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PROJECT:
The renovation of an Arts and Crafts four - square in the Albany Park neighborhood of Chicago .
SUBMITTED BY:
Megan Wade , principal landscape designer atFieldwork Design Group .
See below for the 5 head Megan asks during the appendage of designing a garden distance .
When my husband Dave and I first acquire our metropolis lot in the Albany Park neighborhood of Chicago , the backyard was a vacuous slate . The 30- by 25 - foot space was a rug of lawn with a unkept concrete paseo and a margin planting of old hostas . The empty canvass presented us with an opportunity to reimagine the yard to suit our need .
We want to create a individual outdoor room with areas for grilling , dining , and lounging . The size of it of gatherings would vagabond from our family of three to dinner gatherings for eight and the occasional larger gathering , so we desire the space to be flexible .
As we planned , we attend at garden imagery for inspiration in helping us limit what we hoped to achieve aesthetically . We had already planted a parkway garden in the front of the home ( see : Perennial Parkway in Chicago ) . While we screw this naturalistic , full - sun prairie - like garden , the backyard would require more shade for the backyard to be a pleasant place to gather on live summer evening . We were pull to images of lush , leaf - forward plantings with finespun , airy bloom umbel floating above ( think dill or Queen Anne ’s lace ) . These types of plantings signal a drop curtain in temperature which made them appropriate for a secret , urban center oasis .
This private backyard designed for gatherings — bighearted and modest — is located on a urban center lot in Chicago ’s Albany Park neighbourhood , Zone 6a . Photo by : Megan Wade .
Having descend on a desired aesthetic , we examine the edges of the G . How could we create the “ walls ” for our outdoor room that would offer a sense of enclosure and privacy ? On the neighboring lot to the east is an impose two - narrative deck , so we planted three Regal Prince ® oaks ( Quercusxwarei’Long ' ) at the eastern sharpness of our holding to reform our backyard as individual blank .
Three extra co-ordinated oaks were sit on the western edge of the prop to keep the evening sun out of our eyes while dining . The wall of our planetary house and garage make the other two wall for our out-of-door room . Since they were painted a stately dark gray , we knew we need to look at this when determining the colors of our flora pallette .
In keep with the “ room ” analogy , we create a rectangular bench while making certain the circumvent garden bed would be deep enough to accommodate layering perennial in combinations . We divided the paved region into two sections with furniture for dining and for lounging . The contiguous space allow us to reorganize the furniture to meet the needs of the size of the gathering . Prior to planting , a rectangle of pavage can seem stark , but we have it off that a garden of loose perennials would soften the edges .
Under the Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree , we planted box for winter green . efflorescence shrubs were sited at the two brusque ends of the terrace , and then the eternal sleep of the garden consists of perennial planted in drifts that recapitulate throughout the blank .
In a city garden , space is valued — we do n’t have room for plants that blossom in the outflow and then seem terrible , such as day lily . Instead , our perennial pallet consists of hardy plants with foliage that looks unspoilt throughout the develop season .
Ultimately , this backyard is a adorable place to be , to learn as it changes over time , to see the bird and bee aliment themselves , and to slow down . Of of course , the most crucial element in our backyard is what we find in the center of the terrace : the hoi polloi we love the most , the time and laugh that we share , and the memories we make together . The garden is the complete setting for such things .
Before twist , a canvass of lawn awaited a novel vision . pic by : Megan Wade .
After completion , the backyard is laid out in a way that ’s staring for assembly , all while revel the lushness of the outside place . Photo by : Tricia Koning .
The kitchen windows of the Arts and Crafts four - satisfying look out into the backyard . For the terrace , large concrete pavers were laid in a linear bond design to echo the shingle pattern on the star sign . The clean gray semblance of the pavers mould well with the gray color of the home , while also serving to think over the sun ’s heat and brighten the space in the evening . pic by : Megan Wade .
5 QUESTIONS TO HELP DEFINE & PRIORITIZE YOUR GARDEN DESIGN
A vacuous slate can seem overpowering , even for professional intriguer ; however , it is also a wonderful opportunity if you are uncoerced to take on the challenge . Here are five questions to need yourself in the process to help keep you focused and achieve your overall goal :
The trees supply a gumption of formalities , giving the wilder repeated planting that surround them a good sense of intentionality . picture by : Megan Wade .
WHAT IS THE DESIRED FUNCTION OF THE SPACE?
When tackling a large outdoor task , I first ask my clients , “ Big Picture , what are we trying to achieve ? ” Landscape task finish vary free-base on the householder ’s desires , along with the constraints and opportunities the land site presents . Are you create a way to be inhabited ? Is this the place for dinner party company ? A productive vegetable garden ? A position to study a book ? A play arena for small fry or positron emission tomography ? Or a place you will just traverse on a regular basis or reckon from inside through a window ?
WHAT ARE THE EXISTING CONSTRAINTS AND OPPORTUNITIES OF THE SITE?
In addition to climate , short conditions , and ground type , each site has its own set of condition to consider . It ’s crucial to align your vision for a distance with the realities of the site . Will the site hold up the goal you are trying to attain ?
WHAT IS THE DESIRED GENRE OF AESTHETICS?
