A destination garden invites homeowners to move through the landscape and experience different spaces throughout the day. This Bennett Valley property in east Santa Rosa provided the perfect setting to create a garden with multiple destinations for relaxing, entertaining, and enjoying the beautiful surroundings.
Adjacent to Matanzas Creek Winery, the vineyard beyond the property line provided a spectacular backdrop. The challenge for Details Landscape Art was to solve several site issues while creating useful outdoor living spaces that complemented the natural beauty of the area.
A Destination Garden Begins with Solving Problems
Like many older landscapes, this backyard had evolved over the years. Several mature trees had outgrown their usefulness and required removal.
A professional tree service was brought in to remove the trees, grind the stumps, and chase as many lateral roots as possible. Even during construction, additional roots continued to surface as excavation progressed.
Attached to the home was an existing deck with a fountain and stairs leading down into what was essentially thirty years of wall-to-wall lawn.
Attached deck and fountain – part of the destination garden
The homeowners needed more than a lawn. They needed places to gather, entertain, and enjoy the remarkable setting.
Creating the First Destination
We began with a large circular patio constructed of Classic Oak Arizona flagstone.
Destination garden flagstone patio
Over the years we have found that curves—and circles in particular—create some of the most usable outdoor spaces. Squares and rectangles often leave corners that go unused.
The circular patio provided a generous gathering place for family and guests while complementing the soft lines of the surrounding landscape.
A medium-sized kidney-shaped lawn balanced the patio and added a cooling green element to this expansive backyard.
A Destination Garden Encourages Exploration
Further out in the landscape, we designed a four-post, three-tier redwood arbor that became a second destination within the garden.
Not only did the arbor provide vertical interest, but it also created a special place to enjoy morning coffee, an evening cocktail, or simply the quiet beauty of the vineyard setting.
Now the homeowners had three separate areas to enjoy: the existing deck, the flagstone patio, and the arbor.
A successful destination garden encourages people to move through the landscape rather than remain in a single place.
Walkways Connect the Garden
To tie all these spaces together, we designed a network of Classic Oak flagstone walkways that crisscrossed the garden.
Destination garden connected by a network of flagstone walkways
The walkways connected the deck to the patio, the patio to the arbor, and the arbor to the entrance toward the vineyard beyond.
These pathways naturally divided the landscape into a series of planting areas while improving circulation throughout the garden.
Planting Completes the Destination Garden
The planting design was carefully selected to complement the winery backdrop and create year-round beauty.
Feature trees included Japanese maples, non-fruiting olives, and Akebono flowering cherry trees.
The planting palette also included:
- Coleonema ‘Golden Sunset’
- Japanese barberry ‘Roseglow’
- Variegated society garlic ‘Silver Lace’
- White ‘Iceberg’ roses
- Nepeta ‘Blue Wonder’
- Pelargonium ‘Martha Washington’
Placement boulders and colorful foliage enhanced the natural beauty of the vineyard setting while adding texture and seasonal interest.
Lighting Extends the Enjoyment
A low-voltage lighting system highlighted major trees and illuminated pathways at strategic locations, creating a dramatic evening atmosphere for outdoor dining and entertaining.
As always, the finishing touch was a two- to three-inch layer of mini-fir bark. In addition to its attractive appearance, bark acts as mulch to conserve moisture and suppress weeds.
Before applying the bark, we broadcast a pre-emergent herbicide to further reduce weed growth.
This Bennett Valley featured garden demonstrates how thoughtful landscape design can transform a simple backyard into a destination garden with multiple places to gather, relax, and enjoy the beauty of Sonoma County.
Sometimes the best gardens do not reveal themselves all at once—they invite you to explore.