Deep Roots I

Photo Credit: Alan Shaffer

DEEP ROOTS

For landscape designer Christine London, the curation of an artful garden is centered around joy and curiosity.

SARAH JANSEN-MOUNT

Christine London has gained a reputation for excellence in landscape design in England, New York and California, garnering a celebrity-studded client base. Her horticultural studies in England and Europe and architectural studies in New York allow her to weave the classic and contemporary to juxtapose a historical understanding with forwardthinking design. She shares her approach to creating extraordinary landscapes with The Agency.

Photo Credit: Alan Shaffer

The home’s architecture is very much a part of the greater story.

How was your passion for landscape design sparked?

I grew up in Hertfordshire, England where woods, riverbanks and meadows were my playground. I’ve had a deep fascination with nature for as long as I can remember and being outside brought me an incredible sense of joy.

How does architecture play into your landscape design?

I study architecture to ground my landscape design in the vernacular of the individual house. Understanding the historical material of the home is essential if you are striving to keep the landscape design true to the period, which I always am. I want to create a cohesive experience and the home’s architecture is very much a part of the greater story.

How would you describe your landscape style?

My designs are not imposed on the land but feel right in the space, featuring clean lines and structures that will hold over time. I curate a combination of intimate spaces for one to embrace as well as open areas to maximize the land or vista.

What is your own garden like?

Very green, secluded and peaceful. It allows me to take in moments of quiet and enjoy the sequential bloom over the spring and summer. I have a few enormous oak trees that provide scale and habitat. Although I live in L.A., my garden feels like a world all its own, transporting one away from urban life to a magical oasis in the hills.

What gardens have inspired and influenced your work?

Many landscape designers and architects have inspired my work. One is Piet Oudolf, who is the designer of The High Line in New York City. He has a painterly quality in his work that brings out the refinement of plant details and nature’s beautiful life cycle to recognition.

Another inspiring artist is Fernando Caruncho, a philosopher turned garden designer. He has a way of evoking contemplative thought and feeling with his compositions; his gardens are disciplined and interesting.

Additionally, Arne Maynard creates masterful, uplifting gardens that are both gentle and strong, horticulturally wise and timeless. He achieves the quintessential English garden and that is very inspiring to me.

Do you find inspiration in art forms outside of architecture and landscape design?

Constantly. Visits to art galleries and museums and an interest in paintings and sculpture are interwoven in my life. Inspiration is everywhere—in set and costume design in theatre and movies, music, and dance. Even beyond art forms is a vast tableau of visual stimulation that informs my work: how a friend sets the table for dinner, street fashion or a country farm stand display. Being an inspired designer is really all about seeing what’s around you.

What do you want people to feel when they are in one of your gardens?

In short: joy. I want them to simply be within the garden—to experience the immersiveness of being content in nature, both alone and at other times wanting all your friends to come over and enjoy it with you. I want them to feel curious about what is happening in the garden that day and explore that curiosity.

How do you start conceptualizing the vision for a project?

The first phase of finding one’s vision is really getting to know the property and the client. How a family lives is fundamental for a curated, residential design while knowledge of the land leads to its essence and potential.

I never determine the design myself; the land always has something to say and will let you know.

What influences the projects you work on most? How do you bring forth the sense of place?

All good work is made possible with great clients. The lifestyles and needs of the family, the terrain itself and the collaborative process with architects, interior designers, and contractors all support and shape the project.

The sense of place is something that I find by spending time taking in a property and listening. The land always has distinctive qualities and unique intangible aspects. I then determine the design in response to and in keeping with the genus loci.

Does your vision evolve throughout the creation process, or does it typically stay true to your original plan?

The spatial components and aesthetics hold through the design process but everything evolves. The client needs the opportunity to respond to the built forms and we can always adjust and tailor with them as the spaces take shape. Once a client gets to experience the garden in person, we adjust, edit or add depending on what is needed.

What are some simple ways homeowners can give their garden an upgrade?

Feeding the soil with organic materials and bringing in an arborist who can deep feed the trees is a great way to refresh your garden and cultivate its health. A healthy garden has a certain vitality that upgrades the exterior entirely.

Can you share a challenge in a project that you had to overcome?

Finding ways to use land that isn’t obviously accessible or functional is always a challenge. For example, with the right treatment, a steep hillside can transform into a landscape painting when viewed from the interior. Land that is close to the ocean requires rugged, salt-tolerant plantings that look good windswept. A garden with drought conditions requires an openness to native seasonal lawn alternatives.

What plants and materials are some of your favorites to work with?

I have my beloved “well-behaved” palette of shrubs that naturally take up a pretty shape, need minimal trimming and don’t look exhausted in the summer heat. They include Olea (Little Ollie), Pittosporum Crassifolium (Nana), Westringia (Aussie Box), Buxus (Boxwood), Laurus Nobilis (Little Ragu) and Raphiolepis (Indica Clara).

I weave the two worlds together through designs that draw the eye out with vistas, axes or compositional views. Looking at the garden views from the inside of the home and understanding the relationship between interior and exterior is essential. I also like to curate a fragrance near a window; use every nook of the land, including pocket courtyards as side-ofhouse gardens; and create destinations, utilizing pathways to reach them and sprinkling in things to discover along the way.