Exotic Possibilities:
Creating Outdoor Living Spaces in South Florida

Photos & text by Orlando Comas, ASLA

The overall view of the private garden as seen from the outdoor entry vestibule at this residence?EUR??,,????'??+located on a South Florida island. The Landscape Architect created the Koi pond and cascade, which helps cover noise from the street in front of the home. Visual privacy from the street was also achieved for the rooms facing this lush, tropical garden.

Since opening a South Florida studio in 1996, Orlando Comas?EUR??,,????'??? practice has grown to include projects not only in South Florida but also in Mexico, Venezuela, Curacao and Jamaica.

My philosophy centers on close collaboration with clients and architects. By creating involvement during the design stage, design unity between architecture and landscape architecture is achieved and client participation lets the result be one that satisfies the owner?EUR??,,????'???s spatial, aesthetic and use requirements.

In the early 70s, for almost ten years, I was based in Caracas, Venezuela. In South America the practice included small private gardens, large residential estates, government buildings, parks and tourist resorts. A lack of plant availability and my interest in botany and horticulture led me to create one of the largest private ornamental nurseries in the region.

The ground cover in the foreground is Rhaphiolepis indica ?EUR??,,????'??dwarf?EUR??,,????'???. The yellow-toned ground cover is Duranta erecta ?EUR??,,????'??Gold Mound?EUR??,,????'???. The pool color (by pool contractor Pool-Tech, Inc. of Miami, Fla.) was achieved using a medium-blue pool plaster in the same tone as the glass tile used for the water-line tiles. The frond of the palm in the right hand side is that of our native Florida royal palm (Roystonea elata).

At the nursery, I experimented with natives and exotics. Seeds and cuttings were brought in from South Florida, Hawaii, New Zealand, Mexico and Brazil. Two collaborators were key by helping me in bringing rare plants to his nursery, Dr. Tobias Lasser, director of the Venezuelan Botanical Garden and Roberto Burle Marx, the late Brazilian Landscape Architect.

During these years, my designs were influenced by Burle Marx and Barragan. Their influence with my reading and studies of others such as Le Notre, Lotti, Brown, Repton, Olmstead, and contemporaries such as Halprin, Noguchi and Simonds, provided me with a rich design background which I think is unconsciously and sometimes consciously part of my design work today.

View from inside the detached gazebo towards the trellised walkway. Pandorea vines climbing into the trellised walkway and date palms in the background.

In 1972, I formed an association with architect Gaston Gonzalez which still lasts. Our Caracas studio provides services to South American Clients and, like the Miami office, focuses on residential estates and housing developments, public parks and waterfront resorts.

A visit to several of those projects will give readers a more concrete understanding of my philosophy on outdoor living space and my interest in warm-climate plant species.

Abundant planting areas adjacent to the swimming pool were created. This provides not only aesthetical ambiance but also privacy from boaters in the waterway. Peeking into this shot on the right is the flamboyant, African-native Dracaena arborea.

A Coral Gables Estate

This is an upscale waterfront private residence located in Coral Gables, Fla. The lot is irregular with a 180-degree-view in the waterfront rear yard. Architects for the residence were Molina & Narcisse Architecture. Team collaboration was essential, Owners, Landscape Architect and architects met together for work sessions. Without this collaboration, Landscape Architect believes the end result is a fusion of all the design disciplines and the incredible involvement and dedication of the owners.

As you open the doors at the motor court you are surprised by a landscaped courtyard with a large, forty-foot high live oak in its center and lush perimeter tropical planting. Walking over hand cut granite cobblestones the visitor arrives at the main entry doors.

The rear yard showcases the pool area, a detached gazebo connected to the pool terrace with a trellised walkway, overlooking a wide waterway.

Two imported green Italian urns showcase Aechmea regineae flank the entry steps to the pool. The paving is non-skid imported marble. An off-white color was used for the pool coping and the banding around the terraces, and a clay color mix was used for the main areas.

This outdoor area serves as an extension to all the rooms in the ground floor. The balance between hardscape and planting areas around the pool area provides a pleasing outdoor area suitable for relaxing, sunning, outdoor dining and entertaining under the towering canopy of the date palms.

The swimming pool has an infinity edge which drops four feet to a lower informal terrace, accessed thru two stairs on each side of the upper pool deck. Planting areas were created adjacent to the pool and spa for ambiance as well as privacy from the ocean side.

The plant palette is tropical with a touch of Mediterranean to provide design-fit to the architecture of the residence. A row of 35-foot-high Phoenix dactilifera Medjool palms were planted both in the front and rear yard, ten large forty feet high live oaks were brought in from central Florida, gingers, philodendrons, zamias, bromeliads and other tropical shrubs, ground covers and vines were used throughout.

Overall front view of the residence shows the delicate balance between architecture and landscape architecture. The Mediterranean theme was introduced in the garden by using the Medjool date palms, the Italian cypresses and the globe shaped eugenias. To the right, tall ligustrum trees shade the guests parking area, additional planting in front keeps this area buffered from the street view.

Mediterranean Splendor

This impressive Mediterranean residence is located in a gated community in Coral Gables, Fla., designed by architect Ramon Pacheco. The lot is surrounded by water by two sides of the property, providing for a secluded side-located dock.

