Eichler atriums

The Eichler idea of indoor/outdoor living culminated with the atrium—a lush and beautiful outdoor vision that can be viewed from all sides of the house. Here we have the first principle to remember when planning your atrium design—it will be viewed from many rooms and many angles. People’s first impression of your home begins as they walk through the front door into the atrium. Your atrium will also be viewed as you sit in the common living areas or bedrooms, not only from the front, but from "behind" the plants as well. This is your first creative challenge in design.

Consider your space. Many Eichler atriums are dark, with overhanging trees or rooflines. Dark spaces can be lightened up using plants with yellow-colored foliage. Yellow in the landscape reminds us of the sun and adds cheerfulness. While flowers quickly fade, foliage lasts all year long.

There are many familiar plants on the market that are now coming out in variegated foliage. English ivies, Mondo grass, Pieris and even Rhododendrons all are available with variegated foliage. For a different effect, try variegated sedges, such as Carex ‘Goldband’, or variegated flax, like Phormium ‘Gold Sword’. Phormiums can add a lot of interest to your atrium. They are being hybridized into a rainbow of colors to suit any mood. To keep them small, try planting them in a clay pot in the ground.

This same lightening effect can be accomplished with white variegated foliage, but be careful not to mix yellow and white variegated foliage. Choose one, repeat it and stick with it.

For hot, bright atriums, consider growing a vine over the top (using supports such as the beams or a trellis), or if your atrium has a central planting box, plant a small tree. If you decide to plant a tree, choose it carefully. What seems small in a nursery container might turn out to be too large for the space, even eventually breaking up the concrete. Many trees, such as Japanese maples, can be chosen in exactly the ultimate size you desire. Choose a tree with year round interest that is deciduous so you can take advantage of the winter light. The Tricolor Beech (Fagus sylvatica ‘Tricolor’) has beautiful striking foliage which is purple with irregular pinkish-white and rose borders and grows slowly. The Japanese Snowdrop Tree (Stryrax japonicus) grows slowly to 25 feet with fragrant small white flowers and good fall color.

Consider plants with fragrance. Plants right by the entrance with a pleasurable aroma can draw your guests in. Plants with fragrance in the summer waft into your house through screen doors. Daphne odora and Sarcococca are two early blooming plants that will provide spring fragrance. Many kinds of jasmines will work in our climate to provide spring or summer fragrance including the star jasmine, which is not a true jasmine at all.

If you have a covered or enclosed atrium, you are lucky to be able to grow plants that are tender in our area. Jasmine sambac, Cestrum nocturnum (night blooming Jessamine), many exotic gingers, and palms are just a few of your choices. Even if you don’t have an enclosed atrium, try experimenting with a few tender plants. Place them under the overhang against a warm interior wall. You might be pleasantly surprised.

Finally, remember you see your atrium close up in all seasons. Plan a design with at least some interest in every season—spring & summer flowers, fall colors, and evergreen foliage in the winter.

Besides choosing plants based on the principles outlined above, the Eichler atrium presents some definite limitations as well as opportunities. Atriums are notorious for pests—aphids, mealy bugs, white fly, and spider mites are the most common. The reason atriums are so vulnerable is due to poor air circulation and enclosure from these pests natural predators. A plant that might be perfectly pest and trouble free in your backyard could be full of aphids in your atrium.

In order to get a leg up on this at the start, plan a design with tougher plants in mind. Rhododendrons, ferns, grasses, Pieris, Mahonias, Daphnes, Ternstroemia and Lamium are a few of the tougher plants that prove to be less susceptible to sucking bugs. One clue: look for thick leaves, particularly with waxy coatings, to measure a plant’s toughness.
For existing plantings, try ladybug releases in the early spring when aphids are reproducing rapidly, or use a fine horticultural oil to smother scale, whitefly and other insects. Make sure your plants are well watered and fed. Healthy plants are less susceptible to bugs.
Now you’re ready to plant. As you gather your plants from the nursery and get your shovel ready, you’re all excited. The day has finally arrived for the transformation. You push your shovel in and---aaagh! This isn’t soil! You’re convinced this must be left over material from your daughter’s pottery class!

The ‘soil’ you’ve encountered is subsoil. When the land was bulldozed to create the foundation for the house, this is the rock it was built upon. Soil is 90% of the reason your plants will succeed or fail, so there is every reason to invest some effort in now so you can relax later. For the most success with atrium plantings, remove up to 18" of the soil in these concrete enclosures, and no less than 12". Replace with a good loamy soil mix. After all that backbreaking work, you should be able to grow most anything.

Now that the plants are all in place, maintenance becomes the key issue. It is advisable and easy for the homeowner to install a simple drip irrigation system on a timer. Your local hardware store should have a wide variety of timers available that can be hooked up to the hose spigot that comes with every atrium. Splurge on the timer. You should be able to get a good one for under $50. Your local irrigation store can provide you with the simple know how that it takes to connect up the equipment. With the timer in place, you can go away on vacation in the heat of August and be assured that your new landscape will flourish and grow.