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| This Month in the Garden: Sustainable Gardening-Design of a Lawnless Landscape |
Welcome to This Month in the
garden! With today’s busy lifestyles and overwhelming schedules, many homeowners prefer to forego a lawn, yet still desire a functional and welcoming landscape. This could be a challenging task, but with careful
planning, the goal can be achieved with optimum results.
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| Front Garden Before |
I received a request for such a
garden a couple of years ago from a client that no longer wanted the challenge
of having to mow a lawn every week or hire someone else to do it. The client wanted
to achieve a garden that could be enjoyed and also desired a place where seasonal
vegetables and strawberries could be grown. As a designer, the planning
of the garden took several steps and my job was to incorporate both hardscape and
plantings into a functional, yet aesthetically pleasing garden.
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| Front Garden After |
The process started with the
clearing of a large tree that was very close to the house and had overgrown its
space. Afterward, environmental conditions were noted and careful measurements were taken of the site. Landscape flags were used to lay
out curving bed-lines and list
of desirable low maintenance evergreens, flowering shrubs and perennials
was compiled along the the client.
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| Front Garden After |
Once the area for the garden beds
was marked, I imagined a “lawn” composed of pea gravel with irregular bluestone
stepping-stones, which would serve the purpose of guiding visitors from the front driveway to the main
entrance, to an adjacent pond area and then towards the backyard. In the backyard, raised
vegetable planters would be positioned in a central region allowing for easy access with plantings along the
perimeter. Additional stepping-stones were used to access the raised beds. The lack of lawn also would create a more sustainable landscape with less watering needed.
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| Back Garden Before |
The front gardens consist of
various evergreens, such as holly, euonymus, Skip Laurel, Blue Globe Spruce,
Hinoki Cypress and Japanese Garden Juniper with flowering shrubs such as Magic
Carpet Spirea and Hydrangea. Various long-blooming perennials such as Salvia
‘May Night', Echinacea ‘Cheyenne Spirit’ and Daylily ‘Stella D Oro’ were added
for summer color into fall. Evergold
Sedge and Variegated Liriope were incorporated to a add a low maintenance grass-like element to the garden and pond area.
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| Conceptual Rendering |
The back gardens consist of Emerald Green Arborvitae and Skip Laurel along the perimeter, giving a sense of privacy, along with various flowering shrubs such as Little Lime Hydrangea, Double Knock Out Roses, Crape Myrtle and Tree Hydrangea. Assorted perennials were also added for continuous color throughout the growing season. Above is a computer generated conceptual layout of the backyard design.
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| Back Garden After |
The area comprising the "lawn area" in both the front and back yards was cleared and prepared with a compacted RCA base. Paths were constructed of landscape fabric and edging with a 2-3 inch thick layer of 3/4" pea gravel with Pennsylvania irregular bluestone inserts added for walking. Two Railroad Tie Planter Boxes (approximately 3.5 x 7 x 26”H) were each constructed with open gravel filled bases for drainage. Drip Irrigation lines were run in preparation for plantings.
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| Pennsylvania Irregular Bluestone Walkway in Pea Gravel Base |
Pennsylvania irregular bluestone on a pea gravel base with landscape edging makes for an informal and inviting walkway.
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| Back Garden After |
The completed project turned out to be a huge success and created both an enjoyable and functional atmosphere to be enjoyed by the homeowner for years to come.
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| Front Garden 1 Year Later |
Here is the front garden one year later. As you can see, the plantings are already starting to mature...
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| Echinacea 'Cheyenne Spirit' |
and here is a view of Echinacea 'Cheyenne Spirit' that the homeowner sent me.
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| This Month in the Garden: Sustainable Gardening-Design of a Lawnless Landscape |
Author: Lee@A Guide to Northeastern Gardening,© Copyright 2010-2020. All rights reserved.
