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The English cottage garden is an iconic style of garden design that emerged as a response to the formal and strictly manicured estate gardens of the nineteenth century. Cottage gardens championed perennial plantings mixed with edible plants for the kitchen, while the estate landscapes of the era relied on formal evergreen hedges for structure and huge amounts of annual flowers planted every year. The cottage garden’s soft edges with dense perennial plantings were organized chaos with baked in practicality, a more approachable garden style that has remained a fixture in the landscape design world to this day. For these Scarsdale, New York clients, blending the cottage garden style with today’s ethic of planting native to enhance habitat and ecosystem services was essential for their landscape renovation. They also wanted to enhance the layout and flow of the property, especially in the side yard which felt disjointed from the rest of the space. The front yard needed a boost in curb appeal, and the backyard needed shady spots to rest, more screening, and more flowering plants. We are so thrilled with how this design and installation turned out—we had to crown it our BEST project of 2025!

This blog is part of our countdown of the Best Landscape Design Projects of 2025! Read all about our #2 project hereand our #3 project here.

Scarsdale, New York front yard cottage style garden.

Cottage Garden Beds Frame the Front Yard

The existing front yard landscape consisted of a row of boxwoods in the foundation, lawn, some arborvitae along the side property lines, and Japanese cherry trees along the front border. The problem with only landscaping the border of your properties and the foundation of the house is it reinforces linear lines and doesn’t make the home feel integrated or nestled within the landscape. By creating new landscape beds that encircle the front lawn, connect to the foundation, and are echoed in pocket beds across the driveway, we’ve added enough biomass to ground the architecture. The plantings are large enough to relate themes across each other, creating a rich and wild tapestry that feels alive rather than manufactured and static.

Front property border blends forms, textures and late fall colors for a softened frame.

The new garden beds not only add color, texture and habitat value, they also shape how you exist within the landscape. The far side of the driveway, where before was just an expanse of lawn and a row of arborvitae, felt like an empty lot to the clients, instead of an integrated piece of their property. We added a border bed along the length most of the driveway, which became a fragrant-themed bed with plants such as Nepeta, Agastache, Rosemary, Lavender, and Thyme. Behind that bed, asymmetrical curvilinear beds frame how you enter and move through the space.

BEFORE: broad expanses of lawn make the landscape feel bare and unincorporated.

This border garden and plant palette connect to the landscape across from the driveway.

Reclaiming this side yard with stunning perennial gardens.

BEFORE: this side of the yard felt like an empty lot to the clients, not integrated into their property.

Garden beds guide circulation and make this section of the property feel integrated with the rest of the landscape.

Pleasing bed lines and native plant passings frame this front yard garden.

The plant palette for the front yard incorporated some classic English garden plants – roses, lady’s mantle, day lily, lamb’s ear, rose campion – with some of our native favorites: geranium, coreopsis, penstemon, goldenrod, tiarella, jacob’s ladder. The microclimate around the driveway was full sun, but the left side of the front yard trended shadier, making for a diverse plant palette.

Front foundation plantings expanded and planted with European and Northeast US natives.

Obelisks guide winning plants and add architecture to this front foundation planting.

Natural Stone Walkway for a Cottage Style Front Entrance

The existing front walk was crumbling, as were the tread stones on the steps up to the front door. We couldn’t upgrade the landscaping and leave the front walk as it was – it would completely distract form the garden. GJLD stoneworkers resurfaced the concrete steps with bluestone treads and constructed an irregular flagstone walkway. We prefer natural stone walkways to paver walkways, stepping stone paths or gravel path for the front walk, because walkways have the most formal aesthetic, and natural stone is the most durable and timeless material you can use. It is important to make sure that the footprint of the front walk is far enough out away from the house. If it is too close to the house, you feel as if you are in the shadow of the home and too close to appreciate the architecture in full. Bring the front walk out and extend the landscape for a more inviting approach to the front door.

New flagstone walkway and bluestone treads make a grand front entrance.

Excavating the footprint fro the new front walk.

Seating Areas, Surprises, and Garden Accessories

Reclaiming the front side yard involved not only linking the gardens thematically to those in the main front yard but also shaping the space to make it more inviting. The garden beds frame two entrances into the space, where you can stroll along the amorphous garden beds and take in their intricacies. Toward the end of one bed is a gravel seating area with an arbor and swinging bench. This feature was a client request, and it works perfectly sited here, enveloped in the garden and positioned to view the side yard, front yard and backyard landscapes. Front yards can often feel like display pieces, for looking at but not residing in, so we love an opportunity to reclaim a front yard into a functional space.

