Garden redesign

22 years ago

Well, I've posted lots of times looking for info and advice on improving my landscape, and have finally gotten a design down on paper, with help from a pro (rough sketches only, no measured plan).

The after plan is one I printed part way through the drawing process, and some of it is off a bit in this version, ie. the opening in the hedges should line up, and some other details have been tweaked, but this is the direction I'm taking.

An allee of ornamental trees from house to pergola, a tomb-stone shaped lawn screened from the driveway with an evergreen hedge with solid gates, existing sunny border to remain along drive, new borders underway inside tomb-stone. Radius end screened from street with yews, allee defined with boxwood borders.

New shed with raised beds for veggies and cutting garden, new brick paths to street from both front doors (!) connected by path that squares off the foundation planting.

Possible picket fence on street side as well as from garage to side boundary to separate shed/veggie area from side garden. New hedge along entire east boundary, maybe a Viburnum.

Remove old (unused) brick patio and replace with groundcover and boxwood and peastone parterre. Extend existing stone patio on west side toward driveway.

Already started chalk-painting out the lines of new gardens, and started removing sod and relocating perennials that will be in the way of shrub installation today.

Still have to finalize selections for some of the plant materials.

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Comments (3)

kategardens
22 years ago
Jo, for the spatially challenged among us, is there any chance you can figure out how to post these right-side up? Even from this angle, though, it certainly looks to me like it adds promising definition to your grounds in a way that complements the style of your house. What was _your_ reaction? I will also look forward to reading what some of our design and history pros have to say.

Kate
ginger_nh
22 years ago
Jo-
How have you integrated the information gleaned from this forum into your plan?

Were there any challenges in working hx accuracies into the plan?

Was the designer always cooperative or were there stumbling blocks re reality vs hx accuracy?

Do you have a plant list you could share or a plan with varieties notated? I would love to be able to envision exactly what is going where.

Thanks for posting what you have so far.

G.
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Saypoint zone 6 CT
Original Author
22 years ago
Kate, I couldn't flip them without renaming, so broke the original links. Reposting them here. I love the new design, there are still a few bugs to work out, and details to decide.
Ginger, I wasn't going for an accurate recreation, and since I don't know much about the original landscape, and three-quarters of the property was sold off in the 60s, I can't to a restoration anyway.
I asked questions here and lurked on others' posts, and learned a bit about garden history. The toughest part is that the house is Georgian, but it was built in 1837, which is late Federal, very early Victorian. Add to this the fact that we don't live the same way today that we would have back then. I looked at a lot of photos of old houses and gardens, and also at the range of historical garden styles possible.
In the end I decided to go with the look I love. I was drawn to gardens with geometric shapes and straight borders, lots of privacy where needed, hedges and fences to divide and define, and lush plantings.
I won't be removing everything that isn't period-correct, only what's in the way of the new design. I've already started relocating existing plants, and will edit and add later when the hard part is done.
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