GRASS PYRAMIDS
Grass plus pyramids equals one dramatic lawn in Laguna Beach
By Kathleen N. Brenzel | Photography by Bret Gum
PYRAMIDS ARE MADE for climbing. That's what architect Ryan Singer realized the first time he clambered atop one of the two 8-footers shown here. "I could see everything—the ocean and the house I designed—from a fresh perspective," he says.
"It was amazing." Then he did what any kid would want to do: "I sat down and slid to the bottom."
The pyramids flank an entry walk in front of a home in Laguna Beach, California. Made of hard-packed clay soil (excavated during a driveway remodel) and covered by plastic mesh, each rises from a 12-foot square in-ground concrete retaining wall. Drip tubing beneath the mesh irrigates the soft fescue grass.
So how do you mow a nearly vertical lawn? It's not so hard as it looks: Start with a reel mower near the base, and then take a little off the top with a string trimmer.