Landscaping Property Spotlight –
A large lot can present big challenges, but it also offers opportunities for unique solutions. Gardens of Babylon landscape designers Eric VanGrinsven and Chloe Barrett have both applied their design talents to this property in West Meade. The result is a landscape that feels spacious, but with plenty of comfortable areas for family and guests to gather and enjoy the view.
What did the homeowner want?
The homeowners prefer a natural, free-form landscape over a clipped and formal design, and the size of the lot – an acre or more – lends itself perfectly to that. There’s an outbuilding in the back yard – a potting shed — that was added prior to the design.
“We’ve worked around that shed from the start,” Barrett says. While the shed holds gardening tools and equipment, the brown siding and crisp white trim assure that it looks more like a cottage. Window boxes are filled with colorful blooms in summer, a cupola on the roof complements the door, and the shed is surrounded by lush hydrangeas and other shrubbery. From the patio, the shed and its surroundings act as the natural focal point.
What was the biggest challenge?
“The biggest challenge has been to balance the garden with perspective: providing a low-lying pollinator garden, while maintaining the visual depth of the yard,” says VanGrinsven, who designed the original bed footprint and planting plan. “The variance in site allows us to play with sun and shade perennials, providing blooms of interest almost year-round.”
The route from the back door to the potting shed also presented an opportunity for creativity. The circular patio outside the back door features a stone seat wall at the perimeter that separates it from the lawn. The patio at the potting shed echoes the main patio in shape, color and texture. The designer met the challenge of getting from one to the other by placing a series of flagstone pavers nestled in the lush grass across the wide lawn. Setting the pavers in a pattern that follows a graceful S-curve gives the pathway a natural sense of movement while it leads the eye to the landscape’s focal point in the distance.
What do you think is the best feature?
From the homeowner’s point of view, it was essential to have pollinator-friendly plants in a design that looks as if it happened organically – a “natural look,” Barrett says. “The best feature, I believe, is the flagstone patio outside the garden shed, with the pollinator garden about halfway down the path.”
Do you plan to upgrade your outdoor spaces in 2022? Click here to book a consultation with a member of Gardens of Babylon’s landscape design team.
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