Simplicity in design follows the, less is more, motto of architect Mies van der Rohe, an early advocate of simplicity in design through his influence on the Bauhaus movement and championing of the Modernist movement, which allows form to follow function, to create open spaces and a simplicity of design.
Upon entering the front gate of this estate I saw a long arching a-frame home and didn’t know what to expect. As I glanced to the left and to the right all I could see were long streams of messy Pachysandra loaded with weeds that seemed almost impossible to clean.
Recently a client requested that I stop by his residence in Haworth to discuss a potential landscaping project he was considering undertaking. A previous so-called “landscape contractor” dumped a load of soil and dirt into a pile in the front yard, somewhat raked it out and then loaded it down with shrubs and grasses. Then “see ya”
Some of the oldest gardens ever designed were built thousands of years ago in Japan. Many of them have stood the “test of time”. This client, desiring a “Japanese garden”, took it one step further by utilizing the aspects of a Japanese rock garden (枯山水 karesansui) or “dry landscape” garden.
It was 9-11-17 when I got a telephone call from a very unique woman regarding a woodland landscaping project. After our phone conversation, which was both informative and full of laughter; I thought to myself “this lady is one of a kind”. I always heard birds of a feather flock together so I suppose that’s why we got along so well right from the get-go.
Now that autumn is here and we are planting beds with mums, cabbages, kales and other seasonal color plants, we often get asked “what can we use for winter color”?
I have to admit I see a lot of landscapes in my travels through Bergen County and every once in a while – BAM! I see something that stops me dead in my tracks and makes my eyes POP, and this is an example of such.
Welcome to Spring City Pennsylvania the home of farms and town houses. Most townhouses are left with very little space to do anything with. Then, to top that off; these residences are all landscaped (according to builder association codes) with an unappealing four (4) shrub planting, toss in a tad of mulch and “see ya”. When I first saw this place I thought of the Pete Seeger song “little houses” which went something like this:
This residential setting located in Paramus of Bergen County with its dark slate grey exterior, white shutters and a light slate grey paver entrance was screaming for color to make it shine. Using masses of all summer long blooming petunias, splashes of begonias throughout and the bright yellows of marigolds adding interest, the front bed area of the low-growing cypress and the hydrangeas was completely filled in.
It all started when a tree company removed a few trees and some overhanging branches from my client’s yard. The shade from the trees made the area so dark that it became very difficult to grow any kind of grass.