Arbor and bench seat nestled into the side yard landscape.

The arbor and bench are painted matte black to coordinate with the obelisks positioned throughout the garden for vining plants, as well as the couch cushions in the backyard, and the trellises for the climbing roses along the side foundation. Fortunately, these clients were a pleasure to work with and had a clear vision for the style of garden accessories they were drawn to. These functional and architectural elements help unify the design across all sides of the property.

Coordinated garden accessories unify the landscape.

Behind the arbor, another pair of asymmetrical garden beds direct you behind a mature spruce to a secret shade garden. Transplanted azaleas and an understory of sedges and ferns makes this surprising hideout feel lush and inviting.

Late fall in the garden featuring goldenrod and the secret garden path.

Backyard Drainage, Border Planting

In the backyard, where an old pathway was, the ground was very compacted and as a result, pooled stormwater that sat uncomfortably close to the foundation. GJLD connected a pipe to the gutter leader to direct stormwater out into a dry well, to help manage stormwater in extreme events. We also expanded the foundation planting and regraded it to pitch away from the house. Lifting the lawn slightly allowed us to direct runoff away from the home. We eliminated a step off from the patio by grading the lawn up to the patio grade, which also helped it to shed stormwater.

Piping and dry well installation connected to gutter leader.

The new backyard landscape includes leatherleaf viburnum for screening, native oak leaf hydrangeas for summer color and sedges, asters and heuchera for herbaceous underplantings.

Backyard shade border planting featuring leatherleaf viburnum and native woodland perennials.

The existing patio off the house was too hot and in too much direct sun during peak summer. We constructed a secondary gravel patio, integrated into the landscape beds, which offers a shadier respite. Aluminum edging helps keep the gravel tidy instead of migrating into the turf or mulch.

Feeling inspired? Contact us to start your landscape design and installation project!

Landscape design and installation by Green Jay Landscape Design.

This expansive backyard has plenty of room but required a thoughtful design to incorporate all the clients’ wish list elements in a cohesive and intimate way. The existing site sloped left making it inhospitable to playing ball – an important consideration for this young family. The clients had previously had some evergreen trees installed along the perimeter, however the spacing did not effectively screen the neighbors, another high priority for the family. Green Jay Landscape Design assessed the site and set off to design a series of cozy garden rooms that expanded the habitat from nearby open space. A native evergreen screen now encircles the backyard. Incorporating stonework and paths to improve circulation throughout the property ties all the garden rooms together.

This project is number two in our countdown of the Best Landscape Design Projects of 2025! Catch up on #3 in the series here.

Natural stone staircase and native plantings mark the entrance to the backyard.

Developing a Landscape Design Plan & Design Concept

Backyard landscape design plan by Green Jay Landscape Design.

The design concept helps transport you to the space:

Nestled within the gentle embrace of whispering willows, the Willow Wood Retreat unfolds as a sanctuary of tranquility, where nature and design entwine like old friends. The landscape is sculpted with care, regraded to invite effortless movement, ensuring that every step feels instinctive and secure. Along the property’s edge, a layered tapestry of trees, shrubs, and native understory forms a natural screen, softening the presence of the nearby trail while preserving the melody of the wind and birdsong. This living boundary offers both shelter and seclusion, a gentle veil that nurtures privacy without severing connection to the land beyond.

At the heart of this woodland escape, an intimate refuge awaits – where hammocks sway in rhythm with the breeze and picnic tables rest beneath the shelter of rustling leaves.

Thoughtfully nestled at the end of the property, this secluded alcove becomes a world apart, shielded from passing footsteps yet open to the embrace of the forest. Willow and woodland meld seamlessly, forming a retreat both grounded and ethereal, a space where solitude and sanctuary become one, hidden yet alive with the presence of nature.

American Hollies and American Arborvitae are two native evergreen large shrubs that have contrasting foliage textures, making a more interesting evergreen screen.

Native Evergreen Screening

This Westchester County, New York property has adjacent undesirable views: a parking lot and neighbors’ homes. Evergreens are generally slow growing, so to achieve an instant screening effect, the planting design must be layered. The property had some existing Arborvitae along the perimeter, but they sparsely planted and left many gaps in the desired screen.

