Green Jay Landscape Design

Green Jay Landscape Design

(914) 560-6570

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Among the positively powerful emotions and deep feelings we experience as a result of realizing a naturalistic landscape composition are joy, wonder, curiosity and fascination. Exciting and serene, creative artistic landscapes offer visual interest and stimulation while serving many practical ecological services and value, among them are resource conservation, carbon sequestration, wildlife habitat and most importantly probiotic biology necessary for the good health and proper function of our bodies immune system. Quite simply, we need plants to clean the air and water, supply food and medicine as well as provide healthy habitat for humanity. These are the tenets of ecological landscape design, and our r’aison d’etre for starting and running Green Jay Landscape Design.

We need green space to support human life! Important to know, not all green spaces are created equal. Many, if not most, landscapes, parks and schoolyards are unhealthy and biologically and ecologically unproductive environments. If this surprises and shocks you…good ! Collectively, culturally speaking, we are doing a very poor job of nurturing what’s left of the natural world. 

It is important to realize that there really is very little nature left! There are elements and remnants of nature, of the natural world, but very little of the essential elements and resources necessary for life on Earth.


So what do we do about it ?
We design and construct highly productive ecological landscape environments which conserve, preserve and protect what’s left of our precious natural resources for our own human health and the health of the planet. Contact us to start your landscape design project!

   Live the Life You Love,
        Jay

We are delighted to announce an upcoming virtual speaker series featuring our very own founder, Jay Archer! On Monday March 14th, the SUNY Native Plant Center will be hosting its annual 2022 conference, this year titled The New Green Yard: Climate-Wise Practices & Solutions. Jay will be joining an impressive lineup of industry experts to discuss how landscaping and land management can affect real mitigation against climate change.

Registration is due by March 10th and can be completed at www.sunywcc.edu/slc2022. $55 for Members, $80 for Non-Members; continuing education credits available.

Speaker Agenda & Bios

First up on the docket at 9 AM is prolific designer, plantsman, and podcast host Tom Christopher. Christopher’s lecture is titled Growing Greener: A Garden Makeover for the Planet. The synopsis is as follows:

Confronting climate change involves governmental and societal initiatives, but to be successful it must also involve millions of actions by individuals. By transforming your relationship to your personal landscape—changing your understanding of design, plant selection, and management—you can make your garden more beautiful, more fun, more alive, and a key part of the climate solution.  

We are big fans of Christopher, especially his book, co-authored with Larry Weaner – Garden Revolution: How Landscapes Can Be a Source of Environmental Change.

Next up is Paul Tukey with his lecture Saving the Earth One Lawn at a Time. Tukey is a nationally renowned sustainable landscaping expert who has helped pioneer and popularize organic lawn care.

He summarizes his presentation this way:

Natural, organic protocols in the landscape can help every homeowner and municipality join the fight against climate change. Learn how to create a beautiful, safe lawn free of harsh chemicals that will require less mowing, less watering, and less fertilizing—while lowering your carbon footprint. Get advice on best grass varieties, soil health, fighting weeds, and sustainable maintenance.

Third to speak is Green Jay Landscape Design President & Founder Jay Archer. Jay’s topic is Impactful Design with Natural Landscaping and Sustainable Stewardship. Jay will use five real-life case studies from GJL’s project repertoire to discuss how residential landscapes can have a positive environmental impact.  From the smallest exurban quarter acre lot renovated into a thriving pollinator habitat, to the steep, erosion-prone lakefront property, opportunities abound to improve our landscape environment and initiate more ecosystem services. From habitat building to stormwater management and carbon sequestration, meaningful change starts at home and can be realized relatively quickly. Join us for a deep dive into some of our favorite project examples.

Finally, Daniel J Mabe will be rounding out the speaker series with his talk on Changing Business as Usual.  According to Mabe:

Cities, towns, and campuses across the country are adopting sustainable landscaping practices, resulting in healthier environments for their residents and workers. Discover how communities such as Larchmont, the first in Westchester, are reducing pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, pesticide use, and noise and increasing native plantings with American Green Zone Alliance-certified sites.  

Mabe is the founder of the American Green Zone Alliance, an organization that offers training, certificate programs and reporting for companies interested in moving away from gas-powered landscape maintenance machines to zero-emission options.


