GARDEN SURROUNDED BY FOREST
YEAR: 2017 – 2021
LOCATION: PIERĪGA
AREA: 3000 M2
DESIGN: BAIBA AND ANSIS BIRZNIEKI
Tucked away at the end of peaceful street in a suburban village, this 3000m² garden nestles within a flourishing forest enclave. Historic, majestic trees from a bygone estate grace the plot, elegantly framing the garden’s boundaries and adding a striking vertical dimension.
The residence, designed by architect Zane Tetere-Šulce, features a sleek black single-storey volume that seamlessly integrates with the towering trees, subtly blending into the natural landscape. The garden’s discreet positioning ensures it remains hidden from the street, with the surrounding development unobtrusively complementing rather than dominating the serene setting.
The Birznieks family has created their garden as a place for themselves, a place to celebrate life, honoring a love for all things beautiful, especially the garden. That’s why it features many unconventional, interesting, and carefully thought-out solutions.
The garden is divided into several zones – the driveway, front garden, multiple terraces, a fire pit, a small orangery, a kitchen and flower garden, an orchard, and even a flower meadow. Since the garden has radically different light conditions, it contains both distinct shade plants and lush, sun-loving southern blooms. The design lines and the diverse plant palettes play the main visual role.
All the zones are tastefully separated, flowing smoothly from one to another, revealing new surprises and delights to the viewer throughout the garden season. In fact, throughout the entire year! This garden is thoughtfully designed so that its structures and forms remain visually interesting even in seasons when the garden can’t delight with flowers.
The Birznieks family firmly believes that a garden should have many places to go, places to sit, and enjoy the beauty that each specific garden area offers. The plant and color palette is perfectly harmonized with this concept. Each seating area is carefully furnished with high-quality garden furniture. In this garden, you will see a wide range of pots and plant containers, used seasonally to highlight different spots and enrich the overall design.
The role of thoughtfully planned garden lighting is also key in this garden's life. In our time zone, it’s essential to extend the enjoyment of the garden into the evening hours. Discreet lighting illuminates various zones, accentuating the most beautiful plants and garden elements, all the way up to a breathtaking lighting feature in the tall pine tree canopies.
For the garden owners, one of the most important aspects of garden planning is minimizing maintenance and physical labor in keeping the garden. Both specific design solutions and modern technologies have helped create a stunning garden that requires remarkably little time for upkeep. It features a built-in automatic irrigation system, a robotic lawn mower, modern garden lighting control, dense plantings, clipped hedges, natural meadows, and various clever tricks and solutions. All of this allows for enjoyment and relaxation rather than serving the garden. Even after a two-week absence, the garden remains perfectly neat and well-maintained.
This forest-enclosed garden beautifully reflects the values of its owners and offers a glimpse into the concept of a modern garden brought to life.