Before Photo: American Arborvitae were planted with significant spacing.

Before Photo: existing Arborvitae were transplanted during installation to create denser massings.

Green Jay designed a mixed evergreen border with native shrubs and trees including Hemlocks, White Pines, American Hollies, and Rosebay Rhododendron. Leatherleaf viburnum, a non-native, semi-evergreen shrub that holds its leaves until early spring, then drops them and pushes out fresh leaves, is another GJLD favorite for screening. Not only does layered screening create visual obstruction, but it also acts as a sound barrier, softening the commotion from the nearby parking lot and trail.

Viburnums mix well in an evergreen screen; they also provide bird habitat and stunning fall foliage.

Leveling Play Areas & Creating Focal Points

The existing patio was an appropriate square footage, but its long and narrow shape made it appear smaller, a feeling amplified by the sloped lawn surrounding it. GJLD cut some of the slope out from around the patio, creating a level lawn border around the patio that effectively made it seem larger.

Newly graded soil around the patio extends the flat space and makes the patio feel larger.

We installed boulders and planted the right slope for stability. A new river rock border with accent boulders in the front border of the slope helps to interrupt and evaporate runoff. That spot had previously had a tile drain but the lawn around it remained soggy and did not grow well.

Remove the lawn where it doesn’t grow. River rock and boulders are a great substitute for soggy areas.

American Holly and Rosebay Rhododendron in the background, with native woodland perennials and boulders to stabilize the slope.

Process shot: White paint outlines where the new pollinator berm will go.

The lawn just beyond that patio, in the main part of the backyard, also sloped toward the left, making it an awkward space for play. GJLD brought it approximately sixty yards of topsoil to level the lawn grade and fill in existing divots and low spots throughout the property.

Process shot: beginning to move soil to lift the left side of the yard.

Process shot: finishing touches on the backyard grading to lift the lawn.

Across from the patio, we constructed a slight berm and planted the area with native pollinator-attracting plants. This “pollinator berm” became the focal point from the patio and kitchen, drawing the eye to the nearby colorful habitat instead of towards the rear of the large property. The pollinator berm effectively creates a garden room around the patio, which is the main entertaining space.

A stepping stone path in gravel allows one to cut through the pollinator berm to reach the vegetable garden (not by GJLD).

Coordinating Material Staging with Fencing Partners

Since this project required large amounts of material (many yards of soil, palettes of stone, many large B&B trees and shrubs), efficient access to the site was critical to staying on budget. We worked with the clients’ fence company to coordinate an area of fencing to be left open while GJLD crews accepted and staged the materials. After each day of work, GJLD crews closed the gap in the fencing with temporary deer fencing. Once all of the materials were staged on site, the fence company promptly returned and installed the permanent fence to close the gap. This timely coordination ensured that the permanent deer fencing protected the new plantings at the earliest stage. This method also increased GJLD crew efficiency, for the path through the fence was much easier to navigate than going down the stone steps from the front yard.

Designing Garden Rooms

Midway back in the property there was an existing gravel patio to house the fire pit area. Surrounded by an existing perennial planting, this space feels intimate and secluded despite being in the middle of the property. We designed layered border around the perimeter of the property that made the existing planting feel less isolated and more anchored to the landscape.

GJLD crews also helped site the new vegetable garden (not constructed by GJLD) to be close to the house / patio and maximize sunlight in the backyard. The client was interested in growing some niche herbs, including stinging nettle, chocolate mint, and other medicinals.

Mini Native Grove Creates Habitat Corridor

Since the property is long and tapers at the back, the eye naturally wants to settle at the farthest point. GJLD designed a mini grove of native magnolia trees and flowering dogwood trees towards the rear of the property and seeded the area beneath it with a native grass and wildflower mix. This combination of ground-level pollen and nectar producing plants, with clustered trees for nesting space or nesting materials above, provides a valuable habitat corridor for birds and insects. They can approach the property from the side, take cover in this grove in the middle, and continue to the other side of the property. It is important to not just relegate habitat areas to the borders of your property as this limits where wildlife feel safe to travel.

Jay in front of the dogwood and magnolia grove, with newly seeded wildflower meadow.

