A Residential Garden

The client commissioned an architect to design and build an elegant new home for them on a sloping piece of land bordered on two sides by a ravine and woodland, on a third side by another home, and on the fourth side, by the street.

The back of the property was terraced into several levels by the architect but the client wanted extensive perennial gardens and insisted that I design them (top photo). There are three terraces plus a slope on the outer edge which encompasses all of them. These gardens can be seen from several rooms in the house as well as the large patio which is used for entertaining.

Because this property is on the rural edge of suburbia, it is frequented by deer. They are most likely to browse on the edges near the lawn but rarely seen on the hardscaping. I did, however, attempt to choose plant material that was listed as being unattractive or poisonous to deer. Thus, although the client requested year-round interest and a cool color scheme with none, or very little, yellow, my solution to the architect's insistence on some Rudbeckia fulgida 'Goldsturm' was to use it on the lowest terrace which is seen the least but is most available to the deer. They have conveniently eaten most of the Rudbeckia and it has been replaced.

The terraced perennial beds face southwest and are, therefore, in full sun and wind. Where young shade trees were planted, I chose perennials that would thrive in sun now but continue to thrive in subsequent years in partial shade. I designed the majority of the perennials in large sweeping drifts so that they could be easily seen from the house or the patio (bottom photo). The drifts on the middle terrace are smaller since this is a more intimate area. The property is fully irrigated.

This project won awards from the Ohio Landscaper's Association and from the Perennial Plant Association in 1997.

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