Bethesda Residence

We first met our clients when a home renovation project was almost complete. The front of the house had undergone a dramatic facelift with the addition of an extension of the façade and a deep covered porch, and the landscape needed major help. A range of disparate issues faced us: post-construction soil on the site, an existing bed of massive boulders near the new entrance walk, and a badly-eroded culvert area on the side of the property on County land. Existing plantings were badly damaged or overgrown. The most serious issue, though, was a massive drainage problem due to the site’s topography; in heavy rainstorms a river literally tumbled downhill past the front of the house, cutting a trench on either side of the walkway. We turned the site’s challenges into its solutions to give the owners the beautiful garden they wanted. Using the line of the existing swale, we created a dry streambed to direct rainwater towards the existing culvert, which we also filled with river jacks and boulders. The streambed area is planted with plants that can withstand periodic flooding as well as occasional drought, and that provide seasonal color. At the end, we had transformed the owners’ front yard experience into the garden of their dreams. ©Melissa Clark Photography. All rights reserved.