In addition to answering the pragmatical question , it is also of import to establish an aesthetic direction that will provide a filter while making conclusion about materials , furnishings , and the plant pallette . When I work with clients , it ’s not rare for them to start these discussion with specifics , such as “ I really like echinacea . ” However , I advance them to whizz along out further to contemplate the overall esthetic they want to achieve .
In many ways , garden pattern is similar to culinary art . While I love the sweet taste of coconut meat milk in a Thai curry , I would not jazz it as a part of an Italian repast . And the same is genuine for garden . For lesson , echinacea would make sensory faculty in plenty of gardens — an arts and crafts cottage garden , a forest edge garden , or a prairie - elan planting . However , if the finish was to create a Japanese - style garden to complement a 1920s brick bungalow , echinacea may feel out of place .
In other words , knowing the garden style you are attempting to make will lead you to certain plant combination . sure plants tend to grow together because they have evolved together in deal condition — both in nature and in more school gardens .
This is not a limitation and there is mass of room for experiment . However , when we honor the relationships between these plant , the garden may be more visually cohesive , even to those who are not avid gardeners .
HOW PERMEABLE SHOULD YOUR BOUNDARIES BE?
It is important to study the site ’s edges and beyond . Where do you need shade or masking ? If you are create an outdoor way , how can you make secrecy and a sense of enclosure ? At the same time , is there landscaping offsite that needs to be considered ? Are there purview that should be preserved ?
HOW DOES INTENDED FUNCTION IMPACT THE HARDSCAPE DESIGN?
client tend to assume that if they need a space to sense naturalistic , there should be curves in the paving . But I find that on a city spate , this can lead to awkward geometries that are difficult to furnish . If the goal is to assemble or dine in the blank space , rectilinear terraces function better and provide more alternative in terms of furnishings . As an added bonus , rectangular terraces command less cuts in the material and less wastefulness which can lower the costs .
On more spacious parcel , a curving path for meandering may make gumption . However , course should always take you somewhere . On smaller lots , circulation route should be absorbed into the master terrace as much as possible . The bench will feel more wide and there will be more room for planting .
STRATEGIC PLANTING
Below are some vignettes that boast the plants we choose and how they contribute to the aesthetics of the place .
We implant ‘ Bloomerang ’ lilac under our garage windowpane for early spring flowers we can view from our kitchen window . Photo by : Megan Wade .
Including hydrangea in the shaded areas consecrate us mid - to - late summer flowers and winter interestingness . Photo by : Megan Wade .
We get to revel green for most of the year thanks to many of our plant whose foliation remains intact . Juno stand in the pathway between lucullan greenery . To her left , light-colored blue - purple bloomingAmsonia‘Blue Ice ’ , variegated hosta ( salvaged from the original cubic yard ) , Pennsylvania sedge ( Carex pennsylvanica ) , and a golden Japanese forest grass ( Hakonechloa aureola ) . To her rightfield , is Scottish Levisticum officinale ( Ligusticum scoticum ) . Photo by : Megan Wade .
Planting in combinations can ensure ocular interest group throughout the time of year . In this planting , Amsonia‘Blue Ice ’ bloom in the spring , lady ’s mantle ( Alchemilla mollis ) blooms in the early summer , and coneflower ( Echinacea ) blossom later in the summertime . Japanese timberland locoweed ( Hakonechloa aureola ) total smartness throughout the season and continues to face great in winter . exposure by : Megan Wade .
We used Scottish lovage ( Ligustrum scoticum ) in areas of the garden that were too sunny for lady ’s mantel . Both have ruffly leaves that carry the textural theme throughout the garden , in addition to efflorescence that uprise a foot or so above their foliage . The two flora flower at different times , extending the “ umbel ” core we were conk out for . pic by : Megan Wade .
Calamintha(shown at left-hand , behind the outdoor couch ) may have modest flowers , but they provide effervescence , especially in evening light . With its tuft of white that bloom in summer , it ’s never the star of the show , but an important supporting type for many other plants . pic by : Megan Wade .
The balmy hues ofAgastache‘Blue Fortune ’ , Joe Pye weed ( Eupatorium purpureum ) , and the dried flowers of Queen of the Prairie ( Filipendula rubra ) usher in the belated summer . The little lily-white flowers ofCalamintha nepetassp.nepetaand godforsaken quinine ( Parthenium integrifolium ) give the planting an airy feel . Photo by : Megan Wade .
Plants with pea green leaf or efflorescence became the vertebral column of the planting , seeming even brighter couple with the grey walls of the home and service department . Photo by : Tricia Koning .
COLOR CONSCIOUS
Because we would mainly be using the place in the eventide , we take a few different blank - bloom plants which can lighten up up a garden at dusk :
Other coloring come along at time , such as the blasphemous / purples in the spring viaAmsonia‘Blue Ice’,Nepeta‘Walkers Low ’ catmint , andSalvia‘Caradonna ’ , which turn nicely with chartreuse . In mid - summertime , fateful - eyed Susan ( Rudbeckia ) picks up on the yellow coneheads of the coneflower ( Echinacea ) . Dustier tones usher in later summer via Joe Pye weed ( Eupatorium purpureum‘Little Joe ’ ) andAgastache‘Blue Fortune . ”
you’re able to follow Megan@fieldworkdesigngroupon Instagram .
