Year: 2022

Location: Bedford Stuyvesant

Design, project management, masonry, woodwork, planting 

Full-color bluestone slabs step out to a generous patio set in a thick layer of complementary native gravel that provides a clean foundation throughout the garden. A sleek, masonry and wood banquette floats above the patio creating a generous dining area. An elegant, spare planting that includes two species of viburnums offers another layer of framing, rising from an integrated bed behind the bench.

A colorful mixture of in-ground and potted plantings fills in the rest of the perimeter and defines a comfy lounge area closer to the house. A red Japanese maple and a specimen dogwood create focal points, supported by unique flowering shrubs including edgeworthia (paperbush), rhus aromatica (fragrant sumac), aronia melanocarpa (chokeberry), hydrangea, and azalea, together with white peony, pink-flowering echinacea (coneflower), liatris spicata, hellebores, purple-leaved heucheras, variegated hostas, and ajuga. Thoughtfully placed ornamental grasses, including miscanthus (Chinese silver grass) and pennisetum (fountain grass), add texture and variety.