Willow Wood Garden

At the rear of the property, where screening was especially important and conditions were shadier, we designed a woodland understory planting with a semi-circular wood chip trail around it. Trails are one of our favorite design strategies – they encourage an experience with the landscape that is much different from the one perceived from a patio. This mini trail will create both active play space for the children and a path to walk slowly and contemplate the landscape and its visitors.

One entrance to the woodland trail and native understory garden.

Sitting boulders and birch stumps are perfect spots for contemplation in the landscape.

The understory features native willows, witch hazel, oak leaf hydrangea, ferns and sedges. The wood chip path is lined with cedar posts and fieldstone for naturalistic border. We installed sitting boulders and birch stumps within the garden for an immersive resting experience.

New natural stonework and backyard landscaping completes the circulation from backyard to front yard.

Natural Stone Staircase, Trash Can Landing

When we arrived on site there was no designed circulation to navigate from the front yard, down the slope to the backyard. GJLD masons constructed a staircase and landing using irregular flagstone and large natural stone steppers (from Prospero Nursery). We also installed a gravel apron around the house to improve air circulation and evaporation.

GJLD crews map out the staircase in the field.

Master stonework artisan, Aztlan, installs the first step.

GJLD crews unload a natural stone stepper for the backyard staircase.

In the front yard, a mini-irregular flagstone landing by the mailbox created the perfect space to bring the trash cans out for pick up. A large boulder at the driveway corner helps delineate the drivable area from the landing.

A tidy natural stone landing for trash cans and checking the mail.

Feeling inspired? Contact us to start your landscape design project! Winter designs will be prioritized for spring and early summer installations.

Newly constructed homes rarely come with a thought-out front yard design. In this case, this stunning Rye, NY home had a path to the front door made of 18” bluestone squares in a footprint that was very close to the house. A row of boxwoods along the front porch was the extent of the landscaping. In the backyard, a bizarre array of bluestone squares was meant to serve as the patio. Both masonry choices underline a lack of design and budget spent by the builder. Why put a $1,000 walkway on a multimillion-dollar house? We designed a new walkway and patio that repurposed some of the existing bluestone but added more grandeur and functional space. In the backyard, removing the existing hedge and grading the lawn created enough additional level space to install a playset. In the front yard, an evergreen hedge became the living fence and expanded planting beds softened the hardscape angles. The front yard courtyard reclaims the front lawn as a desirable space to relax or play ball (it’s the flattest part of the lot, after all).

This blog is part of our Best of 2025 Landscape Designs. This project is number three in our top design-build projects of the year!

Before photo: very minimal landscaping makes the house look awkward and not incorporated into the environment.

Before photo: front path is too small, not formal enough and too close to the house. The expansive lawn draws the eye to the road.

Planning Circulation & Designing a Front Walkway

Front walkways should be far enough away from the front foundation to take in the home’s architecture. Often, they are installed too close to the house to keep an overall smaller and less expensive footprint. In this case, we moved the front walk five feet out from its original footprint, allowing us to expand the planting area in front of the existing boxwoods. We opted for a four-foot-wide rectilinear walkway that flares out to create a landing at the porch. Landings like this allow space for larger groups to gather. Walkways, as opposed to stepping stone or gravel paths, are the smoothest, safest surface to walk on, and are more accommodating to wheelchairs and strollers.

Aztlan prepares the footprint of the new front walkway.

Mid-construction shot: bluestone landing completed, walkway in progress.

The client wanted privacy from the road, and together we landed on an evergreen hedge of the native ilex glabra or inkberry. Since the new front walkway would be originating in the driveway, we decided a gate in the hedge, directly across from the front door, would be a good circulation path for visitors entering from the street. We coordinated with Salem Fence for the gate installation.

Evergreen ilex hedge with gate creates privacy and access in this front yard courtyard.

Front Yard Courtyard Design

The scale of this front yard is small, and since it is the flattest area of the yard, we knew we had to preserve some lawn area for play space. The new planting beds create a curved border around the lawn, lending the courtyard feel. The planting design was kept dwarf to not overwhelm the scale or disrupt views of the home. A playful plant palette including blue grama grass, coreopsis, eastern bee balm, geranium, and penstemon offered textural contrast and a long bloom season. A crepe myrtle tree added some architectural interest and height.

Expanded front foundation driveway planting beds frame the new bluestone walkway.

On the opposite side of the driveway, another landscape bed adds color and anchors the entrance.

