Maripaul Cosper lives in a square house, on a rectangular lot, along a long, unwavering street. So when she saw her blocky walkway, which traveled in straight lines, from the sidewalk to her front door, she knew it had to go.

“I like curves, and I hate squares. The only thing that stopped me from getting rid of all the squares around my house was money,” says the Makakilo resident. “I would add some curves to my home, too, if I could.”

Going with the Flow: Concrete borders and an asymmetrical walkway smooth out the property’s rough edges, welcoming guests.

Cosper has moved 18 times over the course of her now retired Navy husband’s long career. She knew exactly what she wanted in her new home and its landscape: a curvy, tropical and colorful garden. She also knew that, for the first time in 18 moves, she wouldn’t be able to do it herself.

“Everything being squared off and in right angles is a pretty standard feature in most new developments,” says Gary Shinn of Hokuahi Lawns Inc., who was tasked with smoothing out the Cosper property’s rough edges. “Developers need to maximize space. Straight lines are the best way to do that.”

Border Crossings: The landscape’s concrete borders were poured on-site, textured by an artist and stained a deep, dark brown.

Shinn and his crew quickly got to work taking out the property’s biggest square: the entry walkway. After several days of jackhammering concrete, they cleared away the rubble and poured new concrete—this time in curvy, free-flowing shapes. The large, smooth-topped formations were then finished by an artisan to resemble lava rock.

The natural, lava-flow look was replicated in the landscaping borders, which run along the property’s perimeter, from front to back. As with the entryway stepping stones, the borders were poured on site, textured by an artist and then stained a deep, dark brown. But the concrete pads on the entry porch and the lanai couldn’t be jackhammered and reformed, so Shinn covered them in quartzite flagstone, breaking up their boxy shapes with rocky ones.

“It was important for Maripaul that her home was inviting,” says Shinn. “She wanted a little lawn out front, a bigger one out back. But having a home that welcomes visitors was key and I think that these large stepping pads do that. People just want to walk on them and come in.”

For the rest of her landscape, Cosper wanted colorful and, if possible, fragrant tropical plants. Since the Makakilo hilltop community experiences strong winds and consistent sunshine, Shinn and his crew planted a protective screen of areca and Macarthur palms. Inside this screen, they put down giant heliconia, monsterra, mondo grass and lauae fern. For additional color, they installed bird of paradise and bromeliads as well as a small hedge of hula girl hibiscus. The bush, which is one of the heartier varieties, produces large, yellow blossoms consistently. In addition, small bunches of impatiens provide spot color.

To give the garden a little fragrance, Shinn added a Singapore plumeria tree and then strategically installed delicate white-ginger plants in well-protected areas upwind of the lanai’s sitting areas. For peace of mind, the landscaper created a tranquil Japanese-style water feature in a protected corner of the backyard, just off the lanai and a few steps away from a small grove of sweet-smelling white ginger.

The water feature is as simple looking as it is comforting. It features a stone basin, or tsukubai, and a spare bamboo fountain. Water flows into the shallow receptacle and then spills onto a riverbed of smooth stones. A catch basin buried below the river-bed gathers the overflow and cycles it back to the fountain.

Pacific Basin: The landscape’s most private area features a Japanese-style water feature surrounded by tropical plants.

Along both sides of the home, Shinn created small stone pathways, which take the harsh edges off the narrow corridor gardens. He also installed full irrigation and lighting systems, front and back.

The resulting landscape is wide-open and welcoming in the front and relaxing and private in the back—exactly what Cosper wanted. “I love my paths. They’re so natural, kind of like a lava flow,” she says. “I even like the backdoor path, which is supposed to be utilitarian. I love my tsukubai. It’s so peaceful to me and I like the fact that when they’re in bloom, the aroma of the white ginger comes right through that area.”

Cosper is so pleased with her little backyard oasis that she’s talking with Shinn about expanding it. She’d like to extend her lanai farther from the house into the lawn area, so she can have a better view of the scenic West Oahu coastline below. The extension will have enough room for some chairs and a big umbrella. Of course, the new lanai won’t contain a single straight line.

Treehugger “A lot of the dwarf varieties of citrus trees are a nice choice. They only grow to about 8 feet tall, so they stay pretty small. Strawberry-guava trees don’t get much bigger. Properly placed, small trees like those can really take the edge off a landscape. They’re interesting to look at, but they don’t dominate the landscape.” – Richard Long, Reliable Landscaping & Sprinklers Thinking Outside the Box “It’s not that squares are bad. They’re just sometimes a little hard on the psyche. You feel boxed in if you see too many of them. If you are unable to install curved borders, one easy way to soften things up a bit is to plant ground cover that will flow over the edge. Consider asparagus fern or pothos. Even lauae fern will cascade a little bit and make a straight border a little less straight. – Susan Mulkern, Water Gardens by Kevin Mulkern Going with the Flow “If your property is full of squares, homeowners should think about creating planters, which don’t have a single straight line to them—just add a little curve wherever you can. However, one of the biggest mistakes I see homeowners make is the ‘rattlesnake effect’ in which lawn borders have far too many curves. Not only does the border look too wavy and unappealing, it also is hard to maintain. You have to trim every one of those curves. Instead, keep it simple and just sort of go with the flow.” – Steve Dewald, Steve’s Gardening Service Curves in Moderation "A lot of people make the mistake of putting too many curves and swirls in their landscape. Not only does the yard become too busy and distracting, oftentimes it's not functional either. Things become too cramped and crowded, or pathways are too narrow and your guests end up tripping over things. Before you start laying down your borders, walk through your landscape and step everything off. If it doesn't feel right, if it doesn't feel like it will work, then it probably won't." - Terri Lee, Landscapes by Tropical Images