TRANSFORMING A BLANK CANVAS: A DESIGNER'S GARDEN
PROJECT:
The renovation of an Arts and Crafts four-square in the Albany Park neighborhood of Chicago.
SUBMITTED BY:
Megan Wade, principal landscape architect at Fieldwork Design Group.
See below for the 5 questions Megan asks during the process of designing a garden space.
When my husband Dave and I first acquired our city lot in the Albany Park neighborhood of Chicago, the backyard was a blank slate. The 30- by 25-foot space was a carpet of lawn with a broken concrete walkway and a perimeter planting of old hostas. The empty canvas presented us with an opportunity to reimagine the yard to suit our needs.
We wanted to create a private outdoor room with areas for grilling, dining, and lounging. The size of gatherings would range from our family of three to dinner gatherings for eight and the occasional larger gathering, so we wanted the space to be flexible.
As we planned, we looked at garden imagery for inspiration in helping us define what we hoped to achieve aesthetically. We had already planted a parkway garden in the front of the home (see: Perennial Parkway in Chicago). While we love this naturalistic, full-sun prairie-like garden, the backyard would need more shade for the backyard to be a pleasant place to gather on hot summer evenings. We were drawn to images of lush, foliage-forward plantings with delicate, airy flower umbels floating above (think dill or Queen Anne’s lace). These types of plantings signal a drop in temperature which made them appropriate for a private, city oasis.
This private backyard designed for gatherings—big and small—is located on a city lot in Chicago’s Albany Park neighborhood, Zone 6a. Photo by: Megan Wade.
Having settled on a desired aesthetic, we examined the edges of the yard. How could we create the “walls” for our outdoor room that would provide a sense of enclosure and privacy? On the neighboring lot to the east is an imposing two-story deck, so we planted three Regal Prince® oaks (Quercus x warei 'Long') at the eastern edge of our property to reclaim our backyard as private space.
Three additional matching oaks were sited on the western edge of the property to keep the evening sun out of our eyes while dining. The walls of our house and garage create the other two walls for our outdoor room. Since they were painted a stately dark gray, we knew we needed to consider this when determining the colors of our plant palette.
In keeping with the “room” analogy, we created a rectangular terrace while making sure the surrounding garden beds would be deep enough to accommodate layering perennials in combinations. We divided the paved area into two sections with furniture for dining and for lounging. The contiguous space allows us to reorganize the furniture to meet the needs of the size of the gathering. Prior to planting, a rectangle of paving can seem stark, but we knew that a garden of loose perennials would soften the edges.
Under the trees, we planted boxwood for winter green. Flowering shrubs were sited at the two short ends of the terrace, and then the rest of the garden consists of perennials planted in drifts that repeat throughout the space.
In a city garden, space is precious—we don’t have room for plants that bloom in the spring and then look terrible, such as daylilies. Instead, our perennial palette consists of hardy plants with foliage that looks good throughout the growing season.
Ultimately, this backyard is a lovely place to be, to watch as it changes over time, to watch the birds and bees nourish themselves, and to relax. Of course, the most important element in our backyard is what we find in the center of the terrace: the people we love the most, the time and laughter that we share, and the memories we make together. The garden is the perfect setting for such things.
Before construction, a canvas of lawn awaited a new vision. Photo by: Megan Wade.
After completion, the backyard is laid out in a way that’s perfect for gathering, all while enjoying the lushness of the outdoor space. Photo by: Tricia Koning.
The kitchen windows of the Arts and Crafts four-square look out into the backyard. For the terrace, large concrete pavers were laid in a running bond pattern to echo the shingle pattern on the house. The light gray color of the pavers works well with the gray color of the home, while also serving to reflect the sun’s heat and brighten the space in the evening. Photo by: Megan Wade.
5 QUESTIONS TO HELP DEFINE & PRIORITIZE YOUR GARDEN DESIGN
A blank slate can seem overwhelming, even for professional designers; however, it is also a wonderful opportunity if you are willing to take on the challenge. Here are five questions to ask yourself in the process to help keep you focused and achieve your overall goals:
The trees provide a sense of formality, giving the wilder perennial plantings that surround them a sense of intentionality. Photo by: Megan Wade.
WHAT IS THE DESIRED FUNCTION OF THE SPACE?
When tackling a large outdoor project, I first ask my clients, “Big Picture, what are we trying to achieve?” Landscape project goals vary based on the homeowner's desires, along with the constraints and opportunities the site presents. Are you creating a room to be inhabited? Is this the place for dinner parties? A productive vegetable garden? A place to read a book? A play area for kids or pets? Or a place you will simply traverse regularly or view from inside through a window?
WHAT ARE THE EXISTING CONSTRAINTS AND OPPORTUNITIES OF THE SITE?
In addition to climate, light conditions, and soil type, each site has its own set of conditions to consider. It's crucial to align your vision for a space with the realities of the site. Will the site support the goals you are trying to achieve?
WHAT IS THE DESIRED GENRE OF AESTHETICS?