Boulders create year-round bas relief and look great next to low-growing perennials.

Backyard Grading for Play Space

Before photo: backyard slopes off and has little room for play or entertaining.

The backyard of this property is also small and slopes down. A generator off the corner of the house was placed on a berm that has a steep slope around it down to the existing patio. The height of the berm creates an odd feeling of enclosure from the patio. The client wanted a play set for their young family and there was only one possible spot it could fit – in the corner of the property, and only if we removed the hedge, installed a fence and graded the area to level.

Before photo: the overgrown yew hedge makes the limited backyard feel smaller.

We constructed a rip rap boulder wall as a base for the new fence and grade. For the playset base, we installed 4-6” of certified playground mulch, or milled cedar wood chips. We cut into one side of the generator berm, to create more space to walk around from the side yard and then graded that material into the other side of the berm so the slope next to the patio is dramatically less steep. Planting the berm to screen the generator and soften the appearance of the slope helped reclaim it as a feature of the yard. It was all a lesson in how grading can maximize space, especially in a small-scale backyard.

There were some unique complications with this project: the neighbors had a driveway directly behind the lot, and our client had to coordinate getting permission and cost sharing with them. We again used Salem Fence for the fence construction. Altogether there were more stakeholders to coordinate and communicate with than usual on this project, but it was all executed smoothly and timely.

Boulder wall holds new backyard grade for newly seeded low mow lawn.

Certified Playground Mulch base for play set.

New patio with softened and planted slope expands entertaining space.

The backyard patio was reconstructed in an irregular bluestone pattern with a half circle border on one side, echoing the landing in the front walk and maximizing patio space and ease of transitions from the side yard. We were able to repurpose much of the existing stone, which is why we always prefer to work with natural stone over concrete products.

Sitting boulders under the deck create unique hang outs for children.

The backyard has a large under deck area that needed to be addressed. We opted to fill the area with gravel, adding more rectilinear bluestone pathways through it off the existing sliding doors. We also placed some sitting boulders which are large and sculptural, and serve as fun seats for children.

New patio connects to sliding doors under deck with bluestone landings in gravel.

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Does your yard feel underutilized because of challenging site conditions or topography? Let us help you design your dream yard, so spending time outside is easy and rewarding. Fill out our contact form to get in touch, or call us at 914-560-6570.

On December 4^th, Jay Archer spoke at the Ecological Landscape Alliance’s Year-End Conference at Tower Hill. Jay’s presentation, Innovative Stormwater Solutions, Beyond Grading and Drainage covered techniques and case studies employed by Green Jay Landscape Design to manage stormwater and erosion control holistically. Improving landscape drainage depends greatly on infiltration rates, which is directly related to soil quality. Below are a list of resources we use in the field to improve soil structure, nutrients and absorption capacity. The Magic Wand program, also below, details our protocols for improving soil quality in a lawn.

GJLD crews amend the soil to maximize drainage during a rain garden installation.

Resource Guide:

Below are some of the products Green Jay Landscape Design uses for to amend soils, stabilize steep slopes and/or enhance the performance of landscape plantings.

GBS organic fertilizer ( Ocean Organics)
Plant Magic organic biofertilizer
Roots M organic fertilizer and rooting agent
Bioplex biostimulant (for transplanting over 90 degrees)
Quantum Growth
Yucca (wetting agent)
Thermx (wetting Agent)
Enhanced Gypsum
Enhanced Calcitic Lime
Green Sand
Azomite
TriForce (Biostimulant/Branch Creek)
Influencer Biostimulant / Organic Approach
Feedback Liquid Compost (Mother Earth Organics)
Worm Power (soil amendment)
Myco (mycorrhiza innoculator)
Carbon Pro (Lesco/ Site One)
Mirimichi Green CarbonizPN with Biochar (soil conditioner)
Organic Mechanics Biochar Compost Mix
Curlex erosion netting
Straw Blanket with Tackifier
Jute Netting
Coir Fiber logs
Filtrexx Soxx (wood chip filled erosion device)
Sand Aid (granular sea plant meal – Lebanon Turf)

Straw blankets help secure a newly seeded sloped lawn until it becomes established.

GJLD crew member soil drenches a new planting with microbe inoculants and wetting agents to reduce planting shock during hot summer months.

