Tim & Olga's Property
Joshua Tree, CA.

Tim and Olga have a beautiful property with panoramic views of Joshua Tree. They love hosting large gatherings on their land where guests camp on the land, enjoy the pool and cook big meals to share. They hired me to enhance this festival vibe with more areas to play. I started with a huge sunken fire pit 36' across with two layers of beautiful wooden seating and descending stairs. Then I added more decking to the pool and some low native shrubs to block the view of the wide of the pool. I lined the awesome sand ship with a retaining wall to protect it from erosion and added drought tolerant xeriscape plants to the terraces, with an ocotillo at the helm.

Olga is into Reiki, and so I put a labyrinthian orchard lined path in the shape of the Reiki power symbol Cho Ku Rei, which is supposed to gather energy inwards like the energy vortexes that Joshua Tree is famous for. The pathways are lined with fruit trees that are both frost and heat tolerant and as drought tolerant as possible for fruit. At different stages of the garden journey there are rest spots with benches for contemplative chilling. At the center is a large wooden dining table surrounded by a citrus grove. Citrus is less frost and wind tolerant and so I put these trees in the center for protection from the wind and the cold.

Adjacent to the labyrinth I added privacy creating tall pistachio trees and date palms. In a stone fruit stand closer to the house I also added a hammock village, so you can star gaze in a hammock after picking fresh peaches or nectarines. Tim and Olga were a joy to work with and it seems they felt the same! Here's what they had to say: 

“We loved working with Nisha on our landscape design. She is professional and a good listener. She is full of permaculture-infused ideas and was really able to bring our hopes to life in her design.”

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