Stevie Nicks' LA Home Showcases a Tiered Planting Trick

stevie nicks in 1975 — (Image credit: Fin Costello/Redferns via Getty Images)

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Recreate The Look at Home

Beautiful gardens don't have to be large; in fact, a smaller garden often allows for more careful planning and exacting execution. If you're looking for inspiration, the tiered front yard of Stevie Nicks' former Los Angeles home shows precisely how cleverly arranged planting can turn minimal ground space into maximum impact.

The property at 2282 El Contento Drive in the Hollywood Hills, where Stevie Nicks resided from 1976 to 1980, features a bold, Mediterranean garden design. Rather than being planted out, agave plants, lavender, and a small tree are planted upwards, slanting towards the house. This vertical technique helps to make the most of a small surface area for a gorgeous facade. It's perfectly coordinated with the home, allowing its Spanish-style architecture to shine.

The vertical garden at Stevie's former home demonstrates that eye-catching gardens that add value to a home are about structure, not size. Let's take a look.

Recreate The Look at Home

Attracts Pollinators

The Old Farmer's Almanac Heirloom Lavender Seeds

If you prefer to grow from seed, this English Lavender is a great choice. Its high linalool content helps naturally repel ticks, while its soft purple blooms and soothing fragrance create a calm, inviting atmosphere.

Aromatic Herb

4-Pack Lavendar Plants

If you’re inspired to replicate the planting style of Stevie Nicks' former home, lavender is a must-have, and this offer is hard to beat. Priced at just under $7.50 per plant, it’s an excellent value for such a popular garden favorite.

Anti-slip

Pink Garden Pruning Shears

This pruning set is built to make garden work easier, safer, and more comfortable to handle. The sharp, rust-resistant blades deliver clean cuts through stems, while the ergonomic, non-slip handles provide steady control, even during longer pruning sessions.

Eye-Catching

Natural Decorative Polished Mixed Gravel

Gravel pathways help to prevent weeds and can help scare off burglars or unwanted pests - plus, they're the perfect addition to a vertical, Mediterranean style landscape. These stones have exceptional color variety for a path that is as stylish as it is practical.

Prevents Weeds

Raised Bed

This easy-build raised bed makes planting a thriving vertical garden easy. They can be arranged at different heights to recreate the slanted look of the Hollywood Hills home's front yard.

Spanish Revival

Storied Home Terracotta Urn Jar

To capture the aged look of this Spanish-style home without waiting years for natural weathering, this urn from Target is a beautiful shortcut. The whitewashed finish over the orange clay mimics the soft marks of time and weather, perfect for a fall patio setup.

In addition to its aesthetic benefits, a tiered garden like the one at Stevie's home can positively impact the value of your home, leading to a higher selling price. That's why savvy homeowners focus on planning a clever structure, rather than expanding their outdoor spaces.

Garden Trading’s Outdoor Expert, Matt Baldock, explains: 'People often assume garden size is the biggest value-adder to a home, but design plays a much bigger role in how a space is perceived. A well-designed garden feels immersive, intentional, and easy to use. Buyers are drawn to spaces that already feel functional and enjoyable the moment they step into them.'

Furthermore, though vertical planting ideas are popular for the backyard, Stevie's former home demonstrates how impactful they can be for a house's front garden.

'When it comes to smaller gardens, we often forget to look up,' advises Matt. 'Vertical planting allows us to maximise greenery without sacrificing floor space. Climbing plants, trellises, and raised planters can all help create the lush, layered aesthetic increasingly associated with high-end outdoor spaces. Vertical planting draws the eye upwards, which naturally enhances the perceived scale of a garden. It’s one of the easiest ways to create depth and texture without overcrowding the layout.'

Rather than dealing in straight lines, vertical planting can be used to create delicious curves and stylish shapes in the garden. Matt recommends: 'Rigid lines can make gardens feel smaller by drawing the eye directly towards boundaries, whereas curved pathways, borders, and furniture arrangements create a gentler visual flow that naturally makes outdoor spaces feel larger and more open. Curved sightlines create movement and depth, which helps gardens feel less confined. Even subtle changes like rounded seating, circular rugs, or soft furnishings can completely change how spacious a garden feels.'

Whether you are hoping to sell your home or just looking for a way to elevate your front garden, vertical techniques are the expert-approved method for beautifying an outdoor space.

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Sophie is a writer and News Editor on the Celebrity Style team at Homes & Gardens. She is fascinated by the intersection of design and popular culture and is particularly passionate about researching trends and interior history. She is an avid pop culture fan and has interviewed Martha Stewart and Hillary Duff.

In her free time, Sophie freelances on design news for Westport Magazine and Livingetc. She also has a newsletter, My Friend's Art, in which she covers music, culture, and fine art through a personal lens. Her fiction has appeared in Love & Squalor and The Isis Magazine.

Before joining Future, Sophie worked in editorial at Fig Linens and Home, a boutique luxury linens brand. She has an MSc from Oxford University and a BA in Creative Writing and Sociology from Sarah Lawrence College.