Native Plant Center Conference Registration is Open!

Don’t forget to register for this amazing educational conference! www.sunywcc.edu/slc2022. The conference will be conducted virtually, look for a meeting link after you register.  Excited to share and learn with you all in one month!

 

Contact us to book a speaking opportunity with Jay Archer!

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Jay Archer

Green Jay Landscape Design

We need to consider the real world we live in. This means that in the northeast we are entering our fourth record wet year. The extraordinary height of the water table in southern Westchester County is simply unprecedented. This has resulted in storm water and drainage problems where there historically were none. Before we engineer new solutions and plant plants in a hydrology which may be an abnormality, we need to understand what factors are consistently contributing to ground conditions and what may be temporal.

Analyze Watershed & Inventory Stormwater Infrastructure

To that end proper, site engineering and analysis should be performed. This should include examination and inspection of all infrastructure features, utilities etc., to determine effective function. Flow paths, dry-wells, catch basins and all subsurface drains should be located and plotted. Overall adjacent watershed sheet flow should be considered in storm water management for property in question before surface water renovation is attempted. Conduct a percolation test to determine the rate of stormwater infiltration into the soil — this will inform your design solutions, for example if a rain garden or bio swale is feasible.

Planning our Landscapes for Climate Change

We cannot anticipate acts of God since we are not currently in direct communication with her ! While the future of weather patterns is uncertain, climate change is not. The continued negative impact and contamination of our landscape environment and watersheds is devastating. Even without species extinction, we have no system in place to track impacts on beneficial species.


What we do know is that things on the ground are not getting better from a biological health and ecological perspective (see: Insect Apocalypse, UN Reports Nature’s Decline ‘Unprecedented’, Pollinators in Peril) . If we are going to substantially improve quality of life within the landscape experience, we need to create artistic expressions of nature which also conserve resources, while providing ecosystem services to improve the landscape environment for human health. 

Our soil, air and water are all polluted on varying levels depending on the site and past land use and abuse.
In addition to soil remediation, we need to consider actual phytoremediation as part of early first phase restoration. Plant migration, invasion ecology, bioengineering, and permaculture solutions should all be entertained in producing a viable development and sustainable stewardship plan.

Residential, Workplace & Community Level Landscape Design for Climate Change

We should be excited, energized and inspired to engage in courageous experimentation !
We simply have more to gain than lose by investing in our good intentions and intuition.

Hope is not the answer, faith and action are required to effect real, authentic change.
We need to start at home, expand to our work places and last attack our public spaces.
Not the other way around.

Instead of holding beauty as the highest authority, we should be examine our landscape functionality. Can it produce food, create habitat, absorb and filter water, sequester CO2? A well-designed, ecological landscape can achieve all these goals.

We need to face the ugly truth that we are presently continuing on the course of our own destruction by contaminating and polluting every vestige and element of the natural world.

What will it take to see the 
The beauty we possess…before it disappears.

So as we say every day….do something !

Read our previous blogs on this topic:

What the UN Climate Report Means for Landscape Designers [Part One]

Landscape Design to Halt Climate Change: Designing Carbon Sinks [Part Two]

Sustainable Stewardship: Long-Term Management Plans for Multi-Acre Properties

 

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Jay Archer

Green Jay Landscape Design

Where Design Meets Ecology

914.560.6570

2021 was a historic year for Green Jay Landscape Design in terms of our growth as a landscape design & build business and our direction towards larger-scale, longer-term, bigger-impact projects. We are incredibly grateful for our passionate clients that enable us to actualize our dream job every day, working with nature to design resilient landscape environments that face the ecological problems of today and tomorrow head on. In celebration of all we accomplished last year, we’re rounding up our Top Sustainable Landscape Design & Build Projects of 2021! These properties span from smaller suburban lots to expansive estates across Westchester and Putnam Counties, New York and Fairfield County, Connecticut.

A designed faux-meadow next to an established wet meadow.

#1 Estate-Scale Private Nature Sanctuary | Greenwich, CT

Our favorite landscape design of 2021 was also the largest, most impactful project we’ve completed to date. We converted this Greenwich estate to an ecological haven, with dozens of designed micro-habitats stitched together to create a productive landscape that fulfills many ecosystem services.

Long-blooming perennials along the pool area border for color all summer long.

