Remember the clearing of woods article in March?  Well, this homeowner told me to keep going with the most functional part of her outside space.  So we designed and executed the plan for the driveway and outside terrace and garden.

How did we do it? First, we reshaped her parking area to accommodate more parking and an easy turn around.  A small tractor was used to cut the new area and spread clean #57 gravel about 6” deep.

Using the driveway excavation dirt, we created a crescent shape berm near the house.  This berm not only provided a raised bed with good dirt for plants, but also gave this garden lover a cozy room where the parking area behind it is obscured.  Perennials, ornamental grasses, and flowering shrubs are planted in the berm so that she has experiences beautiful outside ‘wallpaper’.

The final picture is a great example of masking necessities.  The propane gas tank, sewer clean out and access to the pump had to remain where they were.  We did not hide them with a fake rock or green plant, but worked around them with neat clean lines.  Good artisanship and the right design help them disappear.

I thought I would attach a few pictures of our merry crew at work!

This week we performed one of my favorite tasks of clearing the woods along a lovely pond in Goochland County.  Clearing woods artistically is a matter of having an educated labor force who knows what is valuable.  A random American holly, dogwood, forsythia or wild blueberry bush is left alone.  We take out weed saplings, undergrowth, dead limbs, and trash.  We usually do not remove anything smaller than your lower arm.

Later we may incorporate red bud trees, daffodils, and wildflowers.  These pictures show how someone who “couldn’t see the pond for the scrub” now feels like she lives in Maine!

I have included a poem that this grateful client wrote about our first ‘walk and talk’.

Before We Add

“What should I plant and where?” I asked,
eager to start
the landscaping
long delayed till
now. ”Before we add, we need to
take away, “ she
said. ”Only when
the essence is
clearly seen, do we know where to
start.” -sage advice
for gardeners
of any kind.
JDG

It was such a treat to start from scratch with the garden renovation of this Sears Catalogue home. Not only that, we worked with a long time client who had moved from another home we had landscaped. We had our own mutual admiration club!

After a lot of on site meetings, we drafted a concept plan, and

• cleared and exposed a lovely hidden garden in the back.

• designed and built an on-site “shed” that blends with the Sears retro style house.

• planted the front yard with family and friend donations of autumn ferns, oak leaf and Nikko blue hydrangeas, euphorbia, peonies and Russian sage.
• installed a variegated bluestone terrace to take care of the winter mud factor and ease in the cost of the terrace, seat walls, trellis, fire pit  and water feature to come next year.

• took care of a water problem in a high trafficked area with a classy French drain.

Our first concern in analyzing landscape projects is to consider drainage problems that may exist for the house foundation, plantings, and traffic areas.

These new homeowners wanted to take no risks in stopping any drainage issues that had contributed to their moldy basement from years of neglect.

Our solutions were to:

• Redesign and lay the brick walk so that it drained away from the house.
  
• Redirect all downspouts away from the house with a closed French drain. We dug a “dry well” at the end of each pipe and filled it with gravel to direct the water deep into the ground.
  
• Lay the beautiful chalet gravel up against the house and porch to double as a stone feature and barrier for any moisture that may collect there.
  

• Create a natural swale which would redirect any water that came from the upper portion of their lot.
  

If it does rain forty days and forty nights, this is the place to go to stay dry!

A Studio on Cary Street in Downtown Richmond

When this renowned artist asked me to landscape his studio on Cary Street.  When I learned that his space had no irrigation or light available, I immediately thought of using boulders.

Before

There is no better way than using stone to add drama and powerful energy to a landscape. The initial outlay for boulders can seem expensive at $250.00 a ton, but that is off set by absolutely no maintenance. The difficult component of using boulders is just getting them to the perfect spot with the perfect angle showing!

In his museum exhibits, this artist is referred as an abstract environmentalist. Our design stayed abstract by creating small vignettes within the narrow space.  We integrated it with  St. John’s Wort ground cover and the geometric Dee Runk Boxwoods.

We placed a “muy grande” boulder in front of the building for instant identification of the space.  The plantings include a purple flowered vitax which hates to be watered and a few sedums planted close to the rock.

After

Lespedeza is one of my favorite plants partly because of its old fashion name “kissing by the garden gate”.  You get a lot of bang for your buck with this $12.00 perennial that starts out the size of your hand and grows bigger than you in 3 years.  The pretty pink flowers are shaped like a pea bloom and lasts for months.  The only maintenance is to cut the plant with hedge clippers in June, and then again in February.

Lespedeza

Silver Fleece Vine
This is another inexpensive perennial that grows quickly and holds well to pergolas and other upright garden features.  It isn’t that terrific while not in bloom, but is just great in the fall when you need something pristine looking that hasn’t been fried by summer heat. When it gets too big after 4 years or so, I cut it back drastically and let it start over again.

Silver Fleece Vine

Stony Point Area- Let’s Spruce Up a Steep Bank

This was a challenging project. The clients’ goals were to prevent erosion on this steep bank, while giving it evergreen in the winter and long lasting blooms in the warmer seasons. Low maintenance and low water needs of course also fit into the design.

Before

We used about 20 small boulders to serve two purposes; namely holding the soil in place and creating a garden feature.

We “planted” the boulders and plants; then pinned down straw matting around the plants and stone to hold the dirt when a heavy downpour hit. The straw matting eventually disintegrates but until then, it holds the bank until roots are established. We also left any old tree stumps that we could on the bank to hold the soil as much as possible.

After

Plantings include 3 crape myrtles, abelia, plum yews and the low growing spring blooming phlox.

Quite a change don’t you think?

North Side Off Brook Road- We Do Brick Driveways

This old brick driveway skirt had broken and sunken bricks lay at odd angles.  It had collapsed in some places over the years from heavy use. Both clients (because they share this driveway) wanted it pretty and useful without losing any of the old charm of the original drive.

Before

Voila!  After the project both clients said the work was better than some work inside the house!

After