Green Jay Landscape Design

Green Jay Landscape Design

(914) 560-6570

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We love the challenge to take on a traditional garden style but execute it in a way that rings true to Green Jay: by improving the landscapes ecological functionality, from biodiversity to ecosystem services. In this case in South Salem, New York, our clients love the traditional French and Italian parterre gardens. A parterre garden refers to a series of contained gardens on a level surface, with gravel pathways in between. There are often evergreen hedges surrounding each garden bed, and the series of beds make up a pattern that is best viewed from above. Symmetry, patterns, and order are hallmarks of the parterre garden theory. We decided to keep the basic framework – four rectilinear garden beds with pathways in between – but had a bit of fun bending the planting rules.

Site Preparation & Development

The framework for the gardens were four beds cor-ten steel borders,this effectively replaces the boxwood hedge of traditional parterre gardens by keeping each rectilinear bed neat and defined. GJL crews prepared the beds with our custom blend of soil and amendments based on the planting palette for each bed – some required more bacteria-dominant soil and some required more fungal-dominant. Each bed was equipped with organic compost and biochar to help stimulate and cultivate essential soil microbial communities.

Picking Parterre Garden Plants: Formally Wild

The guiding philosophy for this design was to provide some mystery and evolution to a garden template that is typically very planned and predictable. Thus, we did not design four identical and symmetrical garden beds. Rather, we gave each bed the same “bones” – same dimensions, and all equipped with a pyramid trellis – but the planting composition and layouts are different across all four. We blended our favorite long-blooming, well-behaved, native perennials with some classic heirloom European perennials and flowering vines (all of which are still heavily visited by pollinators).

The idea was to elevate this garden art into something that invites the viewer’s continued interest and welcomes them to stroll around the gardens and examine them closer, rather than just from above. “Wild in a box,” we affectionately called the project. While nothing in the garden beds was symmetrical, there was a degree of repetition within the plant palette to create thematic resonance.  As Jay says, this living expression of art should convey our Je ne sais quoi and J’oie de vivre! That is, the indescribable exuberance for ever-changing life, all around us; experiencing the garden as it evolves alongside us, throughout the seasons of our lives.

Terrace Design: Connecting the Property

Of course, this concept works so well because of the existing grade changes that provide such optimal viewing platform from the terraces above. The existing retaining walls created a perfect frame for more formal, yet ecological plantings. We chose a mix of hydrangeas with mostly native perennials and ground covers to harmonize with the parterre below, still making it the focal point.

It was a pleasure working with clients that have so much enthusiasm for the natural world. We love being challenged to pursue our mission in a new style, and we love how this New American Parterre Garden turned out!

Contact us about your own ecological landscape design project.  Schedule an on-site consultation for a free 15-minute discovery call!

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Green Jay Landscape Design

Where Design Meets Ecology

Not everyone requests a permaculture garden for their front yard landscape…but when they do, we know we are destined to work together! This all-star client is passionate about living off the land – she already had several chickens! – and wanted to maximize the productivity of her residential yard.

We created a design of “stacked functions,” a permaculture concept that basically means everything in the design serves a purpose, if not multiple.  For example, the native shrubs chosen provide nectar for pollinators, edible berries for humans and birds, and simultaneously help absorb and clean stormwater.

We began the site development and initial planning of this project back in the fall of 2020.  Catch up on the beginnings of the project on our previous blog post. A major design component was the new fence to enclose the client’s chickens in the front yard.  We partnered with Salem Fence, whom we can’t recommend enough. We’ve collaborated with Salem Fence on many projects, and they always deliver timely, quality work that keeps our installation crews on schedule.

After delineating the new planting beds, removing the turf grass and amending the soil, the initial phase of the permaculture garden was planted in the fall. Herbs, some perennials, and the fruiting trees and shrubs were not available from nurseries in the fall and were thus postponed until spring.

