In the summer of 2019, we were tasked with completely transforming this property into an oasis for humans and wildlife alike. The design would include a large brick patio and connecting pathways, curving plant beds, a cedar fence and arbor, and a compost bin. A priority of this design was to provide habitat for pollinators, especially in front of the house. Each area around the house would be transformed into its own space. The east side of the property became an edible corridor, filled with beds of edible plantings, a bluestone path, and raised veggie beds. A wooden threshold transitions into the brick patio which expands across the backyard and around the deck to maximize space for entertaining. The west side had most of the lawn space, which we supplemented with native plantings edging the house, existing fence, and new fence. A cedar arbor sits at the entrance to this side of the property, welcoming you into the expansive backyard and patio. Further, the lawn was crowned in the center and a system of swales was dug along the planting beds so that any runoff would flow into the swales to water the plantings.

The existing front yard plantings were replaced with native shrubs and plugs, and the existing stone path was replaced with a brick path that meanders through larger planting beds to the arbor. The beds include plants like butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa), purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea), and anise hyssop (Agastache foeniculum) are great pollinator plants that have gorgeous blooms through the late spring/summer. Some larger trees, including eastern redbud (Cercis canadensis), were placed in the front yard to eventually provide shade and more habitat.