Tish Treherne, principal of Bliss Garden Design, creates beautiful landscapes for a living. But this project on Bainbridge Island, Washington, was a particular labor of love, since it’s her own home.

“The former homeowners, both architects, had done some wonderful things in the landscape,” Treherne says. “They had built in great structure and thoughtfully kept some mature elements from prior gardens.” But, she says, it suffered from clutter, overcrowding and masses of weeds. “And there were stylistic conflicts, too, with a naturalistic meadow feel and Asian modern trying to merge unsuccessfully.”

Treherne set to work, creating a unified landscape that melded better with the house and the spectacular waterfront setting.

Landscape at a Glance
Who lives here: Tish Treherne, her husband and their dog
Location: Bainbridge Island, near Seattle
Landscape design: Bliss Garden Design
Size: ½-acre property Before Photo Bliss Garden Design Space 1: The Courtyard

Here’s how the courtyard looked before. It certainly wasn’t terrible, but Treherne wanted to transform it into an extension of the house, a private spot for dining and relaxing. Before Photo Bliss Garden Design The courtyard was stripped down to one tree, an enormous harlequin glorybower (Clerodendrum trichotomum). Much of what was removed, including plants and concrete pieces, was repurposed elsewhere. Bliss Garden Design Bliss Garden Design AFTER: The old harlequin glorybower provides welcome shade and is extremely fragrant in summer. A mixture of Elfin thyme (in sunnier spots) and Corsican mint (in shadier spots) grows between the stepping stones.

The house is built in a U shape, surrounding the courtyard. Gold-toned crushed gravel echoes the colors of the interior. When you look across the courtyard from one wing of the house to the other, you see a seamless design. Bliss Garden Design Treherne’s husband built a fence to enclose the courtyard’s fourth wall, enhancing the outdoor-room feel. Galvanized panels trimmed in cedar match the siding on the house. The large urn in the corner was intentionally left empty, adding heft to the composition. Bliss Garden Design A long planter filled with succulents under the eaves has permeable cloth on the open bottom, holding in soil but permitting fast drainage. Bliss Garden Design Treherne likes to use containers as sculptural elements. She favors unadorned pottery with smooth, rounded forms. To simplify maintenance, she plants just one or two varieties per pot, then clusters them together. Bliss Garden Design Bliss Garden Design Space 2: The Waterfront Garden

For the water-facing side of the property, ornamental grasses complement the beachy setting. Feather reed grass (Calamagrostis x acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’), shown at left, provides superb texture and moves with the breezes. Behind it is a willow hedge that Treherne hard prunes every year to keep its size in check and to get the brightly colored new growth. Bliss Garden Design Leading up to the front of the house, a stone pathway accented with Erysimum ‘Apricot Twist’ has replaced the former lawn. Elfin thyme grows in the gaps between the stones.

The existing retaining wall and steps, made of reused concrete pieces, was kept. Although the material was not Treherne’s choice, she maintained continuity by building a second terrace reusing concrete removed from elsewhere on the property. “In the end I made it work,” she says, “and I’m very happy with the outcome.” Bliss Garden Design Bliss Garden Design Strategically placed Adirondack chairs are a perfect spot for taking in the water view. Among the surrounding plants are Blonde Ambition blue grama (Bouteloua gracilis ‘Blonde Ambition’), Mexican fleablane (Erigeron karvinskianus), Jerusalem sage (Phlomis russeliana), maiden grass (Miscanthus sinensis), Japanese barberry (Berberis thunbergii f. atropurpurea ‘Rose Glow’) and cardoon (Cynara cardunculus).