ABOUT

• A print artist and her husband decided that after 20 years it was time for a complete garden makeover.
  
  
• Swirls became the theme of the garden, along with garden art the owner found or created.

• Maintaining a woodland setting and creating a sustainable garden with low water use plants were imperatives.

• Make the garden easy to maintain was equally important.

• Provide seating areas to enjoy the new garden and an entertainment area from the view of the back deck

• Keep the existing driveway as is

Click on "North Bank article" to read more about this project.

PROJECT GOALS

• Remove much of the existing overgrown and scraggly plants and replace with native plants and ornamental woodland plants that were not 'deer candy'

• Remove the deteriorated brick entry walk and replace with a colored concrete walk that would be easy to keep clean.

• Create a focal point that could be seen from the back deck and lure visitors into the garden

• Create a useable garden and sitting area below the deck.

• Incorporate opportunities for art.

• Illuminate the garden at night for summer walks from the duck pond to the fire pit to the water feature.

DESIGN CONCEPTS

• A gabion wall buttresses the swirling stone fire pit and defines the ravine view
• Another swirl in stone anchors the weeping rock water feature out in the front woodland. Overhead we stretched a cable and suspended a single light which creates a pool of light over the water feature at night. 
• The “duck pond” is a swirl in blue & aqua glass, on which the owner’s painted duck decoys rest.  It is located in the low area behind the deck, for a bit of color and humor. The tumbled glass is imbedded into mortar & covered with resin to support the owner’s decoys. Dwarf Mondo grass is planted in the open space around the swirl.
• Numerous pieces of collected art among a woodland of low-maintenance plants bring the garden to life. New ceramic leaves, made by the owner, were embedded into the new colored concrete walkways.
• The pergola that Vanessa designed is made up of 3 arbors, with the end arbors mimicking the roof line of the entry to the house. Lighting silhouettes their form at night. Swirls, of course, were included with blown glass “marbles” inset into the steel pattern.
• Many native plants and other non-invasive, drought-tolerant ornamentals were used in the landscape, in order to create a highly sustainable, yet beautiful, garden.