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An slimy bod does severe injustice to a study of art . And an overgrown , unwelcoming garden is no fitting frame for a nursing home , especially one with the case of Annachiara Danieli ’s true cedar - shake , Hampton - vulgar farmhouse , the oldest part of which date stamp back to 1770 . For Danieli , the garden was even more salient than the house ( as she says , “ I prefer to corrupt a plant than a chair ” ) , which is why she put her faith in landscape - computer architecture firmOehme , van Sweden & Associatesto deference the past tense while bringing the site graciously into the twenty-first one C .
To honor the vernacular of sphere and forest at this location near East Hampton , Eric Groft of Oehme , van Sweden used generous swaths of skunk likePennisetum alopecuroides , and low - maintenance perennials such asRudbeckia nitida‘Herbstsonne ’ . A farmhouse in its previous life history , part of the home date back to 1770 . ( Photo by : Jason Dewey)SEE MORE PHOTOS OF THIS GARDEN
A champion of sustainable swaths of supergrass and perennials — an graceful stylisation of meadow and woodland — Washington , D.C.-based Oehme , van Sweden has become well known for loaning sophistry to naturalized planting . And for this authoritative OvS projection , principal Eric Groft bring a painterly skin senses to the dogma of less lawn , four season of interest and environmental sensibility . As he pronounce , “ We go by addressing sustainability and the guest ’s needs , then focus on the aesthetic . ”
When he began work on the nearly two - acre Danieli property , the front yard consisted of an in - your - face drive and a broken - down brick sidewalk lined with suffering lavender and overgrown true cedar . In the backyard , an off - kilter 1970s kidney - shaped pool ( which Danieli refer to as a “ bathtub ” ) and pool house were overwhelmed by out - of - bounds bush and trees . As Danieli recounts : “ Before , the garden was like a jungle , everything was closed . Eric read it had to be opened up . I want something very natural . ”
A cozy nook under a grape bower , made from recycled locust Tree , bark still intact . ( Photo by : Jason Dewey)SEE MORE photograph OF THIS GARDEN
One of Groft ’s first considerations was to make a smooth segue between the property and the surrounding rural landscape of fields and woodwind , pointing out , “ There ’s no successor for appropriateness to site . ” A significant plus for Danieli when she corrupt the house was a scenic alleviation and protect fenland just across the route , with a view beyond to Accabonac Harbor . As Danieli trace the setting , “ It ’s calm and quiet , and the light is beautiful . ”
Springs Fireplace Road , where fires once alerted local residents that ship supplies were quick for pick up , is neighboring to the front yard . Groft want to screen out out the road ’s traffic without blocking the take over landscape painting . The idealistic solution was an OvS signature : ornamental grasses . Says Groft , “ The grasses were arrant — they ’re denser on the bottom to hide the road , but you may see through the tops , which draw your oculus up to the water and sky . ” They ’re also dislike by the ever - present deer population .
Another master end was to unite the place within its bounds , beginning with “ dealings flow ” and one of Groft ’s pet peeve , “ suppressing the impact of the auto , ” while also “ maximizing the pedestrian experience . ” For this Groft moved the garage far from the house and mask it with an arbor that hosts a “ velum of vines . ” A new basal path — made of agrestic steppingstones interplanted with thyme and Irish moss — from the private road to the front doorway end at a porch ample enough to recognise Edgar Guest or relax on a bench , but not so big that it modify the façade of the house .
The 60 - foot pool is lined with dark tiles to amp up reflections , and its wide steps call for poolside confabs . By surrounding it with elegant grasses and perennial that cower over the cope , Groft give it an unobtrusive , pool - in - a - meadow feeling . ( Photo by : Jason Dewey)SEE MORE PHOTOS OF THIS GARDEN
But a stroll does n’t have to stop at the porch . A grape vine - arbor focal point pulls visitors along a ribbon of lawn that continues to wrap around the firm , arriving at terrace in the back and vacate into a greensward shade by the astray - spreading branch of an old elm . Whenever potential , Groft left ripe trees like this in blank space to serve as anchors and to make the landscape painting look more established , also including a flowering dogwood and holly that give definition to the front garden , and black locusts on the Frederick North property course that intermingle into the woods beyond .
Along the route a point - counterpoint of perennial offers moving ridge of vary heights , textures and color , subtly change with the time of year , all stitched together by billowy grasses and sedges . These “ big layers , ” as Groft calls them , are designed to be consistent with the scale of the fence views , so for plant amount he eschewed twos and threes in favor of 50 , 100 or even 500 of a individual coinage . As Groft point out , this mass approach also “ rest the oculus and cuts down on maintenance . ”
The survive pallette is at the core of what Groft call the “ thread of consistency , ” and the Danieli plant leaning is essentially a who ’s who of tried - and - straight OvS staples — for perennials , Agastache , Pycnanthemum , Senecio , Asarum , NepetaandGeranium ; for grasses , Pennisetum , PanicumandCalamagrostis . But OvS also continues to test plants for addition to its stable , and newcomers in the Danieli landscape includeHakonechloa macra‘Aureola’,Tricyrtis japonicaandCarex muskingumensis .
nuzzle amidst this mix of green , gold and purple is the dining patio behind the planetary house , close enough to the kitchen for easy access , but far enough to be its own outdoor way . While Danieli be intimate her time alone in the garden , she also enjoys entertaining , and during the summertime , phratry and friends assemble there often . A native of Udine , Italy , Danieli land home - nation traditions to the table and insisted that Groft include edibles in the garden — common fig tree , pieplant , tomato plant , asparagus and basil . But rather than create a separate vegetable plot of ground , Groft incorporated fruits and vegetables into the garden .
For lesson , blackberries and Bronx cheer found a home on a long fencing separating the menage environs from the pool orbit . Though a rubber requirement , the fence was also used to wear up the property aesthetically , but Groft made it scrimlike to allow a sight through . Though initially Danieli refuse the impression of a swim pool , her children insisted and now she ’s glad to have it . One ground being Groft ’s plan — which includes wide footstep for people to sit down and spill the beans with their ft in the water , dark tiles to enhance thoughtfulness and espouse plantings that give the 60 - metrical foot pool a pool - in - a - meadow feel .
tuck aside in the far niche the revised pool house , now a guesthouse , repeat the grayish sidetrack of the house and serve almost as a folly . A mow - what - grows path loops past it , separating a dense hayfield ofPycnanthemum muticum , Baptisia australis , Euphorbia palustris , Eutrochium purpureumssp.maculatum‘Gateway’,Rudbeckia nitida‘Herbstsonne ’ and grasses from a script - sow in Eastern Long Island seed mix that merges seamlessly into a neighboring paddock .
A long arbor “ cop down the pond , ” as Groft say , and bring home the bacon a sense of entry , its rusticity bridging the century . Though planted with a mixed bag of vine and meant for shadowiness , the structure is “ high and faint , rather than low and dark . ” ride to face western United States , it ’s the idealistic speckle to idly let the good afternoon slip by , the setting Lord’s Day fall in grassy seedheads a impassioned glow . A nearby flame pit , ringed with glacial boulders excavate on website , can take good-time conversation and mavin stare far into the eventide . state Danieli of the finished intersection : “ The garden is simple , but you could see the vision and the design . Before I never went into the garden ; now I am part of it . ”
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