This landscape is a wonderful example of mixing edible plants in with ornamentals, rather than designated each to their specific garden spaces. The mixed planting works here because of the enclosure from the fence, which keeps wildlife out of the squash, for example, and lets the client observe and enjoy everything from within the garden.

Adirondack chairs surrounding the front yard fire pit invite you to sit and take in the vibrancy of the garden, instead of relegating the front yard as untouchable curb appeal.

Custom masonry tied the new landscape together, connecting the new front gate with natural stone steps and a walkway to the front door.

A simple, circular cut stone base lined with small rocks makes for a naturalistic platform for the front yard fire pit. Decorative river rock along the staircase border helps retain the slope during storm events.

This landscape will only continue to develop and blossom as the new plants become established in the front yard ecosystem. Stay tuned for more photos!

Contact us about your landscape design or permaculture project! Schedule a professional consultation or a free 15-minute discovery call.

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Green Jay Landscape Design

Where Design Meets Ecology

Sometimes the most impactful designs are simple in nature. With proper planning, timing and execution this project stayed uncomplicated, yet delivered beautiful results – just in time to enjoy in the spring warmth!

The key was to begin the process in early winter, when Green Jay’s Design Team had ample time to analyze the site and complete the residential design. The scope of work was a full property Landscape Design Master Plan, featuring bermed border plantings, improved foundation plantings, a reconstructed terrace bed in the front yard, and much-needed masonry. It all came together in a cohesive, low-maintenance landscape design.

Master Plan for landscape renovation in Hartsdale, NY.

Timeline for Landscape Design & Build

With the project designed, presented, and sold by mid-winter, we were able to begin site development in late winter.  The site work included removing unwanted vegetation, including some turf grass, and creating the berm. The berm snakes around the border of the property and was tasked with providing screening from the neighbors and ecologically beneficial habitat for local wildlife. In late winter we were able to bring in the additional soil, amend it organically, and grade the berm to the desired height.

Front yard landscape design with boulder terraces featuring flowering shrubs and perennials for pollinators.

Another aspect of the winter site work was completing the masonry. Our master mason Aztlan repointed the existing front steps to refresh the front entrance.  We also installed a garden path to connect the front yard to the backyard and rear door.  As always, we used natural stone and a dry-laid technique that avoids cement and concrete. We added an organic border of decorative gravel to contrast and accentuate the rectilinear bluestone path.

New natural stone masonry featuring bluestone and decorative gravel.

Additionally, the rear door had awkwardly high steps that created a trip hazard.  We added a new natural stone landing to make the entrance more functional and match the aesthetic of the new garden path.

Side yard landscaping featuring hydrangea and native perennials.

In the front yard, there was an existing (crumbling) retaining wall planting bed. We expanded the bed by adding a second terrace constructed from boulders. Sloped properties are great for planting as the natural height variation gives the planting vertical visual structure. This existing feature, however decrepit, was an asset to the property!

Terraced planting beds were expanded from one terrace to two for a front yard landscape feature.

By early spring, GJL crews were ready to begin planting. The plant palette for this Hartsdale property was designed to be low-maintenance, yet ecologically impactful. We chose a selection of flowering shrubs that attract pollinators with their blooms and birds with their berries and nesting materials. Evergreen Arborvitae combined with native Amelanchier provided height and screening in the back berm. We transplanted and repurposed some existing evergreens and Hosta to the berm and underplanted with native ferns and shade-loving perennials.

Boulder retaining wall terrace for low-maintenance landscaping with ecological benefit.

The front yard includes more sun-loving, flowering shrubs and easy, long-blooming and low-maintenance perennials.

Looking for a low-maintenance, ecological landscape design for your property? Schedule a winter consultation today and enjoy your new oasis by Spring!

