Dallas, TX 2019-2022
This .22-acre property sits in an urban neighborhood on an escarpment just south of downtown Dallas, Texas. A three-story building bifurcates the property into a south entry and north garden connected via a heavily vegetated eastern flank, while a natural woodland creek traverses the west. Glass lines most of the building’s northern facade, capitalizing on expansive garden spaces below.
The clients asked the landscape architect to recreate a landscape reminiscent of their Midwestern roots, envisioning a space for wild respite, affinity for nature and modern simplicity.
An elevated entry drive separates natural woodland from unmown lawn, alternately delineating wild from domestic. Four garden spaces exist beyond the entry: a woodland creek inhabited by a wooden play structure; a play space on the northern lawn; a northern woodland area; and a fire garden.
Woodland Creek:
Native grasses and wildflowers populate the property’s western woodland, where locally quarried limestone risers trace a path to a play structure abutting the creek and surrounded by oaks. Dappled light fills a space already rich with sounds from the nearby creek, and a wide variety of bird species and pollinators delight in the natural forest. This woodland imagines new ways for an urban lot to embrace the wild while celebrating regional materials and native ecological communities.
North Lawn:
Native charcoal limestone steps descend from the east and north deck to the natural lawn below. A weathered steel wall surrounds a lawn area designed for play, drawing a sharp contrast with the sloping terrain and wild grasses that surround it. The unmown lawn here fills the space with texture and softness, serving as a counterpoint to the shaded surrounding woodland, punctuated by old growth cedars hovering above.
North Woodland:
To the north, a woodland garden of Oak and Cedar is interspersed with a grid of Possumhaw Holly, where it both screens the view from neighboring properties and brings seasonal interest to the landscape. Native grasses and flowering perennials create an ever-changing border to a lawn plinth. A weathered steel fence provides a boundary while plantings on either side allow the edges of the property to disappear. Native boulders armor the land against erosion and echo the escarpment’s geological history. Mood is the backbone to this northern garden. Here, grasses and native perennials situated on the eastern edge are backlit by the morning sun, creating a garden of optimism and contemplation.
Fire Garden:
A fire garden and outdoor grill nestle in outdoor grasses at the western edge of the north garden, out of view of the main house. Modern furnishings, a custom steel grill and crushed stone stand in contrast to the wild garden that rings the edges.
Prior to development, the ecology of this region was tallgrass prairie, dominated by little bluestem. This combined with the site’s calcareous soils were the driving force in the native grass selections. Here Little Bluestem, Grama Grass, Switch Grass, Pine Muhly, and Inland Sea Oats are mixed with Eastern Red Cedar, Wax Myrtle, Oak and Possumhaw Holly to extend a layered Texas Native landscape. Weeping Love Grass in the meadow assists with erosion control, while rushes and sedges bolster that effort in areas with heavy saturation. Grasses and wildflowers were seeded in the creek and north woodlands and are cut once a year.
The spaces within this garden are meant to create lasting memories for this young family. Experiences with the native landscape and habitat engage all of the senses creating lasting memories of growing up in this Texas landscape.
Awards: 2023 Texas Merit Award
Architect: Bernbaum/Magadini Architects
