Glazed wok-style pots are displayed like art atop brightly hued walls.

While neither Blake nor Blackwell has training in horticulture, landscape architecture or design, the couple has created a unique outdoor living space that suits today’s relaxed Southwestern lifestyle.

“Trust your instincts,” says Blackwell.  “And don’t be afraid to make mistakes. A landscape you’ve created yourself is much more fun to live with.”



DECORATIVE WALLS
Walls can serve visual and functional purposes in the landscape. In Denice Blake and John Blackwell’s yard, carefully situated, imaginative walls alleviate typical issues caused by close property lines. Here are some examples:

• One of the first projects was to replace an unattractive chain-link fence with live ocotillo canes. Ocotillos can sprout leaves to form a living fence for a native desert appearance.

• The couple later swapped a portion of the ocotillo fence for a stuccoed block wall to lessen the noise of an air conditioner. “The solid stucco blocked the sound by half,” states Blake. They painted the wall purple to enjoy the cheerful color from their kitchen window, and reused the ocotillo canes to “double up” the remainder of the fence.

• To help block the light of a neighbor’s motion sensor light that streamed through a living room window, Blake and Blackwell erected an 8-foot-tall corrugated metal fence. Its naturally rusty finish blends with the Southwestern scheme, while providing a backdrop to highlight the structural form of cacti and succulents.