A Small Sample of Recent Projects

Chicken Coup Garden.

These beautiful ladies wanted a garden that would attract pollinators and provide four seasons of interest from their view from the coup. 

First we cleared the new bed of all debris and plant material except a large natural outcropping of beautiful goldenrod and a small redbud tree. We trimmed up the redbud as well. 

Next, we installed black aluminum edging and created a pebble walkway from the lawn through the bed and to the coup.

We planted a variety of 95% native plants that will be a magnet for bees, butterflies and hummingbirds. In fact, one of the milkweed already have a monarch caterpillar munching away!

In the end, the ladies were thrilled with their new garden!

This was a fun and diverse project, consisting of removing a couple of small trees (the big pine near front door that was WAY overgrown) and shrubs, pruning back others, transplanting a beautiful small pine "bush", removing a lot of lawn, weeding/removal of some vines and bramble, creating island beds, adding a couple of trees (including a 16' birch!), planting along the front walkway, creating a "shade garden", creating a new garden on side of house, and mulching it all. 

-Going up the front walkway were all hosta that were just meals for the deer. We removed them and transplanted them in a shady are in the back of a bed, near the front entrance. We added some small shrubs and perennials. 

-We removed the very large white pine that someone planted in the wrong spot years ago near the front door. It was choking out a red maple and weeping cherry, and closed off the front facade garden opportunity. We then heavily pruned the weeping cherry that was far too off-balance from the pine, and the red maple was cleaned up of all of the dead from being overtaken by the pine as well. 

-The purple sand cherries were pretty when flowering, but they were very overgrown and had a lot of dead branches. As well, the homeowner didn't like them much. So we removed 2 of them, then pruned the middle one that fit into the new design, and "lollipop" pruned it. We also dug up the small pine bush and transplanted it in front of window where the homeowner can see it. We also removed a row of old rose bushes that were neglected for years and were in declining health.

-We weeded and cleaned up a shade bed under a large red maple and cleaned up the maple itself, removing dead branches and raising the canopy a bit. We then planted 28 or so shade loving native perennials. 

-Three island beds were created in the front lawn by removing the grass and planting with a beautiful 16' tall Heritage birch with gorgeous peeling bark, a weeping redbud, and added a large and numerous variety of mostly native shrubs and perennials (about 90%). 

-Along almost the entire front facade of the house, we created a new garden consisting of evergreens, shrubs, and perennials, almost all native. 

-On the side of the house, 3 old hollies and a few old boxwoods were all ripped out. We replaced it all with native evergreens and perennials for a whole new look!

-Lastly, we mulched all of the beds and put down grass seed for the disturbed areas. 

This was a fun project that now is a haven for pollinators, and overall we estimate the garden to contain about 90% native plants. 

6'x6'x24" deep custom liner pond with waterfall.  This was a fun project that we completed today. First I had to jump on the machine to dig a 30' long x 18" deep trench so the electrician could run a dedicated WR/GFCI line out to the pond to power a submersible pond pump. I then dug out the pond with the machine to get the bulk of the digging work done. We then switched to shovels to shape the pond and create the marginal shelf (a 4-6" deep "shelf" where marginal plants- those that grow in 4" or so of water depth). 

We then used dozens of empty compost bags we save from our projects to line the bottom and sides of the pond, several layers thick. 

Next, the pond liner went over it all. Rocks we foraged from surrounding woods and from the dig-out were used to surround the pond. The pond was then filled.

The custom-built waterfall was then constructed using large boulders and rocks from the dig-out, more used compost bags and more pond liner. This is the toughest part of the project! 

The submersible pump was then put into the pond. Yes, I have to get IN the water to do this. I ran the pipe up the side of the waterfall and then turned it on. At this stage, it takes a while to get the configuration of water flow and rocks adjusted.

Lastly, we planted all around the surrounding pond, mulched, spread grass seed and straw all over the worked area and placed the pond plants in the pond on the marginal shelf. There is also a large water lily in the deepest part. 

It will take a week or two for the water to clear. We will be returning to take more pics in a month or so.

Our next project was adjacent to a wetland. A couple of months before the project, we met with the homeowner and the town officials to discuss what plans there were for creating gardens along the wetland border. The town wetlands manager was thrilled about our mission of native planting. All went well, and we were approved to start!

In this garden, we left some native plants that are already established and growing, such as spicebush, goldenrod, Virginia creeper and others that will make the transition for the wetland area through the garden and to the lawn area. We even left white wood asters and other native wildflowers where we could.

We made a walking path through the garden, and planted around 90% native trees, shrubs and perennials to help support the wetland by increasing the bio-diversity and supporting so many birds, bees, butterflies and their larvae. It is a large garden, with plans to continue this all along the entire property line over the next couple of years. A beautiful transition from wild wetlands to  the home. 

Walking Garden project completed!

We turned a field of invasives into a beautiful walking garden, full of native plants, shrubs and trees that will support pollinators, birds and the local ecosystem, as well as screening out a neighbor who has a construction company, with large 7-8' arborvitaes.
We also did a minor revamp in the front of the house (no pics, it was just a few shrubs), and in an area near their back shed that was overgrown and unkempt.

BEFORE: We visited in early spring to get a view of the neighbor's property that needed to be screened out. The client had already planted some evergreens years ago, but they weren't enough. This field was full of multiflora rose and other invasives and bramble that needed to be stripped out, and we planned the amount of large arborvitaes we would need to create a proper screen.

We used a CAT 303 machine to clear the field which of course had grown in VERY heavily by the time we got going at the end of June- you can see in a couple of pictures how FILLED the field had become in just a couple of months. I also used the machine to place large rocks and boulders into outcroppings for interest, and then planned out the walking path.

AFTER: We planted ten 7-8' arborvitaes for a back screen, several Cornus Florida (pink dogwoods), cercis canadensis (eastern redbuds), amelanchier, bottlebrush buckeye, viburnums,  spicebush, northern bush honeysuckle, rhododendron maximum, bayberry and several other native shrubs and trees. As well, of course, hundreds of native perennials that will give flowers from spring through fall.

We used natural mulch for the walkways, and black mulch for the beds.

Pictures of before and after of walking garden and shed side garden below, and if interested, a video walkthrough of the garden on our YouTube channel that takes you through it: https://youtu.be/GiDs29TIDKY