(gentle music)
(crashing waves)
- I've always gravitated to the coast.
I love being near the ocean.
Just down the road is the Pudding Creek Trestle,
and it's been refurbished as part of the Coastal Trail.
One of the wonderful things about this piece of property,
even though I'm a couple of miles inland,
when the winds are right, I can hear the ocean.
(ocean waves)
Twenty years ago, I discovered Fort Bragg,
completely by accident.
It's a small town.
Some wonderful, natural beauty to it.
I started out as an architect years ago.
It was actually quite a stressful profession for me.
Took all my possessions, I put them on the sidewalk,
sold them, and I moved, and I actually had a friend
who had a real estate agent in Fort Bragg,
and this was the first piece of property he showed me.
And I fell in love immediately.
I just knew that this was the place
that was gonna be my next home.
I was pretty sick actually at the time.
I was diagnosed with HIV before it even had a name.
And so, the idea was that I would be somewhere
where I could take care of myself
and not lead such a stressful life.
I didn't expect to be alive
very much longer after I moved here.
But I put my hands in the soil
and I began to come back to life.
I discovered the healing power of nature for myself.
And, I felt reborn.
There are groups of redwoods that surround this property,
and that alone creates this wonderful sense of majesty.
(water trickling)
(gentle music)
I have just under eight acres and I would say
I've landscaped somewhere between three
to three and a half of them.
I have fields in front and woods in the back
and then, the middle is the garden.
I knew so little about plants really when I moved here,
and, after a few years, I decided that the best thing
to do would be to work at a local nursery.
And I went to work part-time for one
of the great nurseries here in town,
and learned about plants
and I worked in exchange for plants.
There was never any master plan.
The garden evolved one plant at a time.
I would find a plant that I loved, bring it home,
and then wander around with it
and try and find the perfect place for it.
(calming music)
It's been trial and error over the years.
I've killed more than my share of plants.
And it's a deer-proof garden.
The deer wander freely through.
You know, I've had a few false starts
that the deer will eat, have eaten
a few plants over the years.
I've learned a couple of lessons what not to plant.
But, basically, everything that you see here
is deer-resistant.
One of the wonderful things about living here on the coast
is that things just love to grow.
When I put the pond in,
it felt a little artificial at first,
but plants just seem to blow in,
and they root themselves.
I've probably only planted half
of the things that you see around the pond.
The rest have just started on their own.
After putting in the pond, turtles found their way here.
Frogs found their way here.
It's like a wildlife sanctuary, in a way.
I was sitting on the deck one day
and this red fox came up and joined me on the deck
and just sat there as if he didn't even know I was there.
The garden has really evolved
into a series of outdoor rooms.
There is the Heather garden, the Rhododendron garden,
a greenhouse which is not a greenhouse really
that grows vegetables or anything.
It's more of a place for people to hang out.
Then there's the raised beds area,
which originally was vegetables.
I turned it into a berry garden.
This is my 20th year in the garden.
I decided it was finally time to bring in the Houzz element.
I discovered Houzz several years ago.
Incredible inspirational photos that I've looked at
and gotten some great ideas for things
to incorporate here in the gardens.
My guests have always enjoyed wandering through the gardens,
but there's never been any place
for them to really sit and relax.
I created an idea book of things
that I really wanted to have here.
Found some great sectional sofas,
couple of fire tables that I really liked.
I fire up the fire pit and I can prop my feet up
and have a glass of wine and stay warm in the evenings.
The sofa I can relax on.
My cat loves to sit on it with me.
We wrap up in a blanket and enjoy the evenings here and now,
and I was never able to do that before.
I love sharing this place with people.
My health now is as good as it's ever been.
I wake up every day with this joy and excitement about life,
and I can't wait to get outside
and do whatever it is that the garden
is asking of me that day.
I had no idea that this place
would become what it has become.
It has really taught me to slow down,
to appreciate the moment,
to appreciate what's in front of me.
And it has really taught me to just be in the now.
(refreshing music)
(wind chimes)