Landscape Architect Articles

A Comfortable Alliance08-04-16 | Feature

A Comfortable Alliance
Mike Dahl, LC/DBM and Amy Kessler, Terra Verde

At the residence of a landscape architect in East Greenwich, Rhode Island, Terra Verde teamed up with the owners to create a contemporary landscape with two patios, a natural stone retaining wall, a stepping stone pathway, distinctive, attractive planters and privacy-providing foliage. The patios' pavers are two-foot-square thermal bluestone.

To prep the site at this Rhode Island home, a mini excavator and a skid steer removed about 80 yards of earth. The patios were built on bases of 8" of gravel and 1" of sand. This side patio was accented with the birch tree in the foreground, and the boxwood and lavender plantings throughout.

Undertaking landscape renovations at a landscape architect's residence could put the construction company under more pressure than usual, especially when that architect is a former college classmate of one of the company's principals.

Willing to chance that is Terra Verde, a design and build firm that for over five years has been doing work on property owned by the landscape architect and her husband.

Project manager Dan Buttner went to the University of Rhode Island with her. Both were in the landscape architecture program. He is now the director of construction for Terra Verde.

For the project featured here, they collaborated with the homeowners on the overall design of the renovation. The goal was to transform a wooded yard into a usable, enjoyable outdoor space and incorporate two outdoor living areas, all while working with the natural elements of the existing property located in East Greenwich, Rhode Island. A secondary goal was to provide the residents with some privacy from the town road.

A bluestone walkway leads from the front of the house to a side patio. Steel edging defines the boxwood plant beds. Mexican beach pebbles were used for ground cover.

The natural stone retaining wall was built on a spread footing of poured concrete 42" deep and 30" wide that is reinforced with rebar. The 14"-wide, recessed mortar-joint wall features hand-chiseled colonial thin stone. Rebar from the footing ties into the wall. The bluestone cap is 16" wide. Low voltage LED lighting was integrated into the wall as it was being built.

Buttner describes the design as a sunken patio with clean lines, and a space that is serene with hues of green color year round. The landscape they started with "was just a blank slate." Since it was a spring project, the landscape crew had to deal with the two feet of snow that was still on the ground from the winter of 2014-2015 that broke records around New England.

A mini excavator and a skid steer were used to take out about 80 yards of earth. The retaining walls were built first, starting with a spread footing of poured concrete reinforced with rebar 42 inches deep and 30 inches wide.

The recessed mortar joint wall was built with colonial thin stone supplied by Arnold Lumber of nearby West Kingston. Rebar from the footing ties into the wall. The stones were chiseled by hand. Low voltage LED lights were integrated into the wall as it was being built. The cap is two-inch-thick bluestone with a thermal top and edges. It took four workers about two weeks to finish the approximately 80-linear-foot wall.

A stoop outside the back door was built with a concrete footing, pinned into the house's foundation and capped with bluestone. The prefabricated bluestone steps and planters were then installed on top of the footing.

A back patio and side patio were part of the design. Their bases consisted of eight inches of compacted gravel and one inch of sand. Two-foot-square thermal bluestone pavers were then installed. Six-inch steel edging held them in place along with polymeric jointing sand in the joints. All told, the patios measured 680 square feet.

The backdoor stoop was constructed with a concrete footing. Prefabricated bluestone steps and planters were then installed on top of the footing. The Japanese Maples inside the raised planters add contrast and distinct color to this space.

The landscape crew thinned out some of the dense foliage in this wooded area and kept the existing rocks.

Private and peaceful, the outdoor dining area on the back patio is the new favorite place to have dinner. A cozy campfire and candles light up the side patio.

Another part of the project comprised a tranquil stepping stone walkway along the front of the house that leads to the side patio. The walkway is bordered by planters containing boxwoods and filled with Mexican beach pebbles, which were used for accents throughout the landscape. The bluestone curbing and Mexican beach pebbles pair perfectly.

Touches of green amid the Mexican beach pebbles add contrast and interest to this installment.

Other plantings included junipers, eastern red cedars, Japanese maples and two cherry trees. The retaining wall holds symmetrical ornamental grasses that screen the patio view from the road. Also featured are various container gardens, a trellis with lush foliage, and a birch tree mixed into this streamlined landscape concept.

Terra Verde thinned out some of the dense foliage in a wooded area to give the space some breathing room, and kept existing rocks for natural accents.

This contemporary backyard retreat looks and feels welcoming no matter what time of day (or night). The Rhode Island Nursery & Landscape Association awarded the installation first place in the residential hardscape/masonry category.

The latest collaboration between the two parties is a clay brick driveway installed this spring.

Assessing the alliance, the homeowners state, "Terra Verde has been doing landscape work at our home for the last five years and has transformed our yard. Their masonry work is impeccable and they take as much pride in the end result as we do. They are a pleasure to work with and we can't wait for our next project."

Portions of this article were excerpted from www.theterraverde.com

As seen in LC/DBM magazine, August 2016.