Toccata and Fugue in Green

Interview with Janet Rosenberg of Rosenberg + Associates

By Leslie McGuire, managing editor

”The sensation of isolation and intimacy is palpable at this beautifully private suburban residence in Ontario. The classical rectangular 12-person hot tub is a larger version of the entryway fountain trough, which landscape architect Janet Rosenberg created for the front of the house. Like a more traditional design, the owners can use the hot tub all winter, but it actually looks like a fountain. By using an unconventional size and making it rectangular, it acts as a reflecting pool when not running. What makes it even more interesting is that the coping stones are sawn. Thus, the contrast—the visual yin and yang—is appropriately balanced and very soothing.”
Images courtesy of Janet Rosenberg + Associates (JRA)

You would never know that you were surrounded by houses when you set foot on this sprawling, one-acre Oakville residence. Upon entering the property from the main road, a meandering gravel driveway, bordered by canopies of several mature trees, leads you past rich perennial borders to the residence that is obscured from neighboring views.

The owners of this suburban residence in Oakville, ON (Canada) wanted to screen their home from nearby neighbors so the planting palette is characterized by lushness and abundance. Janet Rosenberg of Janet Rosenberg + Associates (JRA) says, “We planted large trees and also did work on the country house. The design is a cross between new and old, modern and traditional – a response to the client’s changing tastes over the years. The project was phased and took years to complete.

The swimming pool has a vinyl pool liner which looks like a painting by David Hockney with huge blue paint marks on it, which makes the pool look darker and richer. The mixed border plantings include summer flox, autumn joy sedum, PG hydrangea, black eyed Susans, with Karl Forester grass in the background. Beside the red maple is a white pine tree and a white spruce. Snow-in-Summer is creeping onto the walkway.

“As you make your way towards the house, you notice a decorative urn, an array of elegant planting beds, and low yew hedges, which sit at the foot of the house and subtly enhance its unique architecture. When you walk towards the back, you are beckoned by the soft sound of water that gently spills out of the trough of a stunning fountain. Your gaze then shifts towards a classic pool and hot tub drowned in colorful serpentine planting beds in a romantic style,” says Rosenberg.

The clients first approached us about this project over eight years ago. They liked the idea of a cottage atmosphere but they didn’t necessarily want to leave their country home in the city in search of it. Thus we devised a master plan for the front and back of the house, and implemented it in stages as the budget permitted.

"The process of creating this space was transformative in many ways. In some ways I think not only have the clients changed, but as designers we have changed as well to a much more modern sensibility."

“We worked extensively with horticulturists on this project to create a lush and serene environment for the residents, one that resembles an intimate cottage-like setting. During the first phase of the project, we worked on the stone terrace in the back of the house and built a retaining wall to create a plateau in preparation for the pool. Because the area was exposed and relatively barren, we brought in big pine trees to give a feeling of complete isolation and intimacy.

“Perhaps the most dominating attribute of the 12-person hot tub, is that it’s where we started to develop a modern aesthetic,” says Janet Rosenberg. “It is long and linear, graced by a stainless steel trough. The stone is Wiarton stone, which is local to Ontario, and the hot tub’s harsh edges are softened by a rich border of ornamental grasses planted alongside of it.”

“In the second phase, we built the pool, cabana, and a surrounding fence for security. An ornate entrance gate was also added at the road. In the third phase, we installed a hot tub. In addition to the landscape, we also designed the house’s several architectural elements in the last phase of the project. For instance, we built a floor to ceiling window in the den to allow for the rich outdoor setting to be enjoyable indoors.

The Algonquin limestone used in the front entryway comes in big blocks and is sliced for a modern, clean look. The driveway is a loose granular and even though it is in a city, the looseness of the stone makes it look and feel as if it’s a country road. It is also an environmentally friendly way of recharging the water back into the water table. On the other side of the entryway is the Russian sage, a silvery foliage that matches the stone and has a different texture than the stone and moss. The terracotta pot used as a sculpture also mirrors the layered look of the plints.

The bowl is the welcoming piece as you walk in the front. Its plinth has definite stratified layers, which mirror the steps. Planted with moss rather than geraniums, it is definitely more modernistic. Originally, there were two adjacent doors. One was the front door and the other went directly into the living room. The doors were changed to emphasize the entry people should use.

