FRIENDLY ADVICE

When tasked with creating a garden for her friends, designer Neive Tierney found the project came with challenges - not least the need to include a wheelchair ramp and squeeze in a saltwater swimming pool

- VERONICA PEERLESS

The brief

This small garden in Los Angeles presented several challenges for designer Neive Tierney of Nectar Landscape Design. Among the problems she needed to solve was the fact that the floors of the home were much higher than the grade of the garden, and a significant part of the garden was taken up with a guest house that had been converted from a garage. The space needed to incorporate a saltwater pool and hot tub, while including plenty of space for entertaining and parties. It also needed be fully accessible for one of the owners, Sasha, who uses a wheelchair without incorporating any 'ugly' mobility equipment.

Neive is an old college friend of Sasha and her wife Rachel, and she worked on the project during the evenings after work, before setting up on her own. "The project was very special, because I knew Sasha and Rachel well, and I knew what they wanted," says Neive. "I wanted to create different hangout spaces and some green areas, with the idea that everything could be ADA [American Disability Association] accessible. My biggest challenge was avoiding it looking like a concrete jungle."

Essential elements

1 Pool garden

2 Ramp

3 Saltwater pool

4 Hot tub

5 Dining terrace

6 Boardwalk

7 Bedroom garden

8 Guest-house garden

9 Guest house

10 Main house

The design

The L-shaped garden comprises two main areas: the decked seating area (approximately 9m x 6m), which is between the master bedroom and the guest house, and the pool garden (around 18m x 9m), which is overlooked by the dining area above.