An updated landscape is just what this Medina property needed after it underwent a major remodel. Heidi Skievaski of Sublime Garden Design delivered a landscape design and install that complemented the newly renovated mid-century exterior.
One of the challenges of a landscape remodel is incorporating existing elements. For example, homeowners desired to keep the giant Empress tree that functioned as the focal point of the garden. There was also an existing basalt retaining wall and a hedge of arborvitaes on a neighboring property that Skievaski integrated while designing.
Skievaski transformed an aggregate, crumbling patio into a fresh, inviting backyard patio and garden infused with warmth and character. The homeowners requested a clean, simple palette of white flowers, so Skievaski worked in mass plantings of hellebores, ferns, pachysandra, and laurel hedges. She selected Limelight hydrangeas and white astilbes for white floral accents.
To add interest, she planted several specimen trees, including Japanese maples and a dove tree, which is known for its pairs of delicate, drooping white bracts. She warns against overusing specimens. “Sometimes people do too many specimens. You really don’t want a specimen tree to compete for focus,” she said.
The homeowners also requested a cutting garden. The cutting garden was in keeping with the all-white color scheme, including white varieties of Echinacea, phlox, anemone, and lilies.
Skievaski recommends strategically selecting the site for a cutting garden. “It’s nice to have the cutting garden somewhere that isn’t in full sight or a main focal point, so you don’t feel bad cutting the best blooms. They work well along a fence or beside the vegetable garden.”
One of Skievaski’s favorite parts of the design was a last-minute decision prompted by code challenges specific to the site. When it became clear that planned concrete steps would not be possible to implement, a stone alternative proved to be the better choice. “In the end, we all ended up liking it better,” Skievaski said.
Other features include a cedar privacy screen to camouflage the carport and view of parked cars on the driveway, an L-shaped raised concrete planter of boxwoods, a concrete patio with a covered barbecue that complements the pitch and style of the home.
