A Whimsical Raised Bed Garden Space (Anderson Township)
AFTER: A whimsical garden features a new fence and raised beds for edible plantings surrounded on all sides by native plant landscaping. Drainage issues are solved thanks to a dry creek and strategic plant choices.
The Challenge
Our homes and lives are intertwined—memories etched with the trees, plants, and the space we experience them in.
When a legacy tree had to be taken down, an opportunity arose for using the yard in a new way. Sunlight was now abundant. Growing vegetables was now possible.
BEFORE: An old deck occupied the area with poorly routed drain pipes underneath and around it.
The client's hope for this space was for it to be an extension of the home, one that would become the family’s vegetable garden.
Goals included deer protection, unifying the disparate elements (patio, shrubs, massive stump) in the area, and addressing the multiple downspouts that were draining too close to the home.
Not only did this new space have to look great, it had to perform!
The Transformation
AFTER: The edible gardens are protected, full of life, and surrounded by native plants that attract pollinators to the yard.
Raised beds full of edible plants create the centerpiece for this landscape redesign. The family’s food is protected from deer by a wooden fence, which is surrounded by life in the form of native plants and the pollinators they attract.
Native ground covers replaced invasive wintercreeper in this area. A flagstone path was also installed to provide access to the hose bib.
The massive oak tree stump from the recently downed tree had become a standalone eyesore along the side of the house. To counter this, we built new native garden beds around it, integrating the stump as a garden feature.
This work included removing patches of wintercreeper and creating a small dry creek that directs stormwater around the stump and away from the house.
The other downspout was buried under the garden space and daylighted into this new dry creek to the rejoice of these aster, yarrow and goldenrod!
Rainwater management strategies included running the downspout into dry creeks framing both sides of the garden. One of the dry creeks directs overflow from a rain barrel that is used to water the raised beds.
Cedar raised beds and brassfield crushed stone pathways.