MANILA, Philippines — It was one lazy Sunday afternoon when I was in my bedroom, feeling drowsy. I was about to doze off when I felt beads of sweat trickling down my nape. I tossed and turned, trying to assume a position that would ventilate the back of my body. But the more I moved, the more I generated heat. I started perspiring all over. This made me feel uneasy and I couldn’t sleep. I finally decided to take a shower.
I welcomed the refreshing coolness of the water. After the long bath, I made a pitcher of cold lemonade and gulped it all down. Still, I felt hot and I perspired again. The summer heat is inevitable now that it’s March. In fact, it is so all-year round even during the supposedly wet months of June and July.
I didn’t go back to the room. I went to that place in the house where the air and the atmosphere is generally cooler—the lanai.
I would have to say this is my favorite part of the house. The perfect venue to lounge and welcome guests, the lanai serves as an extension of the home’s interiors and the link to the beautiful gardens surrounding it. The lanai is not only aesthetically appealing; it is also very functional. On top of this, it is, for me, the coolest place to be at.
In my profession as a landscape artist, I have come to appreciate the trend of “bringing the outdoors in” and vice versa. The lanai is the perfect meeting place of home furniture and ornamental plants from the garden. Along with some garden accents, this part of the house makes for a lively, yet often relaxing spot. Depending on the client’s preferences, the plants used to create a landscape surrounding the lanai can greatly vary. Most of the time, they even complement the pieces of furniture installed in the lanai.
In many of my works, I have opted for palms and medium-height trees that are not fruit-bearing. They add shade to the area, although most lanai structures are already canopied or covered by a richly-decorated trellis. As much as possible, I like to keep the vines on the side, allowing them to crawl on the pillars that support the trellis above. This is to maintain the neat appearance of the lanai, which is supposedly a venue to relax and unwind. I can never feel comfortablewhenever I get entangled with some vine or plant creeper.
The Foxtail Palm and the Yucca Tree are good choices of plants for framing the lanai. Every now and then, potted plants serve as fabulous accents to this outdoor living room. You can use Bougainvilleas for Mediterranean-type houses, Bonsais for Zen types or whatever pleases the client. Of course, these plants must adjust to full shade or partial shade conditions, depending on the coverage of the trellis or the canopy.
Finally, we must not forget the view of the garden from the lanai. While one enjoys lounging at this very cool place, one must satisfy the sense of sight. A well-landscaped garden is just the right solution. Since the onlooker is situated from a very comfortable place, a more detailed inspection of the garden can be expected. Thus, symmetry, texture and color combination of the plants must be well taken into consideration. It’s like watching a garden show from this outdoor living room—that, along with drinking some cold lemonade and just lazing on the sofa—can make help beat the summer heat.
source: mb.com.ph
