I have included my landscape at home in the collection of projects for several reasons. This landscape took every bit of fourteen years to install, from start to finish. Having a landscape master plan proved invaluable over time. Whenever both the time and the funds presented themselves, I could pick either up where I had left off, or I could make changes, having had time to live with my decisions. Of course the landscape has had its failures. Two catastrophically cold winters back to back obliterated an old rose garden. Though the roses have been replanted, it will take time for them to achieve some presence. In the meantime, the original companion planting of Japanese anemone “Honorine Jobert” is thriving. After twenty one years, some trees, shrubs and perennials have died or declined, necessitating change. Weathering those changes and keeping up with the maintenance has helped me to address those issues with clients. Perhaps, most important, my enjoyment and commitment to my own landscape has been an important source of the energy and imagination it takes to design for others.