Landscape Architect Orlando Comas and the architect worked hand in hand in the design of all the exterior hardscape areas such as the pool area, walkways, driveway and terraces, achieving a residence that exudes a genuine Mediterranean flavor.

Driveway paving material is natural Turkish marble pavers set on sand. Medjool date palms flank each driveway approach as well as the entry tower. Color was introduced with masses of Aechmeia imperialis.

The client requested tall date palms in the front to allow exposure of the structure, the same palms were used within the pool area in the rear yard. Another requirement was to provide a natural shaded area for the guest parking area off one side of the front driveway area, so that guests?EUR??,,????'??? cars could be protected from the elements during the wilting south Florida summer. This was achieved by creating islands between the parking spaces and planting large Ligustrum trees with a high clear trunk to allow for headroom.

?EUR??,,????'??At the nursery, I experimented with natives and exotics. Seeds and cuttings were brought in from South Florida, Hawaii, New Zealand, Mexico and Brazil.?EUR??,,????'??

Hardscape materials were selected in coordination with the clients. Six-by-12 inches natural Turkish marble pavers in tan shades, installed over sand, were selected for the driveway. In the pool terrace a non-skid finish marble was used and brought down to the lower terrace in a checkerboard pattern with grass.

In trying to give the gardens a Mediterranean look with a touch of south Florida, Comas selected a plant palette which included ten magnificent Medjool date palms, tall Italian cypresses, (a specimen multitrunk Reclinata palm was brought in from central Florida), live oaks, pigeon plums, gumbo limbos, Florida thatch palms, coconut Palms and many other natives were used throughout the site, providing a rich and lush look for the gardens to this exclusive residence.

The gazebo was built cantilevering over the lake. With open and yet roofed area, it is used frequently as a family gathering place next to the lake. The white sandy beach in the foreground was created with fine-grade Florida silica sand.

A Tropical Paradise

Tropical was the first word in the owner?EUR??,,????'???s program for this magnificent lakefront residence in South Florida.

Other requirements were to have a separate screened in lagoon type pool where birds could fly freely, and shade tropical foliage could grow, a rear yard detached from the pool area with a gazebo, a sunning area, and a remote small and cozy seating area where they could relax, spend time enjoying the lake views and read.

Landscape Architect Comas complied with the owner?EUR??,,????'???s requests when designing the overall site. The U-shaped structure allowed to create an enclosed pool and spa area to which a waterfall was added. The waterfall spills over the natural stone irregular spa and from the spa the water spills into a lower waterfall inside the natural lagoon style swimming pool. The paving material selected for the terrace flooring was Tennessee crab orchard slate because of its natural looking and non skid qualities, as well as for it?EUR??,,????'???s color shades similarity to the Florida cap stone used for the waterfall.

A waterfall and koi pond, surrounded with lush tropical plantings to one side of the gazebo, provides privacy from an adjacent property and adds visual quality when in the gazebo. At night a night-blooming jasmine planted nearby fills this area with fragrance.

Tropical plants were added that would thrive in the shaded screened area. They include Roebelinii palms, lady palms, Australian tree ferns, several alocassias and philodendros, zamias, ferns and other shade-tolerant ground covers.

From the pool area, you walk down stone steps into the rear yard?EUR??,,????'???s gazebo which was placed cantilevering over the lake?EUR??,,????'???s edge. The wood flooring selected for the gazebo was Brazilian imbuia, because of its hardiness and durability. The wood used in the structure was rough-sawn cedar.

The tiled roof select matches the same clay tile used throughout the residence. Another waterfall was added next to the gazebo with a pond to grow koi in, and a sandy beach was created at the lake?EUR??,,????'???s shore for sunning. Away from the gazebo area, to one side of the property next to a large existing Mahogany tree, a sunken seating area with two oversized custom benches was placed. The seating area is completely surrounded by tropical vegetation and a small ramp was built to allow the wild ducks in the lake to come up into the property where owners enjoy feeding them.

A view of the lagoon style pool and spa area. The platform was built into the pool design and paving materials were used to create the diving platform the owner had requested. The material throughout is Tennessee crab orchard slate. A giant Australian tree fern in the foreground, along with roebeinii palms and other tropical foliage compliment the area's tropical feeling.

An Island Retreat

A challenging small garden area in front of windows facing a street and off the main entry doors to this residence in a private south Florida island. The owners required a solution that would provide complete privacy for the ground floor rooms which opened to this area while at the same time creating a beautiful garden to look at when entering through the main doors.

The Landscape Architect created a koi pond with a waterfall and a berm behind it that would allow for heavy tropical planting at the top level of the waterfall and around three sides of the garden area. Leaving one side open for viewing the garden from the entrance vestibule. A small path was added to allow for maintenance and feeding of the koi in the pond.

?EUR??,,????'??I believe the end result is a fusion of all the design disciplines and the incredible involvement and dedication of the owners.?EUR??,,????'??

The design solution provided the desired privacy not only from the ground floor rooms but also from the second floor windows. The heavy planting and the waterfall sound mitigates the vehicular noise from the street as an extra feature.

As people approach the main entry, the element of surprise hits them when they discover a private garden with such a striking visual quality.

The private garden with its waterfall and koi pond can be viewed from the second floor of the residence. Palm trunks in the foreground are of Veitchia montgomeriana palms. Their canopy provides shade to the west facing wall.