?On a leftover site in Punta Pite, landscape architect Teresa Moller?s house is a study in give and take.
By Jimena Martignoni/Photography by Crist贸bal Palma
The terraced gardens behind the house showcase many different species that can now be appreciated as one composition.
Nestled into steep cliffs that face the Pacific Coast of Chile, the landscape architect Teresa Moller?s house combines a small-scale rewilding and a site for the study of seacoast plants. The experimental gardens at Moller?s house, in the residential development Punta Pite, are part of a 27-acre property that follows the contours of a bay between Zapallar and Papudo, two sea towns located about 100 miles north of Santiago. Started more than 15 years ago, the gardens seem to have realized their full potential, though they are also, fundamentally, an evolving work in progress. Facing a record-breaking drought that has lasted more than a decade, Chile is going through its worst water crisis. At her home in Punta Pite, Moller has created a place where a wide range of native and nonnative drought-tolerant plants coexist and complete a positive ecological feedback mechanism. In a coastal environment, with the necessary daily humidity provided by the ocean, the plant communities have managed to survive the extreme conditions that are affecting most ecosystems on the planet.
Moller?s reputation is well-established. A Chilean landscape architect based in Santiago, she was chosen by Gardens Illustrated as one of...