Landscape Restoration in Action: Salvaging an Abandoned Backyard
John Hemmerle
Can a neglected landscape be salvaged?
When Our Land Organics was called onto the scene, the backyard of this historic Clifton Gaslight residence had been abandoned. Layers of invasive honeysuckle, wintercreeper, and bindweed covered everything, and the space was effectively unusable.
Before: Invasive plants had taken over this backyard, rendering it inaccessible.
The client thought there was potential buried underneath all the overgrowth, and they hoped to gain more access to the underutilized yard. They asked our team to reimagine the backyard as a place of respite that nourishes both wildlife and humans—a chance to escape the urban hubbub, to watch pollinators dance and berries ripen.
In our view, no landscape is too far from being restored. Bringing an abandoned landscape back to life requires a vivid imagination, an eye for landscape design, and a whole lot of elbow grease, but it can be done.
We got to work renewing this space in several ways:
After removing all the invasive plants, we laid wood chips to suppress weed growth, minimize lawn maintenance, connect different areas of the terraced yard, and create a calmer backdrop for new plantings.
Then, we positioned three corten steel raised beds outside the kitchen door, offering easy access to the prolific vegetable garden and seamlessly incorporating edible plants into the landscape.
We densely planted edible fruiting shrubs to provide both privacy and visual interest along with a strong base of native groundcovers and perennials. The landscape now serves as an ecological hub complete with a bumper crop of currants, gooseberries, and serviceberries.
We revived the existing historical hardscape, which is original to the home, and surrounded it with blossoming shrubs to brighten the space.
We installed a new pathway leading to a wooden bench that overlooks the entire backyard: a place to rest and enjoy the serene beauty of the revitalized landscape.
Instead of adding lawn to the upper terrace area, we installed native plants to serve as a low maintenance groundcover. These native groundcovers include Carex pensylvanica, Tiarella cordifolia, Chrysogonum virginianum, and sprinkles of Columbine throughout. There is no turf in this backyard—which means there’s no need for the clients to mow. A wood chip path allows the family to wander and enjoy their pollinator habitat.
Earth Stewards from Our Land Organics return to this property once a month to tend to the new landscape. Our 100% organic landscape maintenance serviceswork with the ecology of the yard to support plant health and ensure the landscape is always evolving in ways that are eco-friendly and aesthetically pleasing.
The new landscape is virtually unrecognizable compared to its original form. The clients’ dream has come to fruition: They’re able to use the entire backyard for both function and enjoyment. The calming, beautiful space provides a place of respite for its human inhabitants, while the native plant palette offers food and habitat for pollinators and wildlife. This outdoor living space is a true testament to the power of landscape restoration.