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Green Jay Landscape Design

Where Design Meets Ecology 

We are extremely proud to announce a new service offering for 2022, the Sustainable Stewardship Program. The offering is a holistic management program for clients with large properties (five acres or more) across Westchester, Putnam, Fairfield, and Morris counties. Beyond estate-level grounds maintenance, the program seeks to evaluate the unique environments within each property from an ecological perspective, aiming to improve biodiversity, ecosystem services, natural resource management, and the overall health and safety of the landscape over multi-year phases.

We felt driven to create this program because properties of scale can have a significant impact on ecosystem services that directly affect human health. These landscape environments can become models for climate resilience, stormwater management, clean air, and incubating essential biology that contributes to our own healthy microbiome. Human health is inextricably intertwined with our local environment.

Estate Environmental Observation & Analysis

Each Sustainable Stewardship Property has unique site conditions, stages of degradation or restoration, and criteria for improvement based on the client’s needs and desires for their landscape. The program starts with an on-site consultation where we can discuss program goals, conduct an initial observation and analysis of the existing conditions.

For example, one client in Putnam Valley has sixty-acres of mixed hardwood forest, nestled between steep hills, old logging roads and a stream. A major component of the project is to re-establish accessible hiking trails so that the family can enjoy the expansive nature of their backyard.

At the same time, we will be evaluating the health of the forest ecosystem by inventorying the flora and fauna including presence of keystone and indicator species and their trophic relationships. For example, are healthy fox populations helping to reduce the rodent population, thereby reducing tick populations and the presence of Lyme disease – if not, what can be done to encourage fox populations? What is threatening them in the first place?

GJL will also be examining dominant plant species, forest succession, native understory diversity, and invasive species presence.  We plan to survey erosion rates and nutrient loading as it pertains to the stream and wetland areas. Relevant historical land use – was the land farmed, logged, managed or abandoned – will likewise inform our solutions. 

Sustainable Stewardship Goals & Deliverables

The goal after observation and analysis is to explore potential design solutions or cultural Best Management Practices (BMPs) to optimize ecosystem and human health. 

Privately owned woodlands, fields, and wetlands have immense potential for habitat restoration and climate change resilience if properly managed. Our management standards of the past – extracting resources and then abandoning the land to invasive species rule — will not serve us well in the future. It is time to change the ethic towards responsible, forward-thinking land stewardship.

Participants in the Sustainable Stewardship Program will receive site-analysis and management plans for the forests, meadows, fields, wetlands, and waterways on their property. Where necessary, we partner with industry experts such as wetland scientists, soil scientists, foresters, and conservation biologists for more extensive testing and analysis. 

Depending upon the site analysis, management plans might include invasive vegetation removal, pruning, biological soil amendments, erosion control, and restoration planting plans. We understand how complex ecosystems are, so our Sustainable Stewardship Programs are designed to be implemented over several years.

Are you a candidate for the Sustainable Stewardship Program? Contact Us to schedule a consultation. 

The front entrance of a home is like the cover of a book — its the first impression, sets the aesthetic tone, and can either encourage or discourage one to enter… Beyond basic calls for “curb appeal,” we believe the front entrance of a home should be beautiful, location-relevant, functional, and inviting.

This particular landscape design project needed to solve a host of circulation issues (access from the driveway, garage, front door, guest house), yet we still wanted the front landscape to be meandered through and enjoyed, especially under the idyllic mature trees! The end result involved multiple custom masonry designs — walkways, patios, staircases– along with significant grading and construction of boulder-retained planting beds.

The landscape installation & construction took weeks, but we’ve compiled it for you into sixty seconds. Please enjoy the video below!

To learn more about the project, read our previous blog post: Defining Outdoor Spaces Through Circulation, Custom Masonry & Native Gardens

Need help with your front entrance? Schedule a consultation with us!

Landscape Design & Construction: Green Jay Landscape Design

Natural Garden Path Stone & Stone Steppers: Prospero Nursery

River Rock & Gravel: Bedford Gravel

Soil, Boulders: Lawton Adams

On larger properties with multiple dwellings, circulation paths are critical to the experience of the landscape and help define each space. This cabin-style new build in Cold Spring, New York called for a custom masonry design that incorporated the front entrance, garage entrance, guest house entrance, boat house access, lakefront access and a lakefront patio.

