A Back-Alley Portal
to a Koreatown Container Garden
This new family lives in a rented apartment and have kept a chaotic array of potted plants in the building's side alley. They needed help wrangling their cluttered jungle into a meditative space. We streamlined their containers while enhancing the lushness of the corridor. The result is a verdant moment of tranquility hidden in one of the busiest neighborhoods of Los Angeles.
Before
With a new baby and new career paths, starting over meant letting some hobbies slip. Many plants had outgrown their pots, dried up, suffocated in porcelain containers, or a mix of the three. Our goals were to repot and give fresh soil to all of the greenery, create some large containers with plants that would support each other, and streamline the design of the containers to clean up the look and give the alleyway a modern minimalist desert aesthetic.
After
We used second-hand sources and local makers to add a tranquil space for morning coffee amidst the greenery.
These clients wanted the feel of a sunken botanic living room to embrace the calm, while including dashes of whimsy through decorative choices. Having a background in props and set decoration gives us an edge in budgeting and sourcing to give high end appeal to new family's budgets.
To stay within the client's tight budget, we sourced second run, imperfect ceramic pots and wholesale decorative rocks. After observing the space at different times of day, we quickly established sun patterns where different groups of plants would thrive.
This jade forest is all descended from one single plant that belonged to the client's grandmother. The personal familial connection gives this corner of the garden a particular atmosphere of ancestral magic.
