The owners of this new build home planted a boxwood hedge, maple trees, a hydrangea standard and a left border hedge of burning bushes. After a few years of effort, they were dissatisfied and needed help to create an impactful garden that they would enjoy.

The client wanted a contemporary design that would work well with their traditional-style home. A stunning courtyard design incorporating textured evergreens, blooming deciduous shrubs and corten steel raised perennial garden containers was created for a low maintenance, high impact garden.

The builder had placed a Wichita juniper at the left of the front window. It had outgrown its location and would over time block the front window. The client liked the blue-green tone of its foliage and for that reason, we selected three narrow columnar junipers for vertical punctuation in the garden. One of the faster-growing evergreens, they will be stunning at 10-12 feet tall but a tidy 2-3 feet in width at the base at maturity. A low spotlight on each tree creates a dramatic appearance at dusk.

Corten steel is a construction-grade, waterproof construction steel used for bridges and other structural applications. It develops a barrier layer as part of the aging process which protects it from further corrosion and results in a characteristic patina in earthy and warm color shades. The patina makes the product last essentially forever; this quality and its beautiful appearance makes corten steel the ideal material for modern garden, landscape and urban design elements.

The center corten steel planter installation “floats” on a crushed Chester granite courtyard. The insulated containers are planted with orange, purple and white flowering perennials that echo the brick exterior and purple doors. The raised container garden concept is the perfect height for easy access and low maintenance gardening.

Evergreen yucca and lavender along the front will mature and fill in to become an effective evergreen foreground to conceal the foundation. The Excalibur yucca is mature at 24x36”; it will offer wonderful texture and year-round presence. Like the junipers, both have blue-green toned foliage yet all three have vastly different textures for an exciting planting. The yucca and lavender are plants that are hardy to our zone yet commonly found in Mediterranean climes making them perfect for the clients’ style preference.

The taller planters are filled with perennial Montrose white catmint which features dainty spikes of white trumpet-shaped flowers rising above the foliage from early summer to early fall. Its tiny white flowers grow upright with a spreading habit; by August they were billowing and cloud-like in the containers and alive with buzzing bees. Catmint’s fragrant oval leaves remain green in color throughout the season and its fine texture sets it apart from other garden plants with less refined foliage.

Nine bollard lights are placed to define the courtyard and illuminate garden access points at dusk. The warm white light is beautiful with the rich tones of the corten steel. Three spotlights on the columnar junipers create a dramatic image in the courtyard at night.

An early November snowfall highlights the structural elements and warm white lights in this stunning garden. This impeccably designed garden is beautiful year-round and from all viewpoints. This was a favorite project for the crew in 2020.