Landscape Plan for new natural stone masonry walkways, stairs and foundation plantings.

The existing hardscape consisted of decaying railroad ties.  The landscape and front entrance lacked the grandeur that the beautiful home’s architecture deserved. Given its setting, nestled in a hardwood forest in Cold Spring, with enviable lakeside views, we knew the hardscape had to have a similar rustic, natural feel that accentuated the natural environment.

Bold yet natural front entrance integrates the home with the forest environment.

We designed three custom masonry pathways to the front door: one directly from the driveway, one from the garage, and a stone staircase leading to the lower lawn. Since the property sits on a slope, the staircase enables easy access to the house from the play and entertaining areas below.

Process shot of custom masonry construction, grading the slope and incorporating the boulders.
Finishing touches: dark chocolate mulch and gravel apron at the end of the fieldstone walkway

Custom Masonry: How its Made

To construct the stone staircase, we used large fieldstone steppers (from Prospero Nursery). We graded the slope around the staircase using artfully placed boulders  and engineered soil (from Lawton Adams). Playing with the grade allowed us to expand the front entrance planting bed beyond the basic foundation into a garden that can be travelled through and appreciated daily.

Winding natural stone staircase connects front door to the lower lawn, by way of the native garden.

All of the masonry was constructed as natural stonework and dry-laid. We opt for this installation method because it avoids the use of cement, which has numerous health and environmental implications.

Decorative gravel and river rock border for the shadiest section of the walkway.

The pathway from the garage is shaded on both sides by the home, so we opted for decorative river rock and gravel (from Bedford Gravel) to line the fieldstone walkway.

The garage area included a berm native shrub planting and steppers to connect to the driveway’s height.

When designing the plant palette, we knew we would be drawing from plant communities that naturally exist in our native forests. The gardens needed to be site-appropriate, mostly-native and very low-maintenance – this is a second home for our clients, so minimal maintenance and maximum outdoor enjoyment was paramount. As Jay says, the landscape should transport you to a tranquil solace of quietude which regenerates and restores the body, heart and mind.

This is garden was designed with an emphasis on texture, low-maintenance and ecological benefit.

The resulting plant palette consists of native flowering & fruiting shrubs, low & spreading evergreen shrubs, and our favorite ground cover plants and native ferns.  Climate, weather and seasonal hardiness was factored into the plant selection, as was succession of fruit and flower production, bloom length, pollinator attraction, deer/animal resistance, height, texture and growth pattern, as well as any necessary maintenance protocols. The new gardens ground the home in the landscape and provide essential food and habitat for the local birds, pollinators and woodland wildlife.

Watch a video edit of the front entrance install — masonry, boulder placement, grading, and planting — all in sixty seconds!

Lakeside Patio, Walkways & Staircase

For the lake area, the existing masonry of cement pavers and railroad ties had both seen better days. We removed the old pavers from the patio above the boathouse and replaced them with irregular flagstone to match the front entrance.  A stone staircase winds down to seamlessly connect the second-floor patio to the lower dock. The new masonry melds perfectly with the stone veneer of the boathouse and provides new gathering spaces to enjoy the lake from.

New steps and patio to connect the boathouse to the dock; looks much better with the stone veneer siding!
Just completed fieldstone steps lead from the boathouse toward the lake.
The steps in fall.
Detail shot of the boathouse patio and walkway.
Atop the boathouse, we replaced and refinished the patio with natural fieldstone to match the rest of the property.

Phase Three of this project, to be completed in the spring, will encompass hardscape and gardens around the guest house, connecting this dwelling with the main house. Excited to finish out this project and see the gardens bloom in a few short months! 

Follow along for more updates!

Contact us to schedule your own Ecological Landscape Design consultation. 

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Green Jay Landscape Design

Where Design Meets Ecology