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Elegant white flowers, grasses and Stone Turtles: Edith Katz’s Tortuga Garden

March 20, 2024

A collage showing various elements of a landscaped garden, featuring white flowers, ornamental grasses, and pebble pathways.
The tortuga (Turtle garden) by Edith Katz in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The stones and simple planting combine to make a beautiful and serene garden in the desert.

Edith Katz is a Landscape designer (at the time of this project – she was working in Sante Fe, New Mexico) creating beautiful gardens that are uniquely appropriate to their desert location. Perusing her portfolio, this is hands down my favorite. I love the simple mix – White cosmos, arid grasses (stipa tennissima?), and beautiful and imaginative stone work that recalls the iconography of turtles.

The stones are the best part for me. As a New Englander with too many rocks – all the daang time – I live for a project that finds beautiful ways to use excess rocks in an attractive way. (rather than my constant piles at the edge of the woods)

These stones are river smooth – mine are totally different (jagged, quartz or slate or granite and full of micah – nothing that I could make a pillow-soft looking land scupture with). The design works well with the stones color and shape – I hope (and presume) they are regionally sourced.

I love a design that can trick the eye – in this case rock hard rocks take on such softness elegance. It is always the contrasts that make any design compelling.

I’m not sure of the design brief or the story behind it (is this at a turtle rescue center? A garden designed for Turtle enjoyment? or Is it something for just a basic tortoise lovers house?🤷‍♀️). Unclear – but it appears it has something to do with Turtles – Tortugas, for some reason (sorry details are slim).

It has me thinking how you might take the inspiration of other animals and translate it into a landscape feature.*

*(but without being too literal and adding in a chairsaw bear or some other overtly kitschy animal-inspired garden art). 🤔

image from lola.net.

Edith Katz has a new website called Beauty Despite the Beast (about deer resistant gardening).

Want to learn more about stone – checkout some of these posts:

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