Welcome to the Deacon Residence! This beautiful corner lot is filled with happy moments and family gatherings; a mood not fully translated in the previous owner’s landscape decisions. The Deacon’s approached Crispy Leaf Landscaping requesting an entire overhaul of the exterior space. With the goal to enjoy their retirement in this home, the Deacon’s had a few goals that would help them age more gracefully in their environment while also becoming the headquarters for their family lineage.

Upon arrival, guests are accommodated by street parking which is gently shaded by sassafras, katsura, and goldenrain trees. Walkways into or around the building are paired with flowering perennial beds to indicate ingress/egress. The front of the house is enclosed by tree and shrub beds – to reduce turf maintenance – while leaving a sprawling space for activities. The front entryway was completely redesigned, installing a fifteen-foot sidewalk slope for easy accessibility and raising the entryway terrain by three feet. The new ramp is hidden behind yellow winterberry hollies for seasonal intrigue. A retaining wall was constructed to correct an erosion issue by the front porch. This feature is now a shade garden that will complement the views from the living room by enhancing a sense of shelter and relaxation. The plants and trees selected for the front sidewalk area are weeping varieties paired with shade perennials, such as Solomon’s seal, lady ferns, and hostas. A sitting area was also installed near a cascading staircase, so the sophisticated quietude could be enjoyed by all whom visit.

Following the staircase down, and rounding the home is a hardscape area highlighting deciduous fall colors, including staghorn sumac, weeping honey locust, and a weeping white pine. Around the left side of the house is an extended bed of Solomon’s seal leading up to bayberry shrubs. When entering the backyard from this direction, a curvilinear design leads the visitor through the diagonal yard space, which enhances the length of mobility of the property. A small oval pond is ensconced by lady ferns and ground cover, which provides a serene vista looking out from the dining room bay windows. A vegetable garden is secured on a slope by a retaining wall, which will make gardening easier as the residents age. This area is wrapped in shrub beds, including five pawpaw trees, a blueberry and red mulberry shrub, and sunflowers. A dirt pile is featured here to keep the grandchildren entertained while the adults garden.

The largest, and the most important, project of the backyard was installing a bioswale at the edge of the property. This grove was outlined by water-loving arrowwood viburnum, blackhaw viburnum, and sweet bay magnolia. There is also some flexibility for the residents to choose medium shrubs to install on the exterior of the established bed. The bioswale empties out into the street side of the yard, which was planned to feed into a bramble brush orchard. The side yard displays a variety of raspberry, blackberry, and blueberries. Multiple cultivars were planted for cross-pollination and variety. The berry orchard connects to a wrap-around sidewalk leading to the back porch and the parking area. The back porch is partly shaded by a pergola with vining passionfruit and is nestled between a rare flowering dogwood and a carolina allspice shrub.

Before our landscape renewal, the Deacon’s inherited a spacious yard with fewer native perennials than decorative invasives. The client wanted to invigorate the yard space with natives, color, a vegetable garden, an orchard, a dirt pile (for children), and a water feature. An update to ADA ingress/egress was also a top priority. Additionally, a formal expansion to the parking area, atrash/recycling corral, and a clearly defined gathering space for family functions was desired. As a designer, I not only wanted to meet these expectations, but also provide as many unique perspectives of the horticultural diversity. This seasonal curation can be enjoyed from any point of the property, as it is our M.O. at Crispy Leaf Landscaping to highlight the landscape by framing the views.