Jamie Lee Curtis's '70s Shade Garden is a Blueprint for Adding Greenery to a Dark, Stony Backyard Corner – It's So Simple Yet Eye-Catching
Ferns, wax leaf privet, and a brick pathway transformed the side of the actress's Los Angeles home into a celebration of greenery
We all have one: that strange, dark corner in the backyard that doesn't get enough sunlight for our usual planting techniques. Luckily, there is a solution, and we found it in an archival photo of Jamie Lee Curtis's Los Angeles shade garden from 1978.
Rather than leaving the tricky area to dry up, the actress has built a stylish brick path and edged it with shade-loving plants. Jamie's combination of ferns and wax-leaf privet shrubs (like these plants from Amazon) is the perfect way to break up her terracotta hardscaping. The simple look is ravishingly eye-catching.
Jamie Lee Curtis's shade garden idea is a masterclass in planting these tricky corners. To explore, we're diving into her look. Homes & Gardens has curated an edit of the best plants and garden accessories for recreating it, and spoken with garden design experts on how she makes this look work. We'll begin with a peek into Jamie Lee's outdoor space.
Jamie Lee Curtis in her Los Angeles Backyard in 1978
Recreate Jamie Lee's Look at Home
No matter where you live, you can emulate the beauty of Jamie Lee Curtis's landscaping and hardscaping with terracotta planters and shade-resistant greenery. These are our editors' picks.
This combination of different ferns creates a gorgeous base for a shade garden. The different breeds allow you to figure out which varieties thrive best in your yard.
If you don't have a brick walkway, you can still integrate touches of terracotta for a well-considered garden. This lifted bowl is ideal for storing decorative accents or could be used as a planter.
This giant sword fern plant can grow to an unbelievable wingspan, offering unparalleled wildness and beauty in your shade garden. It can be layered with smaller ferns for a pretty contrast.
This statement urn is perfect for adding more terracotta to your backyard, and would be gorgeous planted out with ferns. It would look great layered with planters of different sizes.
Add a reflective glint to your garden path with these shiny leaved plants, similar to those we see in Jamie Lee Curtis's backyard. They are perfect if you want to use only greenery to create stunning borders.
These natural stone planters are ideal for adding a manicured feel to your shade garden. The drainage hole makes it easy to care for your plants.
The first way that Jamie Lee Curtis makes her design work is by leaning into the existing elements of the space. Rather than planting in a way that's at war with the surroundings, she leans into creating a contrast with the smooth lines of the bricks by growing ferns.
Steve Corcoran, garden expert and CEO of Lawn Love: 'If you look at the hardscaping, you’ll notice it’s all brick. The ground and stairs are brick, and the walls are brick as well. So, those ferns do an excellent job of breaking that up visually. They not only break up the color, but they break up the straight lines and symmetry. Because the ferns have more curves and variety in shapes and sizes, that creates a direct contrast with the bricks, which adds much more dimension to the space.'
It's also important to consider how you can cleverly plant your borders even in areas where you aren't sure it's possible to make miracles like Jamie's possible. Danielle Hall, garden expert at luxury garden furniture specialists Eterna Home, states: 'A lack of sunlight doesn’t mean you can’t still create a garden that works for you. Whether you want to create a private sanctuary to escape to or an outdoor hosting space to welcome family and friends, a few simple changes can help you achieve your garden goals.'
She continues: 'Some gardens receive limited sunshine because of adjoining walls or fences, but these can be used to your advantage to increase your enjoyment of the space. It can be worth introducing plants and greenery to these boundaries to embrace the potential of vertical gardening or using surfaces to add interesting art or design features.'
'It’s vital, however, to consider plants and greenery that thrive with limited light, such as hydrangeas, clematis, ferns, dogwood or azalea,' adds Danielle.
With careful planning, research, and working with the surrounding landscape, a stunningly green shade corner is well within reach.
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