Spring Lake Garden Design

This project was a terrific collaboration between the homeowner and Spring Lake Garden Design. A complete redesign of the home and landscape occurred almost simultaneously, with both homeowner and our design team sharing ideas. The result is a fabulous contemporary lakeside home and landscape design that could be called "native meets modern."

This house was demolished and rebuilt from the ground up. It all began with a garden design consultation about the overall balance of the structure to its exterior elements when viewed from the lake. The homeowners,  being sensitive environmental stewards, wanted a lakeside buffer garden and embraced our concept of a "no lawn" front-entry garden. This garden has been on several garden tours and was featured in both Fine Gardening and Aspire Metro magazine.

This property allows for formal to informal gardens. The perennial gardens are framed by a pruned linden tree and boxwood hedge to the north & closest to the house. There is a natural ledge area off to the west that wanted a rock garden where succulents, wild flowers & alpines thrive. An outdoor bathtub is tucked into the rockery with an outdoor shower nearby. A walk through an enclosed vegetable garden to a pea-gravel fire pit area introduces an informal element to the space. A grass path leads to an outdoor amphitheater and a sunken spiral seeded with no-mow grass puntuated with stone ‘sculptures’ that elicit memories of Stonehenge.

This original farmhouse sits at the base of a slope overrun with invasive plants, weed trees, plus an unusable pool and pool house. Natural east light (the kindest kind!) was blocked by rank hemlocks infested with wooly adelgid. Our challenge was to create a flat lawn area where an active family could play games and enjoy the pool. After massive clearing we ditched the old pool location and moved it over to an unused vege garden, adding the pool house and outdoor shower. Where the old pool was became a nice, flat swath of lawn bordered by stone walls and low-maintenance perennials; perfect for badminton! A new fire pit bordering this lawn area finishes off a day of games. On the lower tier, by removing the light blocking hemlocks that crowded the house, the new patio (with built in barbeque) enjoys a beautiful, sunny view of the horse pastures beyond.

This is a small, contemplative gravel garden inspired by a natural ledge outcropping at its center. It is based on the ancient Chinese cup garden design where there is no front, back, or sides; rather, the space is circular and flowing. The rockery is brimming with alpines and succulents while an adjacent garden hosts shade-loving plants and a lone statue by Joy Brown oversees it all. We encouraged moss growing in the forest edge where a hammock lives. Peace and tranquility to all who enter here.

This homeowner has a passion for rural historic properties. We designed the driveway and gardens, built stone walls and paths, and created an 82-foot long pergola and brick walkway attached to a refurbished guest house.

The site is high and windy so we brought in a structural engineer to ensure the free-standing pergola's strength. Enjoy what we call "The Anatomy of a Pergola" in the pictures below.

Curb appeal: these clients wanted a front yard that was welcoming, colorful, and interesting during four seasons, but with an emphasis on spring and late summer flowers.  Winter and the holiday lights were also a priority. An abundance of color and texture with conifers and boxwood provide a formal backdrop to an ever-evolving perennial bed, while a blend of stone marry the spaces. 

A spectacular lake view existed.  We added a salt-water lap pool, and patio that connected the house and back lawn. Before we even met the clients (they were away for the winter), we designed and installed a large blue stone patio that offered multiple areas for entertaining and relaxation. So as not to impede the lake view, we lowered the pool grade by two feet and built a retaining wall. In doing so, we not only maintained the view, we ensured they didn't look at a dormant pool through the winter - an important consideration when designing pools in the Northeast.

Making a welcoming entrance! Not an easy task when all that existed was asphalt leading to the back and nothing surrounding the front entry. We turned this challenge into one of our favorite projects -- creating a stone wall and lush perennial gardens to gracefully connect the driveway to the back entertaining area, adding a covered porch to the front of the house and covered deck in the back from which to enjoy the rolling hills and spectacular sunsets. Other elements area a fenced vegetable garden and new patio - photos coming of that!

This project was the quintessential upgrade for an active family. We began by creating a low-maintenance gravel-garden entry before moving to the back, where we constructed a retaining wall and replaced an old worn patio next to the house. The pool needed a new liner and the pool patio was in bad shape. The property slopes significantly so we built a rock garden that serves as a retaining wall and replaced and enlarged the pool patio with blue stone. The cedar pergola adds a shaded sitting area while the other end remains open for sun lovers.  

