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This Houston Garden Went From Crowded to Charming With A Simple, European-Inspired Edit

Photo credit: Margaret Naeve
Photo credit: Margaret Naeve

From Veranda

Less is more. The adage quickly came to mind for landscape and garden designer Herbert Pickworth when considering a 1920s home in need of a strong landscape revision. The simple beauty of the French-inspired house, designed by acclaimed Houston architect William Ward Watkins, and its gardens was lost behind a messy web of plantings.

Photo credit: Margaret Naeve
Photo credit: Margaret Naeve

“The crepe myrtles had become overgrown, and the vegetation around them was too complicated,” he recalls. “So we set out to complement the structure of these beautiful trees and better highlight the architecture.”

Photo credit: Margaret Naeve
Photo credit: Margaret Naeve

This meant reducing the plant palette to a small selection of evergreens (primarily camellias, boxwood, and variegated pittosporum), reimagining the hedge design to draw attention through the garden, and connecting it more closely with the interior design, reflecting a romantic, European sensibility.


2020 Outdoor Living Award Winner for Prettiest Sculptural Design
Design by Herbert Pickworth, with M Naeve

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