nursery: --On tropical plants: “People want them--especially new and unusual ones--heliconia, ginger, costus, ctenanthe. Also, evergreen subtropical bulbs like crinum and hymenocallis.”

--On leaves vs. bloom: “A plant’s texture and foliage are more important to gardeners now. We sell many more plants out of flower than we used to.”

--On maintenance: “How much a plant needs is one of the most frequent questions people ask. They’re concerned and hesitant, especially about having to prune and cut back.”

--On drought tolerance: “It seems more of a garden look than a conservation question. Succulents are more popular for their boldness than their lack of thirst.”

--On nurseries: “I like the plant market in London, England, and Random Harvest Indigenous Nursery in Johannesburg, South Africa.”

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Landscape designer Judy Kameon of Elysian Landscapes: --On paving: “I like pigmented concrete and stone pavers laid in a clean, graphic way.”

--On structures: “Give them simple forms--let the plants provide the interest.”

--On maintenance: “Low maintenance is not no maintenance. Even gravel needs to be raked.”

--On drought-tolerant plants: “Instead of the old Southwest cactus look, try mixing grasses, salvias and succulents to make a lush garden that isn’t thirsty.”

--On garden lighting: “Use it subtly--to illuminate the bark of a tree or cast the pattern of a grass against a smooth wall.”

--On garden ornaments: “Hummingbirds and butterflies are the best.”