As the Dedakalaki (tr. “mother city”- the capital city of Tbilisi) heats up with more towers and traffic congestion, the aggregate and cement slurry is pumping in the pastures surrounding older villages of Tabakhmela, Tsavkisi, and Shindsi. Families fleeing the city for the suburbs typically pour concrete single family homes, encircle them with high breeze block retaining walls, and plant them with few lines of thuja, a rose, picea pungens, or a topiary olive, and a blanket of turfgrass. On larger plots, micro-suburban developments like York Town’s Vista Garden (tagline: “Elegance and Nature”) and Simetria Park are taking shape among the dirt roads and pastures.
A colleague explained that homeowners in the suburbs level their hillside sites to capture every square meter on their deed. Nature outside the walls—clean air and views—is best appreciated at a distance. Inside the plot, all must be leveled and tamed.
Doing our level best
For a garden in Tabakhmela, we countered the local trend of “landscape incarceration” by engineering a series of folds and terraces for comfortable climbs and spaces for play and relaxation. The land is surrounded by forests connecting two steep ravines, with views to the Kojori mountains above and Kumisi plain below.
With but one tithe to vernacular “max it out and retain” approach, in a level section from the front entry to a green roof over the garage—a non-negotiable artifact of an earlier architect’s plan. The turf “pier” overlooks the Kumisi reservoir and a monastery complex with an allée of persimmon trees. From the garage, a stair threads between woodland forest edges, leading to a pine and perennial patch. A gravel garden with shaded dining area and kitchen squares with a terraced plum orchard. The upper terrace fits games like croquet, and badminton. A shaded “summit garden” alongside the ravine forest overlooks the the pool and ridges beyond.
It’s ok, the plants will cover that up
Final planting and siteworks commenced in spring 2025, which meant a patchy process negotiating local nursery and installation markets. While Sartiflora, a Warsaw-based nursery supplying ornamental plants to Georgia, provided the quality and quantity of imported mass perennial, specimen trees, and shrub planting needed for much of the project, Kakheti's Karibche, a local nursery growing trees from seeds and cuttings, handled the biodiverse Miyawaki planting of local species on the western, construction-disturbed edge. While the two suppliers’ nurseries are a kilometer apart in Sartichala, Kakheti, we’ve narrowed the gap to a meter.
We’re rounding out the punchlist phase of the project, with only a gate, pathway paving and the literal kitchen sink (outdoor) to complete. With this built example, we can walk clients through this living alternative to the typical suburban yard.
