Year: 2023

Location: Astoria, Queens

Scope: Design, project management, custom woodwork, masonry, planters, planting, irrigation, maintenance

Mature, white-flowering crape myrtles anchor opposite corners of the space, soaring above a  bright, modern garden perfect for dining, entertaining, and family relaxation.

At the back of the space, stucco-finished planting beds frame one corner of a bluestone patio, supporting a row of carpinus betulus (European hornbeam) that will grow into a dense, screening hedge over time, and a row of spirea prunifolia ‘Bridal Wreath’ that burst with tiny white blooms in early spring. Massed underplantings of rubus calycinoides (creeping raspberry) and hakonechloa macra (Japanese forest grass) add color and texture, spilling over the edges of the beds.

In the center, a layered swath of large, medium, and small boxwoods and white-flowering hydrangeas, interplanted with unique white iris, hardy geranium, and pink-flowering gaura, defines the edge of the dining patio and wraps around a lounge area, gently creating two distinct rooms.

Beneath the native gravel surface of the lounge area, a series of drains and dry wells helps mitigate stormwater runoff and flooding. And a fresh, extra-tall cedar fence, treated with a silvery pine tar vitriol, encircles the entire space, setting off the varied greens and offering a sense of privacy and calm – as well as driveway access through a 12-foot gate.

In front of the house, huge stoop-side planting beds bursting with buxus, colorful hostas, autumn bride heuchera, hakonechloa (Japanese forest grass), dryopteris erythrosora (autumn fern) polystychum polyphlebarum (tassel fern), liriope, hardy geranium, and asarum europaeum (European wild ginger) frame a stoop punctuated by boxwoods in powder-coated steel cylinders.