Magic Wand Formula:

The primary purpose and objective of the magic wand treatment is to improve

existing soil conditions utilizing a unique rehabilitation/treatment method. This increases water infiltration and absorption, in turn, producing the healthiest possible landscape environment. The goal is to achieve the highest possible result with the most cost-effective solutions available.

The advantage of the Magic Wand system is to provide the least intrusive approach compared to conventional construction methods (for example pipes, storm drains, catch basins etc.).

The magic wand treatment is essential to restoring proper drainage to a compacted site. Construction is one of the leading causes contributing to a compacted condition, leading to poor turf performance and landscape failure. Remediation of these conditions can be challenging and involve several applications to correct. The components of the formula are determined based on the results of the soil laboratory analysis.

The ingredients are as follows:

The Process begins with a site analysis/bio-assay/soil test.
Enhanced Gypsum (CaSO4). Is a natural product that is enhanced with soluble humates. These humates release nutrients that are being held onto by the soil. The gypsum will break up heavy clay soils and alleviate high salt levels. (Particularly from heavy ammonia fertilizers and road salt from winter.)
Calcified Lime. This natural product is used to adjust soil PH according to soil tests.
Permatill Shale (calcified clay). This creates a more suitable environment for plants to grow by increasing air concentration in the root zone.
Phosphate Rock/Green Sand (mineralization) adds micronutrients/minerals to feed the biology growing in the soil. These living organisms return organic nutrients necessary for healthy plant growth.
Soil Surfactant (wetting agent). Boosts the cation exchange capacity of soil and helps distribute water evenly throughout the soil. It may also allow water to move through hydrophobic soils.
Compost/Top Dressing adds high organic matter as well as large numbers of active biological agents.
Bio-Stimulants adds high concentrations of a variety of soil organisms. Soil conditions help to determine which organisms will flourish and which will decline.
Mechanical Aeration incorporates all of these materials into the soil allowing for optimum plant growth. Air concentrations are increased in the root zone and water is allowed to properly drain.

In addition, for best effects/results, we recommend an intensive seeding regime be followed.

Need help with your organic landscape or stormwater management? Contact us to get started!

In late fall, as our landscapes fade to shades of gold and tan, spring may be the furthest thing from your mind. This is your reminder to shake that feeing and plan for spring – the time for planting spring flowering bulbs is upon us! Bulbs are a unique category of plants that require cold stratification from freezing temperatures to flower appropriately in spring. When planted in late fall, their roots still have some time to develop and become established before winter. At GJLD, we sequence bulb species and cultivars to maximize early spring blooms, from late February, through march and into April. Daffodils are a favorite since their toxicity prevents deer, rabbits and other wildlife from eating them, and they don’t require full sun. Hyacinths and alliums are other tried and true favorites. For our urban dwellers or those prepared to be vigilant with their animal repellent applications, tulips are pure joy machines.

Use bulbs to frame seating areas and spaces that will be used in early spring.

Enjoy these photos from Spring 2025 at various GJLD landscapes during bulb season. Nothing quite cheers one up like a blanket of flowers when everything else in the landscape is bare. Photos by Rich Pomerantz.

Daffodils bloom when most other plants have not yet broken winter dormancy.

Spring flowering bulbs start photosynthesizing earlier than most plants; their active root systems help stabilize the soil during spring rains.

Daffodils are graze proof due to their natural toxicity – a low maintenance bulb favorite!

A roadside daffodil carpet for early spring curb appeal!

A composition of various heights, colors and sizes of daffodil cultivars.

Pink and purple hyacinths punctuate the fields of yellow.

Spring flowering bulbs add early season color to a foundation bed in Westchester, NY.

Daffodils and hyacinths – a charming combination!

Daffodils frame a fire pit area in Larchmont, NY.

Book your bulb planting today! Contact us to get started.

Green Jay Landscape Design is the proud recipient of two 2025 design awards from the Association of Professional Landscape Designers (APLD). We are beyond thrilled at this recognition and want to extend our thanks to the APLD judging committee, whose review of hundreds of award submissions is no minor feat. GJLD will take home a Silver Award in the Specialty Projects category and a Bronze Award in the Residential Category III ($100,000+).

Award-winning backyard design in Dobbs Ferry, NY was designed to be accessible and therapeutic.

Silver Award, Special Projects: The Liberation Garden | Somers, NY

This was a very meaningful project, as it went beyond the average design program. The client’s partner has health issues, and they desired a serene outdoor space that could provide therapeutic benefits.

