Sometimes, I get to add gardens to landscapes that have been lovingly tended for years. It’s such a fun challenge to design a garden that looks like it’s been there for years with the rest of the garden. And it’s an honor to add my signature to part of a landscape that will be so adored for years to come.
And other times (like this time!), I get to completely tear out everything and start fresh. It can be overwhelming as a homeowner to look at a sea of 70-year-old yew bushes that are so tall that they’re blocking everything – the light coming into the house AND the house itself – and see not only what the space would look like if the yews were gone, but also what would look amazing in their place, and what plants will thrive over the years with little care and maintenance.
But, I’ve got a plan!
Designing new planting beds (or, a whole new landscape in this case) is my jam. Give me the straight-edged planting beds with four small bushes shoved against a foundation that landscapers so often put in when they’re out of time and money at the end of building a house and I’ll give the space gorgeous curves that capture your eye and draw them toward beautiful, interesting plants that will thrive in the space and are good for our native insects that keep our landscape thriving.
This project delivered on just that for these wonderful Dekalb homeowners. They bought this house at the end of last year from the original owner, who had the house built in the 1950s. The prior owner, bless his heart, hadn’t changed a thing since the house was built. And while that’s cute on the inside of the house, especially as midcentury modern is all the rage, a landscape cannot simply be “set and forget” like the interior of a house can. Bushes grow, flowers die, and trees mature and shade out what used to be a nice, sunny spot in the yard.
That’s precisely what happened here, on this forgotten side of the yard.
While this side faces south, it actually gets almost no direct sunlight because of several large, mature trees that have grown up around the house. I’m all for shade trees that keep the sun off the roof in the summer and make our air conditioner’s job easier, so these trees were staying. But, with too little sun for grass to grow, the side of this yard turned into a mud pit with every rainfall.
Most landscapers would put down grass seed, water it in, and call it a day. But that wouldn’t work long term. The homeowners would be constantly fighting to grow grass in an area it just doesn’t have the ability to grow well.
But I’m here for the long-term design fixes and fresh ideas. We spread mulch over the whole muddy area. The mulch will protect the soil and allow it to start building up nutrients again after being exposed to the elements for so long. Then we added a wide stepping stone walkway that not only looks gorgeous, but also will allow the homeowners to drive their ride-on lawnmower through the side yard so they have a shortcut from the front yard to the lawnmower’s home: a shed in the backyard. Finally, we filled in the space with native plants that will not just tolerate the shade, but will THRIVE: ferns, coral bells, and wild geraniums. Once the plants have time to establish, this space will erupt with new greenery and flowers in the spring, turning the space into a beautiful, secret woodland garden. I can’t wait to watch it mature.