“We worked closely with our clients throughout the phases to achieve the best possible landscape for their home. Because this was a long-term project, the trick was to manage the clients’ changing tastes over a period of eight years and the emerging trends in landscape design. What was initially a quest for a cottage-like ambiance became a search for a fine balance between the modern and the traditional and a question of how to artfully weave the two together. We used very elaborate plant material along with continuous planting techniques to make the area more abundant.

The trough, with its soothing fountain sounds, guides you up the stairs to a very gracious landing in front,” observes Rosenberg. “That plinth with the moss mound ultimately became our signature piece. Burdock, which is very aggressive and rather tropical looking, fills the trough, and seems to flow over the side of the entryway onto the side yard.”

“Tone-on-tone plantings and light green perennial grasses that zigzag through the trees however, give the garden a unique and a more contemporary look. In addition, the terrace is a combination of antique medallions and flagstone, which demonstrates an intricate level of design The green moss mounds in elegant stone plinths became one of our architectural statements and are also a prominent feature of the property. They provide an appropriate balance between the traditional and modern and work well with the house’s grey exterior.

“Through bold gestures and tasteful planting design, we created a sense of intimacy in a barren suburban setting, successfully tackling the challenges of a receding sense of isolation in a residential neighborhood and finding a balance between the modern and the traditional.

When the designs are simpler, it’s much easier to see the small things because you have a smaller infrastructure.The family used to go on long trips, but now they stay home because the garden changes through the seasons as you can see in this image of the hot tub. In spring it’s all shades of lime green, but by late summer it hardens up into a darker set of greens because of the heat of summer.

Transformation

“The process of creating this space was a transformative one in many ways. Says Janet Rosenberg, “In some ways I think not only have the clients changed, but as designers we have changed as well to a much more modern sensibility. The relationship was wonderful. Although we had already designed a full master plan, it took on a different level of detailing as the owners’ tastes changed.

“That has to do not only with traditional versus modern, but also the level of plantings and planting groups, the styles of coping, the types of pots as well as the colors we used. I felt no one would ever accept modern design because it was difficult to get people to accept it. The family has now taken a more minimal approach to their lives. That was one really great part—the development of the relationship with this family—watching their tastes change and changing our designs to accommodate that.

The serpentine chartreuse green grass is called Hakonechloa macra. This fabulous grass does quite well in the shade. The huge Scotch pine trees were pruned and made sculptural, while the understory of periwinkle shows how beautiful the trunks of the trees are. Scotch pines have a beautiful orange bark and an interesting trunk that soars up into evergreen foliage at the top. This project shows what a group of designed planting materials can do—the trees are celebrated by the understory around them.

Color

“One also needs winter color and that was provided with the hedging elements,” Rosenberg continues. “First we created the back terrace and then the planting beds and the swimming pool, and then the all the beds along the side of the driveway, and then the artists studio in the back and then finally the front of the house. We also changed the house, suggested charcoal gray. It was originally a very pale green with pink trim around the windows—very sweet. Now it’s has a Asian feel to it and very lush.

“Part of the modern approach to landscape architecture is how you use color. When the designs are simpler, it’s much easier to see the small things because you have a smaller infrastructure. The family used to go on long trips, but now they stay home because the garden changes through the seasons. In spring it’s all shades of lime green but by summer it hardens up into a darker set of greens because of the heat of summer.”

The shade border in the back has a huge walnut tree, which has roots that produce a toxin, so the plantings—Hostas, dogwood and groundcover pachysandra—had to be carefully chosen. The end result looks rich with a hierarchy of greens that are differentiated along the serpentine border.

Yin and Yang

“Algonquin limestone is used in front and the local stone used in the back comes out of the ground with a rough pebble surface. The driveway is loose pebble, which naturally recharges runoff. Six inches thick, two-and-one-half inches of smaller aggregate was used on top and thicker aggregate beneath. If a non permeable surfacing was used, the driveway would fill and the runoff would have to be sent into huge catch basins. The driveway has to be re-graded once a year, however it was a conscious design choice. The entire design is about contrast and texture so all the plantings and even the hardscapes have a yin and yang contrast to them.”

The walkway, which takes you to the wife’s art studio is planted to give her privacy and a buffer from the children playing. Pampas grass on the edges lead into a secret garden planted with hydrangeas. Flagstone stepping stones lead into the larger part of garden.

Selected Plantings:

Pennisetum alopecuroides ‘Hameln’

Hakonechloa macra

Eupatorium purpureum

Pennisetum alopecuroides ‘Hameln’

Pennisetum alopecuroides ‘Hameln’

Sedum ‘Vera Jameson’