This historic home received a new landscape makeover, complete with an updated pergola, a custom built arbor, custom wood privacy trellis, a pond with a waterfall, stepping stones, and many new native plants. This garden became a certified Wildlife Habitat and certified Monarch Waystation too. We also solved some drainage issues on the site.
All of the new native plants allowed this garden to become a certified Monarch Waystation and Wildlife Habitat. If you plant it, they will come!
I hired a local carpenter to build this custom privacy trellis panel. It is amazing! This not only divides the garden into a separate ‘room’, but it also creates privacy and a really nice backdrop to the garden no matter where you are standing on the property. I was glad to hire a local craftsperson to make this, rather than buying something pre-made from a box store. Each and every single piece of wood on this trellis is handmade from raw lumber. This lattice work is much more durable than lattice purchased from a store.
We attached the wood privacy trellis to an arbor we built to match the pergola. The arbor defines the 2 garden rooms by showing people how to navigate through the garden.
The trellis and carpentry in this garden provides a nice backdrop to the pollinator garden.
There was an existing pergola already on the site, however it was in very poor condition. There were not enough supporting beams, and incorrect wood sizes were used, which was causing a lot of warping.
We removed the existing top, but reused the existing posts. We replaced the entire top of the pergola with proper beam support and added purlins across the top to add additional shade and give a more traditional pergola style. We cut the ends using a traditional pergola diagonal.
This garden bed next to the sidewalk was installed to aid in stormwater runoff on the site. Due to the downward slope of this area, water runoff from the street would drain onto their property as a sheet across this lawn and would pool creating standing water. The only way to address this issue was to install a garden bed to mitigate the stormwater and soak the water up. The native plants in this garden bed appreciate the water, and the garden bed helps block and soak up the excess water. Once this garden bed was installed, the homeowner stated that there was no more standing water in this area after a rain event.
Previously, the front landscape consisted of mostly boxwoods that were overgrown and offered no interest. These were removed, and several native shrubs were added including summersweet, virginia sweetspire, and ninebark. Arborvitae and inkberry adds evergreen color in the winter, and pollinator friendly plants like purple coneflower, and geranium add color and food for wildlife.
This landscaping project was fun in many different ways, and this new pond definitely added more excitement to the project! This 5×6′ pond adds a really nice ambience to the patio area. The sound from the waterfall overcomes traffic noise from the street, and provides an area for wildlife to have a drink. The element of water with the natural stone can add a lot of interest and relaxation to your garden space. It is really amazing how much the sound of water adds to the garden.
Throughout this area, we installed a stepping stone pathway which adds another textural element and new material in this garden. Utilizing several materials with varying textures and colors throughout a garden creates interest. It contrasts with greenery and looks nice in the winter. This pathway makes the garden functional by guiding visitors how to move through the garden and providing a nice surface to walk on.