Bluestone and Beech Tree: A Small Garden with a Big Impact
by Betsey Morse Mayer, Landscape Designer and Contractor

The site: an Arts and Crafts style house with a back yard shaded by a large American beech tree. The design solution was to keep the beech and preserve the root structure by designing a semi-circular bluestone patio that echoed the canopy but left root zone undisturbed. Arcs of groundcovers and bulbs, perennials and shrubs contrast with the geometry of the patio. Three river birches create a foliage screen to West. A second phase of installation was to move the driveway from right to left side of house, landscape it, and create new entry ways in the front and back of the house, so you walk through gardens. All small separate areas of the yard have now become part of a continuous larger landscape.

Lakeside Meditation Garden with Waterfall Pond
by Catherine Wiersema

Design and Installation from June to September 2002.

This turn-of-the-century residence sits thirty feet above Upper Mystic Lake in Winchester, MA, with five successive terraces going to the water.  The three lower terraces were the focus of the design.   The narrowest terrace, little  more than a ledge, had stunning lake views and an old stone pond.  The space reminded me of lakeside gardens in Northern Italy, but my client also liked Asian gardens.  So I created two preliminary plans  one Oriental in style, the other Italian.  In a memorable 3-hour meeting, my client and I merged the two plans into the final design.

 I reshaped the narrowest terrace as a meditation garden with an Oriental-inspired stone path and stone seats next to the restored pond.  We tucked many ferns and shade wildflowers around the waterfall, and seeded moss on the stones to soften them.  The other terraces were transformed by lush fragrant trees, shrubs, perennials and bulbs that would offer May-to-September blooms and spectacular fall color.  To keep the garden low-maintenance, we used tough plants that require no pruning, and installed a drip irrigation system to meet each plant’s exact water needs.

Click on any piece of the composition below for a larger view of each section.

The Grand 1885 Parsonage
by Christie Dustman

Two Lanterns in the City
by Christie Dustman

Dialogue Through Glass
by Diana Thomas

The Path to a Vineyard Cottage Garden
by Linda Lischer

A Small Suburban Landscape
by Lynette Tsiang

An Elegant Suburban Garden Master Plan
by Maria von Brincken

The back garden outdoor rooms feature a private circular bluestone patio with herb garden and wisteria covered lattice, daylily cutting garden, perennial border sweeping through the grove, swing set area with sitting area in a shady grove behind, and greensward play area shaped by a flowering native shrub and tree border sequenced to bloom, berry, or provide winter color all year to be viewed from the kitchen and family dining areas. The color theme is blue and maroon highlighted with white, silver, and pink. This theme is carried by perennials, annuals, bulbs, shrubs, trees, conifers and vines.

West Roxbury Residence
by Sally Muspratt