It was also designed to engage the whole family, from woodland garden stroll paths to multi-colored pollinator gardens along the pool.

Classic coneflower – a native plant icon that is a favorite of butterflies and goldfinches!

As usual, our emphasis on native plants provides multiple functions: pollen and nectar for pollinators, berries, seeds and nesting materials for birds, evaporative cooling, stormwater absorption, and carbon sequestration, to name a few.

This client was a true joy to work with.  Here’s what they thought about working with GJL:

“Jay and his team created the most beautiful pollinator pathway garden design for our 5 acre property that has brought our property to life! Jay is a wealth of knowledge and has educated us on the value of organic practices and diversification of native species to best support the ecosystem. It has been a rich and FUN experience working with Jay and his team! They are professional, timely, and deeply connected to their mission of creating native landscapes. I highly recommend working with Jay and is team.” – Google Review

Read all the Fairfield County, CT project details here.

#2 Natural, Sustainable Front Entrance Landscaping: Custom Stone Masonry & Shade Habitat Garden | Cold Spring, NY

Beneath mature trees and overlooking a stunning lake, this Cold Spring, NY property needed a landscape design master plan to sort out circulation paths tying multiple dwellings together. We designed the sustainable landscape design planting plan to nestle into the mature woodland like it had always been there, extending the understory habitat to the home’s foundation and around the new natural stone walkways.

Over the summer we completed phase one of this project, resurfacing the boathouse’s rooftop patio, constructing several natural stone staircases to navigate the hillside and lakefront, and creating a new patio in front of the boathouse from optimal viewing.

The next phase on the project will be to landscape the guest house and connect it to the main dwelling with natural stone walkways. We’re excited to continue working with these clients!

Here’s how they described their experience with GJL in a google review:

“I have only great things to say about our experience with Green Jay Landscape Design. They are incredibly knowledgeable, professional, and inspired, and it has been a pleasure to work with them. We are currently in the middle of a very large, multi-stage project as they are redesigning our property. They put together a thoughtful design that is perfect for the setting. The scope of the job involves lots of hardscape work with stone steps– which they are masters at creating– and many areas of native plantings, which they have expert knowledge of. Their design has transformed the whole space, while also making it look like it completely belongs in the natural setting. Each step of the way they have been attentive, detail-oriented, and easy to work with. The results, thus far, have surpassed our expectations and we are looking forward to our continued work with the team!”

Read all about the Putnam Valley, NY project here.

#3 Contemporary Ecological Landscape Master Plan ft. Pool, Foundation Plantings & Meadow Restoration | Darien, CT

We were certainly inspired by the clean, modern architecture of this Darien, CT home, and let that aesthetic inform our susatainable landscape design Master Plan. For example, the pool area features a hedge of fuzzy ornamental grasses and bold hydrangea blossoms – low-maintenance plants that provide form, texture, and color all summer long.

For the front yard, we transplanted river birch trees from the central driveway bed (where they obscured the house) to the rear foundation where they welcomed some afternoon shade and bring height to the pool landscaping. We then replanted the driveway bed with pollinator-attracting native perennials and more ornamental grasses.

Other highlights of the project included the organic meadow restoration, a natural stone outdoor staircase (complete with ‘steppable’ groundcover) and refreshed foundation plantings.

Read all about the Fairfield County, CT project here.

#4 Terraced, Erosion-Proof Woodland Landscape | Lake Peekskill, NY

We got to flex many parts of our design & build brain for this project —  a steep, lakefront hillside that required extensive erosion control planning.  The design itself, a series of terraced gardens and woodchip walkways, helps to slow down stormwater and allow it to infiltrate into the soil instead of funneling away as runoff. Beneath the terraces lies a series of erosion control devices from compostable filtrexx socks to line the terraces, to the custom engineered soil (specified to maintain the integrity of the slope), and the biodegradable jutte netting we planted into. Days after we completed the install, a massive storm moved through. When we inspected the property after the storm, even the wood chip mulch paths remained flawlessly in place. Success! A truly sustainable landscape design!

What was once an unusable, messy slope is now a thriving understory habitat. The network of pathways gives the feeling of a private nature preserve right outside your doorway.

