Landscape guru creates outdoor focal points

Chris Busk COURTESY PHOTO For more than 30 years, homeowners of all types have relied upon the landscaping expertise of designer Christian Busk. His award-winning firm, Busk & Associates, offers a complete complement of services, from concept to maintenance, including design, construction and installation, even of pools.

"We work closely with architects, interior designers and engineers to make a project work properly," the high-energy Mr. Busk says. "It's soup to nuts."

Whether working for a homeowners or condo association or for a private individual, Mr. Busk and his team develop a theme and carry it all the way through a property, from the front entry through the main house to the backyard.

Even at smaller homes, Mr. Busk is able to apply his brand of magic, concocting a series of inviting spaces that provoke at least a pause, if not some pleasing downtime. From covered patios, water gardens and lush lawns with unusual shapes and borders, his designs flow seamlessly and beautifully, starting with views inside the home and going to garden and back.

There beautiful bargains to be had in today's marketplace, according to the designer. "We use natural stones outside," he says. "Granite… marble from Turkey… are actually inexpensive per square foot, more so than they've ever been," he says.

The transformation of an outdoor space under renovation often begins with removal of outdated components. "We get rid of asphalt paving the developers left," Mr. Busk explains of projects built 25 to 30 years ago. "Now people want pavers."

He often incorporates water-saving irrigation zones into his plans. But it's an unseen component at which Mr. Busk really excels: "I'm the king of drainage in Naples," he says with a laugh.

He visually softens the "hardscape" — patios, decks and stone walls — with pleasing aspects such as water gardens or fountains. "We create focal points where there aren't any," he says. One such memorable area was the show stealer at last year's Parade of Homes. "We won best outdoor living area and best pool design," he says about a Miromar Lakes estate with an 85-foot pool of his design with a disappearing edge on two sides, a Spanish-inspired fountain, spa and water jets.

When asked what projects readers might have seen, Mr. Busk says he's most proud of The Promenade, which I did for the Lutgert Companies in Bonita Springs. He's also done work in Hong Kong, Brazil and St. Barts.

Mr. Busk did not set out to be a landscape designer; his original intent was to be a golf-course architect. But after being persuaded to diversify, the young design-minded talent found himself with a unique dual body of knowledge: turf grass management and landscape architecture. "Most people get one or the other," he says of those who hire a typical landscape professional.

Often asked to incorporate the newest design trends, Mr. Busk says he's now adding gas urns and fire troughs on a couple of jobs. "Fire and water," he smiles. "People are asking to have it integrated in their garden."