Classic Reimagined
Breathing new life into a traditional garden
The garden had good bones...but needed new life.
The clients came to us looking for a redesign of their existing garden. They had recently lost a beloved old Pine, and the shade it had provided to the plants below….
Before
Before
First, we ripped out the old, sun-scorched understory and then shaped the bones of the garden by pruning the many remaining trees and shrubs. Next, we installed boulders on the slope for definition and erosion control and added a stepping stone pathway through a boggy section of lawn.
Multi-stemmed Amelanchiers were added to give the garden a natural woodland feel. We underplanted them with evergreen Sesleria, long-blooming Astrantia and, at the edges, Japanese iris, which wouldn’t mind the heavy clay.
The simple addition of a small bed to wrap around the patio seating area completely changed the flow of the garden and served to bring the garden closer in, giving a sense of enclosure.
For the final touch, we made it all glow with lighting installed along the pathway and uplights to show off all those good bones. All these small adjustments gave the client’s traditional garden a fresh update and a more natural feel.