Morning light accentuates garden textures in this landscape designed to stimulate the senses.

The design needed to be wheelchair accessible, which meant any new stonework needed to precisely meet the sliding door threshold elevation. GJLD constructed an irregular flagstone patio with tight joints to prevent any accessibility snags. Using a base of compacted stone and stone dust allows us to avoid cement, which contains the carcinogenic element silica.

Garden paths weave experientially through the landscape while benches create intimate seating nooks.

From the sliding door, the patio overlooks the new backyard garden. In the words of the client – the perfect place to drink your morning coffee. An irregular flagstone walkway extends from the patio in a loop around the garden, interspersed with benches and large sitting boulders to take in different vignettes of the landscape. A secondary gravel path allows for closer examination of the garden and a creates and audible and textural experience when walking across it.

Therapy gardens use texture, color, fragrance and repetition to stimulate the senses and provide a serene outdoor retreat.

The existing site has mature trees about thirty feet from the home, creating a feeling of enclosure and intimacy that evokes a cloister garden. As always, we opted for a predominantly native plant palette to support the local ecology. Since this is a therapy garden, we also included high sensory plants: fragrant, varied textures, colorful throughout the year. Ornamental grasses create movement in the landscape and velvety plants like lambs’ ear along the border beg to be touched. Therapy gardens are about stimulating the senses, creating meditative spaces and inspiring a reconnection with nature. Our clients love to observe the pollinators and songbirds that visit the garden from season to season.

The main flagstone path creates easy circulation through the landscape, while the crunchy gravel path creates a sensory experience.

Bronze Award, Residential Projects Category III: Modern Living on the Waterfront of the Wild World | Dobbs Ferry

Award-winning landscape designed and built by Green Jay Landscape Design.

It was a delight to design a contemporary landscape for this newly renovated home. The site has unique features and complications including: compacted and degraded post-construction soil; an existing man-made pond; sloping topography, and a backyard that directly abuts a golf course.

Morning backlighting illuminates airy grasses and perennials in this contemporary front yard landscape.

Most of the planting design is around the front entrance and driveway, where light conditions range from part shade in the driveway to full sun by the house. To update the landscape, we designed a matrix inspired planting featuring an abundance of native grasses and low-growing shrubs. We added three pocket planting beds along the right side of the existing front walkway to balance out the large existing bed on the left side of the walk. A mix of Purple Love Grass, Threadleaf Coreopsis and Allium created an airy, ethereal feeling while slightly taller perennials punctuate through the matrix to create colorful vignettes. We made sure to keep the overall planting height low to preserve the architectural views of the home and the view of the pond from inside the house.

Adding additional planting beds on the left side of the walk creates balance within the landscape.

Views of the pond from the front yard landscape, framed by native wetland pocket gardens.

Front foundation composition features ornamental grasses, low-growing evergreen shrubs, and perennials for seasonal color.

For the driveway entrance, we opted for a textural, foliage driven composition, featuring ferns, sedges, variegated leaves and velvet foliage for a low-maintenance and consistent aesthetic. Boulder accents create structure and bas-relief year round.

The driveway island was planted with durable, no-fuss plants that create lovely contrast.

Plant masses in the driveway area create a neat frame for the more involved front entrance design.

In the backyard, a level lawn area transitions to a steep slope that drops off to hole at a golf course. There were existing mature trees along the property border, but no understory planting to screen the golfers. We planted the slope with native woodland shrubs and seeded the lower slope with a conservation mix, both of which will stabilize the soil and prevent erosion.

Backyard living hedge and screening plants offer a more intimate space.

The pond on-site is now protected by native wetland plants that filter nutrients and sediment from stormwater runoff.

Around the pond, we deployed several tactics to preserve water quality. Three pocket gardens along the closest side of the pond were planted with native wetland plants (Cinnamon Fern, Milkweed, Red Cardinal Flower, among others) that will intercept runoff from the lawn and prevent nutrient loading in the pond. Along one side of the pond, where the topography outside the property slopes up, directing stormwater to the lake, we installed underground piping to funnel the water without eroding the pond bank.

Ethereal and serene moments along the front walkway.

Thanks again to the Association for Professional Landscape Designers for these awards! And congratulations to all other award recipients!

Feeling inspired? Contact Us to start your landscape design project!