Islands of Discovery: Landscaper Gary Shinn merged old with new by surrounding a wide, gracious, gravel path with lush islands of green.

Marge and Manny Doi had a good feeling about their first landscape designer. When making his original sales pitch, he spoke of family values, proper business practices and his Neighbor Island roots. Everything seemed to click with the couple from Kailua, so they hired him.
On the first day of work on the 2,500-square-foot back yard, the couple laid out a tray of pastries and stocked a cooler with ice-cold soft drinks. It struck them as a little odd that the work crew sat down and ate all the baked goods and drank most of the sodas before they started the job. But they tried not to make too big a deal of it.

But when the Dois returned from a two-week trip to Japan, they found their yard hadn’t been worked on, but their patio refrigerator had been raided. They hit the roof. Shortly thereafter, the landscaper (who they later discovered was unlicensed), left a phone message to say he had fallen ill and would not be able to complete the job. The couple called back, and called back, but all they were left with was a mess of a back yard.

Rock Stars: The landscape's generous pathways gave Shinn an opportunity to feature his textured rocky borders and large stepping stones. Both cement hardscapes were poured and formed on site. (inset): A puakenikeni tree starts to blossom.

“The place was in turmoil,” says Gary Shinn, of Hokuahi Lawns Inc., the Dois’ second landscape designer. “The other crew had dug everything up, hit rock and were trying to put down a sprinkler system. It wasn’t a pretty picture.”

The Dois had called Hokuahi Lawns, hoping to clean up the mistakes of their previous hire—but also to totally rethink the landscape. It would be an extreme do-over.

The Kailua backyard abuts an area waterway. It’s enormous by today’s standards: more than 2,500 square feet of open, flat area. The property also has a generous front yard, but the ’60s ranch-style house is oriented with the back yard in mind; nearly every living area in the home has a view of the space and the lazy canal behind it. Before the yard was badly excavated, the expansive lawn was surrounded by several concrete decks and sitting areas, shaded by large magnolia and citrus trees.

The Dois wanted to replace the grassy area with flowers and foliage, within the existing hardscape and trees. With Shinn’s help, they came up with an Asian-themed design. However, the Dois’ daughter, who resides on the Mainland, had other plans. “She’ll be taking over the house someday, so it was good to include her in the process,” Marge says. “She thought we had enough Japanese gardens already. We needed something tropical, with a meandering path.”

Something Old: Hokuahi integrated existing plants and family heirlooms into the new garden. (left): A pestle used for mochi pounding is now a tsukubai. (right): A pineapple plant.

Working long distance, through e-mail and digital photos, Shinn and his dual clients settled on a design that featured five flowing islands of plants, in a sea of multicolored gravel. The rocky, verdant islands would feature flowering plants, such as irises, agapanthus and lilies. The ground covers would include mondo grass, philodendron xanadu and lariape. Shinn also placed bromeliads, anthurium and colored ti plants from the surrounding landscape, tying in old and new. He even converted an old family heirloom—a stone pedestal used for pounding mochi—into a water feature.

“One early design was a single path that led to the arbor and canal, but the scale was off. Too large,” Shinn says. “The original space had three sections: two side yards and a lawn in between. We needed to tie everything together. That’s when we thought of the islands.”
To create the islands’ and surrounding path’s flowing shapes, Shinn utilized one of his signature landscaping features: stained and textured cement borders, which are poured and detailed on site. The technique also formed the landscape’s large, dramatic stepping stones.
“We’re getting a little old, so we wanted stepping stones that are large and easy to negotiate,” Marge explains. “We think they are lovely.”

A family pagoda.

Hokuahi Lawns left undisturbed the surrounding concrete sitting areas, magnolia citrus trees and puakenikeni tree. They did, however, integrate a handful of Manila palms to give the middle area some height. Altogether, the very large landscape features two-dozen different varieties of plants—about twice the number found in most landscapes.

But Shinn and his clients chose their plants carefully, sticking with hardy, easy-to-maintain varieties. The Dois, who do their own yard maintenance, say the large area is easy to care for. More important, now they really enjoy taking care of the garden.

“We spend just about all our free time out here. Every morning I read the paper and have breakfast; every evening I watch the sun go down,” Manny says. “Hokuahi Lawns did a terrific job. This exceeded our wildest expectations.”
Even the second time around.

Asia Pacific: (above): The new tsukubai water feature showcases the homeowners' family heritage. (left, from top): Bromeliads grow wild on a large plumeria tree. Fruit hangs heavy from a nearby tangelo tree.