The front doorway has recently been remodeled but is only one foot from the driveway, and severely lacking a comfortable ‘hello’ and ‘goodbye’ area. The solution was to expand the front entry walkway and that entailed moving the center island a few feet down to allow enough room for two cars to pass one another. The 8’ x 10’ new flagstone entry walkway, flanked by two fiberglass boxes with Alberta Spruce, marking the entry walk at the curb. To give the driveway a simple though elegant look we continued the Belgian block edging set in concrete, and resurfaced the asphalt driveway with oil and pebbles.

The area adjacent to the brick front of the house was replanted with Ilex meserve, Buxus spp. and evergreen azaleas creating a more formal evergreen look.

A single stem Betula ‘Jacquemonte’ (Birch) was added to the secondary, and less formal entrance, under planted with Ilex glabra (Inkberry).

The approach to the house is now vastly different and a visual treat, showing off the house and the elegant entrance walk.

Walking to the right side of the house the existing horseshoe island was in dire need of a facelift. The client wished to see these flowerbeds from both floors of the house and I opted for bold mass plantings. Making use of the wonderful southern exposure I combined a new white Prunus subhirtella ‘Pendula’ (Weeping cherry) with a mass (4) of old fashioned Syringa spp. (Lilac). In front of the tall shrubs the shrub roses Rosa ‘Bonica’ was planted for summer bloom and the planting was tapered down to large groupings of Nepeta spp.(Catmint), Montauk marguerite (Daisy) and Echinacea purpurea (Purple coneflower).

Adjacent to the front facade of the house is a large yew hedge, 7’ high, 5’ wide and 30’ long. The hedge was visually extended with a 6’ dark green Brattle fence (repeating the color of the house shutters) that features an arbor, covered with the heavenly blooming Rosa ‘New Dawn’, creating a welcoming entryway to the pool area. A new dark green 4’ Brattle fence continues visually the fence, enclosing the final part of the pool area and leading down to the stone wall at the road.

The back of the house has an eastern exposure and features a sizeable pool at the lower level, creating the opportunity to enclose the pool area with an attractive fence, mandatory by code. The perennial bed running along the post and rail fence was only 4’ deep and I generously widened the bed to 7’, extending it around the corner eastward another 50’ into a more shaded area.

At the left side of the house, facing north, stood an overgrown Viburnum x carlcephalum in desperate need of a haircut. To keep the continuous flow to the border the plantingbed was widened by 5 feet and now the generous border of 12’ incorporated the pruned viburnum.

In the sunny part of the border the post and rails were planted with Rosa ‘New Dawn’ ‘climbing roses, Clematis spp. and the border in front of the fence was filled with a lush planting of Perovskia salicifolia (Russian sage), Echinacea purpurea (purple coneflower), Achillea spp., Chrysanthemum x superbum ‘Becky’ (Shasta daisy), Phlox ‘David’ and Coreopsis rosea.

The upper border contained Hibiscus moscheutos (Rose mallow), Alcea rosea (hollyhock), ornamental grasses and Hemerocallis spp. (daylily). The shadier part has Digitalis spp. (Foxglove), Eupatorium (Joe-Pye-Weed), Ruta graveolens (Meadow rue), Aruncus dioicus (goat’s beard), Matteuccia struthiopteris (Ostrich fern), Aquilegia canadensis (Columbine) and Primula spp. (Primrose).

The most dramatic change to this lovely home was the inviting approach, the new front walk and the inviting planting in the circular island. The seasonal colors of the perennial mass planting display have enthralled the owners.