Brian and his husband inherited a home in Huntington with a front yard that needed a lot of love. When they came to me, the yard featured an overgrown, mismatched hedge of several shrub species, a large Japanese maple, and a thick layer of red gravel laid over landscaping fabric. They wanted to update with something more modern, but without clashing with the fairly conservative aesthetics of the surrounding neighborhood.

The site presented a number of design challenges. The red-leaved Japanese maple and peachy brick façade of the house significantly narrowed the available color palette. The maple also created a complex light situation: the west-facing yard is otherwise in full, often brutal sun, with intense shade only beneath the tree. Designing a coherent planting across such drastic shifts in light within a small space required careful planning.

We settled on a meadowy, modern, naturalistic planting with a palette of cool lavenders, silvergreens and whites, with a few pops of peach and maroon to tie back to the existing features. To create order and rhythm, we framed the Japanese maple with taller, sun-loving grasses and perennials, loosely mirrored on either side. Beneath the canopy, we planted a lower layer of shade-tolerant ferns, sedges, and flowering perennials. A simple path of pale gravel connects the driveway to the front door, providing structure and continuity through the planting.