Landscape & Gardens
Elegant and Effortless
A serene design palette and sophisticated plantings create the perfect backyard destination in this garden, chosen for the third annual Seattle Homes & Lifestyles’ “First in Home and Design” award

Tami Ott-Ostberg and Ian Wilson delivered a fusion of monochromatic materials, artistic elements and uncommon plants in their award-winning garden.
Stained chocolate brown, a 10-foot-by-15-foot “slat house” makes an inviting backyard destination.

Silvery-blue pottery echoes similar hues in the ‘Vanderwolf’s Pyramid’ Pine.
“Garden Getaway” created by Tami Ott-Ostberg of Garden Dreams Design and Ian Wilson of Outdoor Living Environments for the Northwest Flower & Garden Show, reinterpreted an interior design aesthetic for the landscape with a fresh point of view.

Finely crafted, their inviting and intimate garden—one of 26 display gardens at this year’s 20th annual show—drew its imaginary owners outdoors for entertaining and relaxing.

The artful use of a tonal fabric-and-plant palette, verdigris-colored glazed pottery and well-proportioned spaces earned Ott-Ostberg and Wilson Seattle Homes & Lifestyles’ 2008 “First in Home and Design” award for the best residential garden design at the Northwest Flower & Garden Show.

Ott-Ostberg wanted to establish a mood-enhancing place where occupants could enjoy solitary or social endeavors. “The word that comes to mind for me is ‘tranquility,’” she explains. “I’m just trying to show a very different way of attaining it.”

Stained chocolate brown, a sleek, 10-foot-by-15-foot “slat house” provided a sense of shelter while allowing views into and out of the roomlike space. Accenting the rich brown tones (which reappeared in Smith & Hawken outdoor wicker furniture) was a confection of aqua, silver-blue and verdigris elements. The cool-blue palette extended to the leaves and needles of plants, as well as the variegated Pennsylvania bluestone, upholstered cushions, large-scale urns and a serene, bubbling pool.

“A monochromatic garden can be amazing because then it’s all about the texture,” Ott-Ostberg says.

Design Details:
Landscape designer:
Tami Ott-Ostberg, Garden Dreams Design, (206) 356-7429

Landscape Contractor:
Ian Wilson, Outdoor Living Environments, (425) 890-0521


Tami Ott-Ostberg’s design featured a serene color palette using plants of similar hues. Here’s a list of the silvery-blue and silvery-green foliage plants used in her Northwest Flower and Garden Show display garden:
African iris (Dietes vegeta)
Bear’s breech (Acanthus mollis)
Bird of paradise (Strelitzia reginae)
Canada hemlock (Tsuga canadensis)
Cape Rush (Chondropetalum elephantinum)
Century plant (Agave guiengola)
Cotoneaster glaucophyllus
Giant yucca (Yucca elephantipes)
Lily turf (Liriope sp.)
Limber pine (Pinus flexilis ‘Vanderwolf’)
New Zealand flax (Phormium tenax)		 Octopus agave (Agave vilmoriniana)
Pittosporum tobira
Tasmanian tree fern (Dicksonia antarctica)
Twin-flowered agave (Agave geminiflora)
Rosmarinus officinalis ‘Prostratus’
Rosmarinus officinalis ‘Tuscan Blue
Silver leaf (Astelia chathamica)
Smooth agave (Agave desmettiana)
Weeping blue atlas cedar (Cedrus atlantica ‘Glauca Pendula’)
White fir (Abies concolor ‘Blue Cloak’)
White pine (Pinus strobus ‘White Mountain’)