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This before-and-after story begins with the unimaginable: a lightning strike that caused significant damage to home and property. While the family, and their beloved dog, Quigley, made it out safely and the home was able to be repaired and rebuilt over time, their property still bears the scars of that fateful night. Ready to restore the landscape to its former beauty and incorporate some new ideas to better suit the space and their lifestyle, the homeowners are seeking a complete makeover and contacted us to begin discussing the project, as well as join our mentorship program.

The home site has a steep set of stairs in the rear that the family uses for access on a daily basis, which leads from a charming rear alley. The house is perched on the side of a slope, and the pool is on the same level as the house, taking up most available space in the rear. They need parking in the front, custom fitted gardens and expanded outdoor dining.

One of the landscape features we will be adding in the front of the home in the area shown below is terraces, or the “corset” around which activities are contained. This classical approach to function will serve them well by providing landings, step ramps and ease of gentle access to the front.

There is much potential in the area from the sun porch to the pool as well. It is a classic node of activity containing desire lines to the pool, house and other paths. Many functions cause it to multitask and often become cluttered. We will work to streamline these functions.

As work gets underway on this dramatic transformation, stay tuned for progress updates and after photos. In the mean time, we’d love to know what you would do in a similar situation. Tell us in a comment below what you would do if you had a blank slate to work with after living on a property for many years.

Are you ready to transform your property with a new vision for your landscape? Contact Dargan Landscape Architects and let’s start discussing your ideas and how we can help you achieve them. We are passionate about designing personalized home environments that not only improve the look of our clients’ properties, but also their quality of life. And for those interested in a more hands-on approach to transforming your landscape for longevity and beauty, be sure to sign up for our virtual garden design workshop starting in mid-February!

We recently shared some questions Mary Palmer received from our clients and friends in need of a bit of landscape design advice, along with her expert advice for each question. Today, we have a few more questions to share with you, along with Mary Palmer’s suggested solutions and ideas.

One design question? How to keep stepping stone paths weed free?

Patricia

www.marlborobulb.blogspot.com/

Dear Patricia!

Ahhh, the thousand dollar question for age old problem… The dreaded “weed between the stones dilemma.”

It boils down to the path composition and if a carpet of plants is mixed between the cracks. I like the “outcompete” your neighbors approach. Plant densely with appropriate steppables and initially install with a small gravel mulch like permatil. I often use mixed sedums.

Of course, hand weeding is still part of this program.

The alternate weeders approach is to nuke the ne’er do wells with a blowtorch (these are excellent and come as home maintenance kits for this purpose). Alternately you could use a high concentration of acetic acid and spray.

I hope this is helpful… Please send me photos and I can help further!

Happy new year!

Hi Mary,

When planting trees in the front yard, how do you decide where to place them?

Thanks and Happy New Year,

Joanna M.

Dear Joanna,

Front Yard Trees?  Thumbs up!  You are doing fantastic things for both the natural environment and your home environment.

My checklist for tree planting follows. Thanks for asking!

1. Why do you want to plant them: to enhance the style of the house (this leads us to type of tree to accent house), save energy expense and shade cars, to create an arboretum…choice, choices, choices!
2. Choice of kind of tree: Evergreen or deciduous. Height and closeness to the house depends on the variety of the evergreen chosen.
3. Orientation of House: Does your house face N-S-E-W.  In both of my books and in the SPROUT blueprint system, I share a technique called the sun diagram. If your house faces south, deciduous trees are great for summer shade. So, don’t plant evergreens if you need summer sunlight in the winter.
4. Personal choice…stylistic balance is frequently chosen with classically designed housing styles like georgian, antebellum, colonial revival & italianate. Asymmetrical balance is typical of cottage, custom french and modern. A great way to test your idea is to sketch ideas on a photography of your house and your ideal mental image of your house. Houses range from 25-35′ tall, and many trees are taller than this, but only after 15-25 years.
5. Hmmmm, now my juices are really flowing!  How about a set of flowering trees?

Feel free to contact me with a photograph!

I hope this is useful,

All best, Mary Palmer

What are your landscape design questions? Ask away in the comments section below!

Dargan Landscape Architects is here to help you improve your home and garden environments. Contact us to learn more about designing a master plan or tune-up for your property, or check out our PlaceMakers program!