In addition to answering the pragmatic questions, it is also important to establish an aesthetic direction that will provide a filter while making decisions about materials, furnishings, and the plant palette. When I work with clients, it’s not uncommon for them to start these discussions with specifics, such as “I really like echinacea.” However, I encourage them to zoom out further to contemplate the overall aesthetic they want to achieve.
In many ways, garden design is similar to culinary arts. While I love the sweet taste of coconut milk in a Thai curry, I would not love it as a part of an Italian meal. And the same is true for gardens. For example, echinacea would make sense in plenty of gardens—an arts and crafts cottage garden, a woodland edge garden, or a prairie-style planting. However, if the goal was to create a Japanese-styled garden to complement a 1920s brick bungalow, echinacea may feel out of place.
In other words, knowing the garden style you are attempting to create will lead you to certain plant combinations. Certain plants tend to grow together because they have evolved together in shared conditions—both in nature and in more cultivated gardens.
This is not a limitation and there is plenty of room for experimentation. However, when we honor the relationships between these plants, the garden may be more visually cohesive, even to those who are not avid gardeners.
HOW PERMEABLE SHOULD YOUR BOUNDARIES BE?
It is important to study the site's edges and beyond. Where do you need shade or screening? If you are creating an outdoor room, how can you create privacy and a sense of enclosure? At the same time, is there landscaping offsite that needs to be considered? Are there views that should be preserved?
HOW DOES INTENDED FUNCTION IMPACT THE HARDSCAPE DESIGN?
Clients tend to assume that if they want a space to feel naturalistic, there should be curves in the paving. But I find that on a city lot, this can lead to awkward geometries that are difficult to furnish. If the goal is to gather or dine in the space, rectilinear terraces function better and provide more options in terms of furnishings. As an added bonus, rectangular terraces require less cuts in the material and less waste which can lower the costs.
On more spacious parcels, a curving path for meandering may make sense. However, paths should always take you somewhere. On smaller lots, circulation paths should be absorbed into the main terrace as much as possible. The terrace will feel more spacious and there will be more room for plantings.
STRATEGIC PLANTING
Below are some vignettes that feature the plants we chose and how they contribute to the aesthetics of the space.
We planted ‘Bloomerang’ lilac under our garage window for early spring flowers we can view from our kitchen windows. Photo by: Megan Wade.
Including hydrangeas in the shaded areas gives us mid-to-late summer flowers and winter interest. Photo by: Megan Wade.
We get to enjoy green for most of the year thanks to many of our plants whose foliage remains intact. Juno stands in the pathway between lush greenery. To her left, light bluish-purple blooming Amsonia ‘Blue Ice’, variegated hosta (salvaged from the original yard), Pennsylvania sedge (Carex pennsylvanica), and a golden Japanese forest grass (Hakonechloa aureola). To her right, is Scottish lovage (Ligusticum scoticum). Photo by: Megan Wade.
Planting in combinations can ensure visual interest throughout the season. In this planting, Amsonia ‘Blue Ice’ blooms in the spring, lady's mantle (Alchemilla mollis) blooms in the early summer, and coneflower (Echinacea) blooms later in the summer. Japanese forest grass (Hakonechloa aureola) adds brightness throughout the season and continues to look great in winter. Photo by: Megan Wade.
We used Scottish lovage (Ligustrum scoticum) in areas of the garden that were too sunny for lady’s mantle. Both have ruffly leaves that carry the textural theme throughout the garden, in addition to flowers that rise a foot or so above their foliage. The two plants flower at different times, extending the “umbel” effect we were going for. Photo by: Megan Wade.
Calamintha (shown at left, behind the outdoor couch) may have small flowers, but they provide effervescence, especially in evening light. With its tufts of white that bloom in summer, it’s never the star of the show, but an important supporting character for many other plants. Photo by: Megan Wade.
The soft hues of Agastache ‘Blue Fortune’, Joe Pye weed (Eupatorium purpureum), and the dried flowers of Queen of the Prairie (Filipendula rubra) usher in the late summer. The small white flowers of Calamintha nepeta ssp. nepeta and wild quinine (Parthenium integrifolium) give the planting an airy feel. Photo by: Megan Wade.
Plants with chartreuse foliage or flowers became the backbone of the planting, seeming even brighter paired with the gray walls of the home and garage. Photo by: Tricia Koning.
COLOR CONSCIOUS
Because we would mainly be using the space in the evening, we selected a few different white-flowering plants which can brighten up a garden at dusk:
- Canada anemone (Anemone canadensis) for the spring
- Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea ‘Alba’) for midsummer
- Calamintha nepeta ssp. nepeta for the fall
- Sweet autumn clematis (Clematis terniflora) for the late fall/early winter
Other colors appear at times, such as the blue/purples in the spring via Amsonia ‘Blue Ice’, Nepeta ‘Walkers Low’ catmint, and Salvia ‘Caradonna’, which work nicely with chartreuse. In mid-summer, black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia) picks up on the yellow coneheads of the coneflower (Echinacea). Dustier tones usher in later summer via Joe Pye weed (Eupatorium purpureum ‘Little Joe’) and Agastache ‘Blue Fortune.”
You can follow Megan @fieldworkdesigngroup on Instagram.
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