16521 Charleyville Circle
Huntington Beach 92649Access: No wheelchair access





When Greg and Vicki bought this house in 1994, the yard was filled with dirt and dying trees. They had visions of turning it into a “cottage garden” with lush green lawns. Ha! Mother Nature’s drought and bad soil had other plans. Today, the garden has emerged as an outdoor living space with multiple garden vignettes. Sit in the courtyard of artificial turf filled with Australian violet, baby tears, azaleas, camellias, and pittosporum trees.
Stroll down the side yard, “secret garden” filled with succulents growing in re-purposed vessels. The Donkey Tail plant is from a 1974 cutting. Spend time on the patio with hanging annuals, or sit on the redwood deck and listen to the wind chimes in the ornamental pear growing through the deck. Venture up the stairs to the pergola to watch the golfers or the sunset. The gardeners let the sod die in favor of what Greg calls “playground grass”-a drought-friendly mixture of whatever blows in from the golf course. The 60-foot, terraced flower beds are filled with floribunda roses, California natives, annuals, butterflies, and hummingbirds.