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This Old House
Gerrie Shapiro, APLD
The Project Defined
"Just make it look as if the landscaping has always been here.
Make it look as old as the house" was the plea of clients Joan
and David Schulman as we watched a bulldozer rip out decades-old
trees and foundation plants at the front of their 1920's Georgian
style clapboard colonial. Old age and original construction flaws
caused the basement to flood during heavy rains, and in order
to repair the problem it had become necessary to remove everything,
including a large entry veranda and all the old landscaping, that
surrounded the original footings along the entire front and part
of the south side.
Architect Michael Esmay had been hired to design a new entrance and guide the approvals process through the local village planning and review boards. I was to design the planting plan and schedule the sequence of work for related contractors. We quickly recognized that we were of the same mind regarding how to return the house and grounds to their original elegance and decided at the outset to make this a collaborative effort.
As part of the new landscape design, the Schulmans asked for a good view from their living and dining room windows, additional screening from the road, more seasonal color than they had previously, and flowers they could pick and bring inside. Of particular concern was to keep an old crabapple tree that had sentimental value. Although they were unfamiliar with most plants, David mentioned that he particularly liked dwarf Japanese cut-leaf maples and asked that one be incorporated into the design.
The house sits on two acres in a small town approximately thirty miles north of New York City. Characteristic of many homes in the lower Hudson River valley, the outer edges of the property are surrounded by tall, old native white pines, oaks, maples and beech trees. The street is lined with heavily branched American linden trees that were planted at the time the neighborhood was developed. As is also typical in this part of the northeast, earlier landscaping included rhododendrons, azaleas, pieris, and Nellie Stevens hollies that still serve as underplantings to screen the house from the road and adjoining neighbors.
Architectural Changes Create Landscaping Opportunities
The new architectural design allows for a more exciting approach
to the house, including expanded landscaping and a better flow
of walkways around the property. We softened the entrance by replacing
the formerly severe rectangular lines of the front veranda and
south terrace with projecting, curved-out front faces. A wider
staircase with arced side walls creates a more graceful approach
in keeping with the scale of the house. Raised walkways now connect
the front veranda to both the terrace at the south side and the
service entrance and driveway at the north. New steps and retaining
walls accommodate grade changes. A new fence with an arbored gate
lends a more dramatic entrance to the pool and backyard area.
The Planting Design
The essential goal of the planting plan was to tie in both the
hardscape and new plants with the architecture, character, and
scale of the house and its surrounds, and to use, as much as possible,
plant materials that were common to residential landscapes during
the 1920's and 1930's.
The house appears very tall and imposing on approach. It also appears symmetrical, but there is an off-symmetry wing at the north end, not immediately visible. I decided that a symmetrical design plan would be best, but that it would be necessary to force an illusion of continuing symmetry at the far end because the driveway ultimately passes across the full length of the house.
To bring down the visual height of the house, I extended the beds
beyond the house and chose eastern hemlocks, which are native
to the area, to frame the outer edges. Clumps of white birch accent
the setback at each end of the veranda. Both kinds of trees have
a relaxed, open growth habit that allows sun and light into the
house while at the same time providing structural interest. The
dramatic weeping branches of paired threadleaf cypresses fill
and echo the curved walls on either side of the entry staircase.
Cranberry bush viburnums begin to bring the eye down from the
trees and provide additional screening between the house and driveway.
Closer to the ground plane, lower-growing plants were used to emphasize the long horizontal lines of the veranda and walkways. Evergreen white-flowering 'Chionoides' rhododendrons and dark pink 'Sir Robert' azaleas serve for winter interest as well as spring color. Blue-flowered hydrangea variegata and the light pink flowers of rosa rugosa 'Frau Dagmar Hastrup' add summer color. A matched pair of dwarf Japanese cutleaf maples (Acer palmatum var. dissectum atropurpureum) are centered within the two front beds to accent the symmetry and visually anchor the beds, forcing the eye to pause along the lengthy driveway. (Remember the client's request for this plant?) Evergreen willowleaf cotoneaster 'repens' provides overall ground cover. Littleleaf boxwood 'Green Gem' acts as a strong, low, structural border for the beds.
To force a sense of symmetry at the asymmetrical north wing, the boxwood border was extended to hold the full length of the driveway to a continuous line. Rosebay rhododendrons, azaleas, and cotoneaster repeat the plant pattern and incorporate the much-loved crabapple tree.
On the opposite side of the driveway, the large lindens at roadside
were limbed up to allow more light. The existing screen of old
rhododendrons, pieris, and azaleas was pruned and restored to
health, and 'China Boy' and 'China Girl' hollies were added. For
colorful spring and summer viewing from the house, symmetrical
plantings of 'Aphrodite' rose-of-sharon, weigela variegata, common
lilac, and Japanese spiraea 'atrosanguinea' were installed. English
ivy was used as ground cover, and Sargent junipers were chosen
to give a soft-line edge along that side of the driveway. An old
stone bench and two stone planters found on the property were
moved into the center as a focal point opposite the front entrance.
And the Beat Goes On
Among the great pleasures of being a landscape designer is getting
to know the clients well, working with them to see that their
needs are met, and that they look upon their newly designed property
with a greater sense of pride and usefulness. As has happened
with this project, it is particularly gratifying to be invited
to return and design additional sections of their landscaping.
Of especially critical importance is being given the opportunity
to continue to work with arborists and landscape maintenance contractors
on a forward-going basis to ensure that the original design intent
is preserved.
Gerrie Shapiro, APLD, holds a certificate in landscape design from The New York Botanical Garden, 1992, and was granted certification by the Association of Professional Landscape Designers in 1996. After working in clay sculpture for fifteen years, she discovered landscape design as a means to create larger compositions using space as the medium. She provides landscape design services in the New York City metropolitan area and Connecticut for residential, small commercial, and civic spaces, as well as on-going estate management.
Certified Members seeking to be profiled should send before and after photos with SHORT design intent statement to:
Bethany Dennis
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Email: communications@apld.org
Phone: 717-238-9780
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