Privacy and the opportunity to entertain on a back deck away from the blaring sun was of paramount importance to this Connecticut couple, who retained us to create a refuge amid a previously open space (see the "before" photo). We built an angled roof that followed the lines of the house, ending just before the second-floor bay window. The area provided space for a cozy new outdoor room complete with new furniture, a stone-encased grill, and a bar with a blue stone counter.  Look closely and you'll see the back of the grill serves also as a raised bed -- our solution to an impenetrable ledge. Rather than continue the closed roof across the back, we created a second room with an open pergola and blue stone patio just a few steps down from the entertaining area. This space provides an entirely separate room,  allowing the homeowners a second space to unwind and read, or watch family and friends in the pool. Photos (except of house before) by Karen Bussolini. 

Like so many areas in northwest Connecticut, the woods were filled with invasive plants - barberry, burning bush, and garlic mustard, to name just a few. We cleared the immediate woods of invasives, planted eco-friendly grasses, and created paths for walking through the woodland. We regraded the hillside off the barn to accommodate a pool, adding simple granite steps and patio for chaise lounges. The two trees that frame the pool were a happy accident - the result of clearing the invasive plants and an invitation to enjoy the woodland unencumbered.

This client wanted us to create the perfect spot for entertaining. We started with a welcoming garden entry, then blended the natural rock ledges on the property with a gravel bed. In the back we refurbished a dated pool and softened the hardscape with traditional perennial gardens. But the fundamental structure for this family was a central stone barbeque around which - we've been told - many wonderful summer memories are made.  

A weedy hillside and narrow back area made this space impossible to enjoy. Water ran from the slope toward the house and the area was difficult to maintain. The owners had all but given up when they won a design with us through a local fundraiser. We graded the space, built a retaining wall, removed all grass, and installed a gravel garden featuring low-maintenance plants and patio furniture. We transformed an area that was once a eyesore into a sweet backyard retreat the homeowners are now proud to show off.     

Tucked into surrounding hills, these clients wanted to take full advantage of their seclusion to create a formal landscape that matched the contours of their home. The expansive area called for large evergreen exclamation plants and tightly pruned hedges with commanding sculptures positioned throughout the property. Straight lines give way to rounded hedges, creating structure without being strict. The vividly colored home and pool area similarly marry formal elegance with a touch of the Mediterranean. Fragrance from lilac topiaries and a surprising wildlife garden fill the air.

This is a computer rendering of a rooftop patio we designed at the new Apex at 290 luxury rental building in Elmsford, New York. The owners of these luxury condominiums asked us to design a space for barbecuing, dining, and lounging. Our custom-designed planters and freestanding pergola will be installed during the spring of 2017, with plantings, furniture, and accessories to follow shortly thereafter. Copyright rendering, Nicole Ashey, Burlock Interiors.

We were honored to participate in a 2016 Make-a-Wish project. A young woman in northern Fairfield County, Connecticut simply wanted a place to retreat to, alone with her thoughts and projects. We acted as site coordinator and landscape designer for numerous parties, including Western Connecticut Builders, and the architects and interior designers on the project. All parties joined together to grant this young woman's simple request, and the results speak for themselves -- a magical room of her own. We wish our recipient much joy in her special sanctuary. 

Winner "Best Front Garden Transformation!"

The challenge, coordinated by the Northside Institutions Neighborhood Alliance Inc. of Hartford (NINA), was to transform one block of the Asylum Hill Neighborhood of Hartford. Spring Lake Garden Design was assigned one front landscape and won. The judging was conducted by members of the Association of Professional Landscape Designers (APLD), Connecticut Chapter.

We especially like this person's reaction to SLGD's transformation: “Wow, this is unbelievable! You turned a sadly neglected, nondescript front yard into a little bit of heaven! The owners must be thrilled to be able to enjoy such a perfect piece of paradise! Well done, congratulations! You even put in the black wrought iron fence - love it!”

Every landscape design benefits from the addition of a container planting or two. Fortunately, it's one of our favorite kinds of projects. Spring, summer, fall, or yes, even winter -- whatever your style -- let us add planters to your next project.