In the words of the client from a Google Review:

“Jay designed a beautiful garden for my old lake house. It had endured decades of neglect and a steep slope had frustrated all my attempts at planting and improvement. A few weeks of work by Jay’s team transformed my yard into a paradise. Boulders, trees, bushes, flowers, and paths for a peaceful stroll are now my paradise. And… I do not have to see my neighbor now! It was a pleasure to have him and his team around. We celebrated with lunch, drinks, and guitar playing when all was done. Thanks Jay!”

#5 New American Parterre Garden | South Salem, NY

This project was such a nice change of pace for us! The client requested a French / Italian parterre style garden, with a Green Jay twist of course! We used the framework of the parterre stye – symmetrical, angular garden beds – but planted it with a more naturalistic, wild, and ecologically beneficial design. We blendned native plants with heirloom European varieties, but always kept attractiveness to birds and pollinators at front of mind.

Read all the Westchester County, NY project details here.

#6 Edible Front Yard Permaculture Garden & Chicken Enclosure | Darien, CT

A front yard permaculture garden with free-range chickens is unconventional, but we love that! With impeccable fence construction by Salem Fence enclosing the front yard, we could get extra creative with the landscape design within.  We incorporated edible vegetables, herbs, and fruiting shrubs into the garden border, interspersed with the ornamental natives.

Read all about this Fairfield County, CT project here.

#7 Bright & Easy, Low-Maintenance Landscape | Hartsdale, NY

Low maintenance, high impact. Two goals for this Hartsdale, NY lot that received a Landscape Design Master Plan and timely install in early spring of 2021. We expanded the front yard garden terrace, adding another terrace and replanted with colorful long-blooming perennials.

We constructed a berm encircling the border of the property and planted with native trees and shrubs that effectively screen the neighbors’ houses and (more importantly) provide cover, nesting materials, and berries for local birds. New natural stone stepping stones set in gravel connect the front and backyards.

Read all the Westchester County, NY project details here.

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Contact us to schedule your ecological landscape design consultation!

Now accepting clients for 2022 designs, landscape construction, and eco-consulting.

Green Jay Landscape Design

Where Design Meets Ecology

Green Jay Landscape Design was recently featured on the home improvement site Houzz in a blog about managing excess stormwater in the landscape.  One of our projects from 2018, a White Plains, NY pond restoration and bog garden design, was highlighted among fourteen other talented landscape designers implementing green infrastructure for stormwater management. Read the full Houzz article here!

Read our original blogs about the project:

Pond Restoration and Native Bog Garden | White Plains, NY

Pond Restoration and Native Bog Garden [VIDEO]

Stormwater Management Project Summary

This was a fun and unique project in White Plains, NY. The property featured a historic man-made pond (a fieldstone and cement dam impoundment retains flow from a stream running through the property), that was most likely constructed as a swimming pond in the 1930s or 40s. While such construction would never be approved today, as an existing landscape feature complete with a waterfall and the cover of mature trees, it held value. Unfortunately, years of neglect led to the accumulation of organic debris – sticks, branches, and leaves from the surrounding trees – that made the water quality mucky, shallow and the uninviting for swimming.

We partnered with Cooper Ponds to remove the debris, both by hand and by using a suction harvester to get the finer particles and pond muck. To maintain water depth, we repaired a leaky concrete wall with hydraulic cement. Now the inflow and outflow of the pond are in focused areas and the overall water depth will remain more consistent.

To maintain water quality, we constructed two planting areas: one in the shallow edge of the pond and one adjacent on the shore. The beds were constructed from natural stone and filled with the pond muck we removed from the main pond area. The submerged bed became a native bog garden and the adjacent shoreline bed became a mixed wetland and upland planting. Flagstone stepping stones lead you through both gardens into the pond for easy swimming access.

Pond Restoration as Green Infrastructure

By constructing the pond plantings, we effectively created a vegetative border to intercept water from the surrounding watershed. Chemicals from the stormwater runoff (oil from the road, chemicals from roofs, landscapes, etc) can now be intercepted by the shoreline garden, which is planted with facultative plants that are specifically adapted to filter pollutants.  The bog garden also features these impactful native plants, and can work to filter the pond water from within.  Both are examples of green infrastructure – design choices that help protect water as a natural resources by directing, absorbing and filtering stormwater before it becomes polluted.

Video Recap

Jay’s recap of this green infrastructure, stormwater management project is on video! Check out more of our videos on our YouTube channel.

