Description of Project:

When our client entertained large parties, guests would have to park on the street and walk the long trek from their car, down the driveway, and down the existing walk to the front door. He currently had a large Oak tree hiding a portion of his house, un-inspired front foundation plantings, and a cracked front walkway as a first impression. Our client approached us with the desire to add a secondary walkway from the street to his front door and to design a landscape planting that was attractive.
After determining the needs and wishes of our client, we crafted a plan that would transform an existing, typically plain landscape into one with an estate like feel that reflected the grandness of his home. It was more extravagant than his initial requests, but we wanted to show him the potential of his landscape and give him the courtyard entrance of his dreams. In order to create the formal courtyard experience, our design included a raised, rectangular stone terrace complete with lit columned entrances, a main entrance from the street with rectilinear pathways, formal cut hedges, knot gardens, topiaries, all outlined in a flowering alleé.

Special or Unusual Problems:

We wanted the front terrace to be as flat as possible so that it gave the impression of a formal raised garden. In order to make the area level, retaining walls had to be incorporated into the design and special care had to be taken to ensure all areas drained properly. Drainage for the planting beds and the knot gardens within the raised courtyard was a major factor. In order to alleviate the potential for overly saturated soils and standing water on the walkways, an intricate drainage plan was devised. The walkways in the raised garden were slightly crowned to move water into the planting beds and turf sections. Underneath the planting beds and turf squares is a system of drainage pipes and French drains that collect excess water and transport it to the lawn areas outside of the raised garden.