7 Landscaping Ideas to Borrow From Northern California’s Wine Country

California’s wine country is nothing less than spectacular, defined by its casual lifestyle, picturesque scenery, and award-winning wine. Drive through the rolling hills, and it’s impossible not to be mesmerized by its landscape of tidy vineyards, idyllic barns, rustic ranches, as well as more modern homes. When you look closely at this region, you realize there’s an artful arrangement that exists between architecture and landscape, between people and plants, between old and new. For inspiration on how to borrow some of these wine country elements for our own gardens, I recently visually dove into an inspiring new book, At Home in the Wine Country, by Heather Sandy Hebert and Chase Reynolds Ewald, which showcases projects from a handful of Northern California’s talented architects and designers. (The book is in stores September 7, but we’re giving you a sneak preview below.)

Here’s what I came away with: seven ideas to borrow from the wine country:

Photography from At Home in the Wine Country.

1. Blend the indoors with the outdoors.

One element that routinely shows up in wine country living is the desire to seamlessly mesh outdoor enjoyment with indoor living, to blend scenery with lifestyle. There are countless ways to achieve this continuum: design concrete floors and patios that generously flow from outside to in; elevate porches to take in the views; or install large glass doors that slide secretly and neatly into walls. And when designing your landscape, remember to incorporate shared spaces like vegetable gardens, courtyards, terraces and patios that can become extensions of your home, while also making sure your outside destinations offer shelter from the blazing summer sun and prevailing winds.

2. Frame the views.

You might not have a vineyard on your property, but maybe your neighbor does. Consider borrowing their vineyard for the perfect distanced view. If you don’t live in the wine country and there are no grape vines to be had, then make sure your vista takes advantage of a far away grove of trees or a majestic tree nearby. And to intensify a garden view and create a more intimate relationship with the land, design windows to frame a far off field, the setting sun, or the kaleidoscope of seasonal leaves.

3. Embrace drought-tolerant plantings.

It is not required that you grow grapes to achieve a wine country aesthetic. What is required is an ethos of being sustainable and respectful of natural resources. That means designing gardens that are water-wise, and even pollinator-friendly. Fortunately, the wine country is appropriate for planting natives or plants from the Mediterranean as they share the same climate. This translates into seas of lavender, swaths of Salvias, and alleys of olive trees, all of which are plentiful in the region. Plus, easy-care ornamental grasses are popular in the wine country and lend a casual, relaxed feel.

4. Create a fire resilient and defensible space.

The wine country is unfortunately a vulnerable land, easily threatened by seasonal wildfires. And while you may not be at risk, it is still a wise choice to increase your home’s defensible space and make your property more fire-resistant. One strategy is to use attractive and functional gravel or decomposed granite as mulch near homes and structures, especially any made of wood.  Another is to allow decent space between a home and heavy plantings.

5. Think of the four seasons.

In this region, the notion of time is directly linked to the passing seasons and harvest time. Consider designing a garden to celebrate the cycle of life with colorful plantings that come into bloom at different times. Create outdoor spaces that bathe in the changing sun patterns; plan for leaves that vary in hues and highlights; and maximize views to honor the explosion of seasonal yellows, reds, orange and purples.

6. Let the existing landscape lead the design.

The wine country connects deeply to the surrounding landscape so as to create an authentic, integrated and respectful space with minimal impact on the environment. Observe what is already there, what trees thrive nearby; learn what native flowers bloom effortlessly in your area, and blend it together so the garden feels of a piece with the surrounding landscape, not plopped down. Try using native stone for building smaller walls or add native grasses to create wilder looking meadows and to provide a soothing transition from more planned plantings to more naturalistic collections.

7. Create a journey through the property.

Landscape architects often refer to ‘moments in the landscape’ in which a journey is created through the site—whether it’s a sprawling, billowy field of ornamental grasses that slows the pace or a narrow path through rugged rock outcroppings that speeds things up. Yes, the destination—a patio, fire pit, pool, etc.—is important, but so is the journey there.

For more gardens in the area, see:

• A Garden Grows in Quarantine: ‘Cultivated Wildness’ in a Landscape Architect Couple’s Napa Home
• The Four-Season Garden: An Enchanting Indoor/Outdoor Landscape in Sonoma County by Terremoto
• Landscape Architect Visit: Vineyard Views in Healdsburg’s Dry Creek Valley