During the last week of September, we wrapped up a big project on 15th Street in Hastings. This one hit close to home as it was in my mom’s front yard! It was bittersweet as I watched the enormous 60-year-old pine trees of my childhood home disappear and the front yard turn to dust, but in the end, it was an incredible transformation and so much fun to watch.
For starters, the original landscape was home to two giant pine trees; and although they were beautiful trees in their prime, they were very overgrown and starting to die. With a little help from Rivertown Tree Service, the trees came down as a sort of ceremonial kick-off of the project. Watch the video of the very last of the towering trees come down here!
The project was a complete tear-out. All that stood of the original landscaping was the large River Birch tree in the front left corner and a lonely hosta. It took a day and a half for the crew to wipe the slate clean.
The focal point of this landscape design is an impressive curved walkway built with Belgard Mega Arbel in Gascony Tan. The new path starts at the street sidewalk, runs through the middle of the yard up to the front door, and then wraps around the house to the side entrance. The slight curves and natural stone appearance of the path sets a charming and welcoming mood for visitors.
To fill the void of the two large pine trees, we planted a single Fall Fiesta maple tree in the center of a kidney bean-shaped Western Red Cedar mulch garden. This tree is a fast grower and will get beautiful orange leaves in the fall. Surrounding the tree are some boulder outcroppings, clusters of grasses, and shrubs.
A matching mulch garden was installed around the existing River Birch to balance the landscape out.
And finally, we installed edging and landscaping filled with Bryan Red rock around the house and finished everything off with a variety of Rhododendrons, Hydrangeas, Mr. Bowling Ball Arborvitaes, hosta plants, and other shrubs. Topped with a new layer of sod and the transformation was complete! (disclaimer: landscape lighting to be installed and violets to be planted along the path, so not quite complete.) We can’t wait to watch it mature next spring!
