Garden Tour: Dustin Gimbel's Laboratory

Last Saturday, I joined two of my favorite local bloggers, Denise of A Growing Obsession and Hoover Boo of Piece of Eden on the Long Beach leg of the Mary Lou Heard Garden Tour, an annual event that features local gardens opened to the public in support of the Mary Lou Heard Foundation.

The official Heard Garden Tour sign posted at each of the participating gardens

You can learn more about Mary Lou, her foundation and the tour here and here.  We visited 3 gardens and had an opportunity to peruse Denise's beautiful garden as well.  I took a zillion photos so I'm breaking my coverage up into 3 parts.

I'm starting with Dustin Gimbel's garden, the first one on the official tour.  Here's how Dustin himself introduced the garden in the tour guide:

My earliest memories are of gardening with my grandparents. Seven years ago, I was able to realize my dream of owning my very own garden and bought a little Craftsman in a funky part of Long Beach. There was nothing but Italian cypresses along the driveway, an old ailing Magnolia, and a dusty dry Bermuda lawn. This has become my personal laboratory and botanical garden which is composed of many garden rooms. Having a broad interest in gardening and wildlife, the landscape is filled with fIowering plants, succulents, paths, boardwalk, water features, sculpture, art, veggie garden, etc. I enjoy various plants, combinations, schemes, and this garden is ever evolving.

This is a photo-heavy post so I'll minimize my commentary.  Denise, who knows Dustin well, told us a bit about how Dustin transformed his front garden by creating planting berms.  It's certainly not anything like the garden that came with the purchase of his home.

Area at the garden's entrance behind a tall hedge facing the street

Several paces further into the heart of the front garden.  Dustin's extensive use of white Orlaya grandiflora had me asking myself why I've never used this plant.

This photo shows a second entry to the front garden, framed by the street-facing hedge

The front garden's color palette is soft and restful.  I loved the mix of hexagonal paving here.

View of the front garden looking back at the house, itself painted in a soft green that integrates it with the landscape

View looking along the axis between the 2 entrances to the front garden

This pond is adjacent to the porch attached to the house

The weeping shrub (Acacia pendula maybe) created an arbor of sorts

I wouldn't presume to venture an inventory of the plants in the front garden but, clockwise from the upper left, here are my best guesses on a few prominent specimens: Acacia cognata 'Cousin Itt', Agave mitis 'Multicolor', Leucospermum (noID on species/cultivar), and Lomandra (noID on species/cultivar)

I'd have been happy with the tour just based on the front garden but there was much, much more.

This is the side pathway to the back garden.  Note all the propagation specimens lining the path. 

As soon as I arrived in the back garden, I was drawn to the fence that serves as a room divider of sorts.  I've seen photos of it before in posts on Denise's blog and I'm in love with this fence.

Windows in the fence frame garden views beyond like paintings

This is the back side of the fence looking back toward the house

A side panel creates a sense of enclosure around a water feature and a nearby dining table

The fence divides two seating areas.

An outdoor dining table with a centerpiece featuring Agave lopantha 'Quadricolor' (complete with cork pieces on the tips, which add a quirky touch)

A more casual seating area in the back.  The vine festooning the wall and spanning the area above the table and chairs is Aristolochia gigantea (aka Dutchman's Pipe).

There are LOTS of interesting details spread throughout the back area.

A squadron of gnomes lined up to protect Achillea 'Moonshine'

Another fence as decorative room divider

More plants in waiting arrayed along a garage roof.  The vine is Tetrastigma voinierianum (which I only know because it had a name tag).

A variety of plants in pots

In addition to being a talented garden designer, Dustin has a sideline designing pots.  One of his designs is currently offered by Potted, a Los Angeles-based garden design store.  Here's a look at some of the pots that caught my notice on the tour:

And, of course, there were more wonderful plants in the back garden that I could possibly highlight but here are a few:

Top row: Ballota (no species ID), noID bromeliad, and California poppies
Middle row: Eucalyptus 'Moon Lagoon' (I think), Euphorbia cotinifolia, and Melianthus major 'Purple Haze'
Bottom row: noID Pittosporum, Tweedia caerulea, and a noID space alien plant

Well, I did warn you this would be a photo-intense post!  Thanks for joining me on the tour.  There are two more posts to come but both will have to wait until next week.  In the meantime, if you haven't seen enough of Dustin's garden, check out Hoover Boo's post at Piece of Eden and Denise's post at A Growing Obsession.


All material © 2012-2017 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party