 

Learn more about our storm water management offerings here.

Contact us to schedule your on-site consultation or free 15-minute discovery call! Now accepting landscape design clients for 2022.

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Green Jay Landscape Design

Where Design Meets Ecology

Finally, as the piece-de-resistance of the past year of landscape design projects, we present our FAVORITE design of 2021: this stunning Greenwich estate designed with the creativity, whimsy and functionality of a private nature sanctuary. This multi-acre property involved many phases of planning, coordination amongst different contractors, and organization between many different vendors. Green Jay Landscape Design acted as the landscape designer, installer, and general contractor coordinating all the phases of construction

Woodland stroll path in fall.

.Catch up on the full recap of our top seven projects from 2021!

#2 Natural Stone Masonry & Front Entry Garden | Cold Spring, NY

#3 Contemporary Pool Landscaping & Front Entrance | Darien, CT

#4 Terraced, Erosion Proof Woodland Landscape | Lake Peekskill, NY

#5 New American Parterre Garden | South Salem, NY

#6 Edible Front Yard Permaculture Garden | Darien, CT

#7 Bright & Easy Low-Maintenance Landscape | Hartsdale, NY

Landscape Design Master Plan for this Fairfield County Estate turned Private Nature Preserve.

Phase One: Design, Planning & Coordinating

We began fleshing out the Landscape Design Master Plan for this property in January 2021. A major component of the project was relocating the driveway to a more functional location. We partnered with J-R-One Contracting for the construction component after a lengthy permit process with the town of Greenwich. Moving the driveway meant landscaping where the original driveway was and creating a striking entrance along the new driveway.

Aside from the new entrances, the design included many unique and fun elements. With existing mature trees for screening around the border of the property, we saw an obvious opportunity to underplant and create two meandering woodchip paths through new woodland gardens.

The woodland gardens feature a grand diversity of native understory shrubs – from flowering to evergreen – as well as ferns, shade perennials and ground cover – all of which work together to create a habitat for bees, butterflies, and birds.

This past fall, we added a healthy dose of bulbs along the garden paths, ensuring it will be a charming place to stroll starting with the first breath of spring daffodils.


After coordinating the demolition of the old driveway and the construction of the new driveway, the rest of the landscape could be implemented. However, that also meant revising the design on-site as the clients presented different requests.  For example, after seeing their new driveway, the clients decide they wanted more lawn around the driveway, so we re-designated the garden bed lines and added an organic lawn installation to the scope of work.

A designed faux-meadow next to an established wet meadow.

Connecting Habitats Through Garden Design

The property has a wonderful existing wet meadow along one border of the property. We knew this important habitat harbored valuable biodiversity and by planting the right plants we could expand it throughout the property.  To do so, we designed two Bird and Butterfly Gardens flanking the steps down to the meadow. Here we planted a delightful range of native grasses and full-sun perennials. 

Long-blooming perennials along the pool area border for color all summer long.
Stunning summer combo for pollinators! Russian sage, coneflowers and blackeyed susan.

Not far from the BBG gardens is the pool area, another full-sun microclimate that we planted with similar pollinator-attracting perennials. Now the effective habitat its much larger – pollinators can fly from wet meadow to meadow garden to poolscape pollinator garden to woodland garden – harvesting a diversity of pollen and nectar throughout the landscape.

The design also allows these magnificent creatures to be seen, dancing alongside the children in the pool or the father strolling the woodchip path. What’s seen can be explained and what’s explained can spark curiosity. This landscape exemplifies the power of an outdoor classroom!

Same view just after planting. This private nature preserve is an extension of the larger adjacent envrionments.

Private Nature Sanctuary: A Case Study

What does it mean to turn your property into a private nature sanctuary? We dove deep into this property on our pervious blog: Case Study – Landscape Plan for Private Residential Nature Preserve.

Already have a thriving backyard habitat? Consider registering your landscape with one (or more!) of these amazing organizations!

National Wildlife Fund Certified Wildlife Habitat

Homegrown National Park

Pollinator Pathways

Audubon Bird Friendly Yards

Bedford 2030 Healthy Yards

Contact us to schedule your landscape design consultation! Now accepting landscape design and build projects for 2022.

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Green Jay Landscape Design

Where Design Meets Ecology

914.560.6570