The American poet Theodore Roethke stated, “Great Nature has another thing to do / To you and me; so take the lively air / And, Lovely, learn by going where to go.”
When you wander into Donna and Tom Torrens’ Gig Harbor garden — with its breathtaking view of the harbor and Mount Rainier, even in winter — the garden takes you on its own “lively air” journey of great nature fused with intimacy and care, patience, kindness and devotion for every little living thing embellished by stunning sculptures created by Tom Torrens and son James.
“My vision for this house was Asian fusion,” Donna Torrens said.
When the family sold their much larger, several-acre property in the Artondale area about six years ago, they wanted to downsize and create a home and garden for aging in place. They also wanted to honor the plants and garden that had been in place for many years by replanting or building around mature trees and plants.
The couple transplanted maples, dogwood, rhododendrons and azaleas. Most significantly, they left in place a signature maple in the backyard. The home’s multilevel deck is built entirely around the tree, which provides fall color and summer shade and becomes its own sculptural element in the dead of winter. Of all the transplanting work, like any gardener, Torrens says that “some survived, some didn’t.” But it’s the idea, so pervasive in Asian gardens and Zen philosophy, to try to create an opportunity for the preservation of life in a garden.
It took about two years to remodel the midcentury home; Tom’s studio was the first completed element. It’s a separate building filled with tools and machines to create the stunning metal sculptures, bells, gates and garden elements for which he is most famous. Those who may not be familiar with his art only need to go to Donkey Creek Park, where his work, “Ringing in the Salmon,” is a centerpiece.
“By the time we got into the remodel, I knew exactly what kind of garden I wanted. It had to be completely accessible for both wheelbarrows and any future needs we might have,” Donna Torrens said.
It was also important for the couple to have complete privacy. This is accomplished by his unique fabricated metal fencing, one of the first things made for the new property.
Keeping the Japanese influence alive, she designed pathways with fine granite, which is noted to bring good luck as well as represent water. The main pathway fuses this symbolic identity and balance by winding throughout the entire garden, front to back.
“We call it our path of enlightenment” she said.
Symmetrical, hard and soft surfaces are a focal point, particularly in the front of the house. Numerous large berms engulf the front and side of the corner lot planted with flowering groundcover (mostly a variety of various thyme). They provide a lush, soft, green canvas against the rock pathways.
Both Tom and Donna Torrens are intrigued by the architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright, especially his use of “compression and release,” the idea that before entering an open spacious area, one much pass through a more narrow, constricting space. The constricted space, like the ideas presented in Roethke’s poem, tell the person where to go. Nowhere is this more present than in the couple’s exquisite bonsai garden, a small, separate garden off their kitchen area that is completely private even though it’s in the front of the house.
Entering the garden through a narrow kitchen glass door, you step into a square space with a berm in the middle surrounded by a circular path. Numerous bonsais, large and small — one over 85 years old — are exhibited to reflect intentional harmony with nature. An intimate bench invites quiet meditation or a morning read with a cup of tea.
Torrens has a variety of tree specimens she has worked to bonsai. They include juniper, pine, larch and even a black pine.
“Most people don’t realize this, but bonsai do not grow in soil; they grow in lava rock or pumice,” she explained. “Every gardener uses the soil differently and most of us make our own. We only put the plant in the ground when it is not doing too well. The ground then acts as a nursery for the plant.”
Torrens says she is intrigued by “chi,” that idea of simple, inviting spaces. “Your energy is taken in and released by elements of surprise, elements of the unexpected. It keeps you looking around,” she explained.
Torrens grew up in the Midwest and has been gardening since she was about 2 years old. “We lived on a farm and learned canning and freezing,” she said. Those roots are transferred to even this “newer” home where there is a substantial vegetable garden and espaliered fruit trees planted and supported by fabricated structures and containers created by Tom and James.
Her ability to garden year around is also facilitated by a small but extraordinarily designed greenhouse built adjacent to the home with its own interior and exterior entrances. Here, geranium starts to flourish alongside cascading tomatoes, iris and hydrangeas, all awaiting their own time to be replanted into the garden. A visit into the greenhouse is an inviting space and element of the surprise.
“Great Nature” delights in the Torrens garden, from the “secret garden” rose gate, to the flowering pink-and-white hydrangea tree, to the centerpiece maple that was purposefully saved in the remodel. It becomes an invitation to reflect, interface and find that joy resonating between human spirit and nature all year around.
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