Personality PLUS
Garden
PHOTOGRAPHS: BLUE GABOR
Five years ago, when noted landscape architect ERIC NAGELMANN was looking for a small house with a big property, he found just what he wanted in a canyon in Carpinteria—an 800-square-foot converted stagecoach stop on one and a half bare acres that extended up a steep slope and provided a blank canvas for his creativity. “I wanted a cottage garden, an old lady’s garden,” he remembers. Now, his backyard is home to an exuberant explosion of plants punctuated by an eclectic assortment of statuary, pottery, and metalwork. He began by terracing three flat areas, but “nothing was planned,” he says. Over time, he arranged his begonia collection near an informal seating area; hung giant staghorn ferns on his trees; draped tillandsia and Spanish moss around; planted 150 avocados and other fruit trees; added cactus, herb, and vegetable gardens; and carved out stone-stepped paths up the hill. A fuchsia cutting from his previous garden has now grown into a flowering cascade over the front gate. “There’s nothing pretentious about it,” he says. “It’s very laid-back and comfortable, but there are a lot of surprises.” J O A N T A P P E R