• This small suburban backyard sits below the embankment of the Chicago Northwestern Railroad tracks. The homeowners, an architect and his wife, had just completed the renovation of their Chicago style Bungalow into a jewel with fine detailing throughout. With a new kitchen addition overlooking this space, the clients sought a pleasing oasis for outdoor eating and entertaining.
• The site challenges were many: noise and visual intrusions as well as poor drainage and compacted soil conditions. Construction debris littered the site including large chucks of concrete.
• NLH proposed planting the railroad right of way embankment with rapid growing clump birch and viburnum. These plants, although not evergreen, provide a dense visual screen that baffle the train noise and worked within the budget.
• Raised seat walls built with Brussels Block wall stone by Unilock, mirror the shape of the dining bay window on the house and provide additional seating. The raised plant beds were filled with a special soil mix to support the growth of the array of specialty trees, shrubs and perennials.
• The diagonal terrace paving punctuated with lannon stone insets recalls the kitchen floor pattern.
• Plant materials such as the mugo pine, Japanese Maple, ajuga, purple heuchera, grasses, catmint and ninebark echo the colors of the trim on the house. The garden is an oasis in all seasons.