Northshore Magazine

"The design has all these little jewels of spaces that make you want to walk the property," says Vanessa Tropeano, field director at Parterre Garden Services, a sister company to Gregory Lombardi Designs that cares for the Willowgate estate. One of the homeowner's favorite gardens is just such a spot. The plantings around the path leading to the guest cottage are much less formal than the rest of the landscape, and include a tangle of seven-foot-tall Miscanthus grass and colorful Joe Pye weed, feathery shadeloving astilbes and gooseneck loosestrife, as well as ferns, hydrangeas, and a variety of hostas. The homeowner particularly likes its more informal quality, which feels overgrown and wild, but is actually carefully orchestrated. "It feels wild because it is so densely planted," says Matthew Georgehagan, field manager at Parterre. Myriad leaf shapes and sizes provide the garden with a lot of texture, lending it jungle-like appeal, though it doesn't look messy. With water on three sides, the property affords spectacular views—and huge headaches for landscape designers. Massachusetts has stringent guidelines for what can and cannot be done within 100 yards of a wetland, and most of Willowgate's acreage falls in that footprint. Therefore, most of the work at the property was subject to hearings and approvals at both the town and state levels. To ensure the work met the requirements enforced by the state and local ordinances, Lombardi hired a wetlands biologist to advise the homeowners on the technical aspects of appropriate plants and grading. Green Environs A medley of dense perennials, including sedums, hostas, astilbes, and loosestrife, together with deciduous and evergreen trees and shrubs create intrigue in the garden. 194 NB KJ NS Mar14 FEGarden.indd 194 1/16/14 3:28 PM

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