Northshore Home magazine highlights the best in architectural design, new construction and renovations, interiors, and landscape design.
Issue link: https://read.uberflip.com/i/660193
38 SPRING 2016 nshoremag.com/nshorehome/ cultivate trees turn the pond into a convincing woodland feature while creating a privacy screen. "We situated the pond where it might naturally occur, which is below a big outcropping of ledge," Messervy says. "Now it is part of a long view toward the water, but at the same time, it is a wonderful plant- ing environment for the homeowner, who is a passion- ate gardener." The pond, which is lined with clay to help retain the water, is also an opportunity for whimsical and poetic features like an island shaped like a tortoise and a wa- terfall sheeting down the face of the boldest part of the ledge. A well supplies the waterfall, and all of the water is continually circulated. Under the trees nearby, rustic furniture provides a comfortable place for enjoying the view, as does a two-story gazebo. Below the pond, the woods give way to salt marshes, and then to the beach. The overall effect is one of untouched nature. "To create an instant garden and make it look con- vincing, we planted large trees, including Japanese ma- ples and evergreens," explains the designer. "In a large landscape like this, you can't just plunk little things in the ground and hope for the best—the competing plants will shade them and crowd them out before they have a chance to grow." The pond project launched a multiyear garden design for the entire estate. It includes perennial beds, woodland rhododendron plantings, a rock garden, and fragrant herbs that grow between stone pavers outside the kitchen door. "Originally, you stepped right onto the dirt of the yard," says Messervy. "We created a nicer relationship between the inside and out." She also softened the transition at the driveway entrance, where ornamental trees and shrubs edge around a Japanese gate. Here, as amid the trees beside the pond, the homeowner has planted tall ornamen- tal alliums, their spherical heads of purple blossoms Big palmate leaves of butterbur and lacy fern fronds add undergrowth texture to the woodland garden.