A half a dozen Cor-ten steel planters filled with naturalistic plantings on Brooklyn’s Court Street inspired a homeowner to track down their creator, Verru Design, to work on her townhouse’s backyard. “They were sort of wild and lush, and the client really loved that look,” remembers Damon Arrington, one of the partners behind the Brooklyn-based landscape design firm (Corwin Green is his partner in both business and life).
The client’s garden was being overhauled as a complement to a whole-house renovation by architect Sarah Jeffreys. Along with an addition off the back, Jeffreys reconfigured access to the backyard, moving the stairs over to one side to make room for an upper deck and create better flow below.
For the design of the garden, the clients wanted what many busy, young families want: something low-maintenance and kid-friendly. The other feature they desired was less conventional for a city garden: A hot tub. Jeffreys says that in recent years, such requests are increasingly common. “As people are spending more time at home, they realize they don’t have to go to the country to have these spa-like luxuries,” she says. Jeffreys ordered one of Maine Cedar Hot Tubs’s standard tubs and had it plumbed and placed in the yard.
From there, Arrington and Green basically had a blank canvas to work with. Here are a 10 takeaways from their low-key wild design:
Photography by Morten Smidt, courtesy of Sarah Jefferys Architecture + Interiors, except where noted.
1. Gravel > grass.
Jeffreys, Arrington, and Green all agreed that gravel would be an excellent low-maintenance solution for the open area of the garden. “We were pushing for pea gravel because we had seen our clients really enjoy it with children before,” says Arrington, who notes it feels good on feet while simultaneously helping to keep grass and dirt out of the hot tub. Plus, gravel means no mowing! (See 10 Things Your Landscape Designer Wishes You Knew About Gravel (But Is Too Polite to Tell You).
2. Embrace the “urban berm.”
Post-renovation, the back yard was filled with debris, including shards of concrete. “Instead of dumping the stuff, we used what was there to create what I call an urban berm,” says Arrington. The berm was built on shards of concrete that were covered with a little landscape fabric, and topped with about two feet of soil, which was brought in for the entire yard. “When we pop elevations into a garden, the shadows change, the way we can see the plants inside changes. If you’re in the hot tub and you’re looking at a berm, it’s like the plants are surrounding you. That sense of privacy is something we wanted to create,” says Arrington.
3. Focus on local materials.
With the naturalistic aesthetic, hot tub, and gravel as their starting points, Arrington and Green leaned into local materials and native plants. Arrington notes that because the rock steps, pea gravel, and cedar are all locally sourced, they are more sustainable—and just feel right. “The colors are already a part of the landscape,” he says.
4. A small garden needs curves.
To create the wild, rambling feeling their clients desired, curves were essential, says Green. Using cedar shakes to edge the beds allowed them to perfect each swooping bed design. “The curves are informal, but still there is an art to creating and finessing them to feel natural, ” says Green, who describes how one of them would look down from the deck while the other placed the edging.
5. Rethink the privacy fence.
Not all fences are created equal. “The first day we stood back there, it was so hot and the air was really stagnant,” says Green of the existing fence. To get better air circulation in the garden, Arrington and Green proposed a louvered design. Crafted from rough cedar, it provides natural texture and will become grayer over time. Because privacy was still a concern, they designed the angle and span between louvers to be on the tighter side; relaxing the span would bring even more air in.
Caption: The bed at the base of the stairs is the sunniest spot in the garden, the amsonia turns golden yellow in fall. Photo courtesy of Verru Design.
6. Select a strong color theme.
A pale blush color theme holds the plant palette together in this garden. Designed to bloom throughout the year, Arrington and Green included Magnolia virginiana, which blooms a a silky white-almost blush color in spring; Geranium Biokovo, which is really light blush on the inside; and ‘Limelight’ hydrangea, which turns a twinge of blush at the end of the season.
7. Evergreens are essential—boxwood, especially.
Boxwood and cherry laurel provide evergreen interest when the rest of the garden is dormant in winter. Arrington appreciates the cherry laurel for its shiny leaves that provide “a little reflection in a garden,” while Green says he has come to appreciate boxwood. “Ten years ago I wasn’t excited about them, but now I’m always using them in gardens because boxwood brings a sense of form,” he says. “When you’re doing a wild garden, your eye will focus on it and it’ll help you embrace the wildness even more.”
8. Every garden needs a serviceberry.
“In all of our gardens, we try to get the clients to plant a serviceberry,” says Arrington, who adds that Amelanchier canadensis (Canadian serviceberry), in particular, is his favorite small tree for Brooklyn backyards. “We love it for its early, delicate blooms and its bright red, fall splendor,” he says. As an understory tree, it won’t outgrow its location, and as a bonus birds love the berries. (Humans, too! See June Is Serviceberry Season! Here’s How to Use the Foraged Fruit for Sweet Treats.)
9. Pick plants for minimal pruning.
The boxwood is strategically the only thing in the garden that needs regular pruning. “This garden really is a once-a-year, prune it down in early spring and let it go,” says Arrington. “We really prefer gardens like that.” The trick in a small garden, he says, is to choose things that mature to the right height. “We were very careful to make sure our maximum heights were not going to overwhelm the space.”
10. Make room for potted plants.
To make the deck feel like a part of the garden and connect it to the kitchen beyond, Arrington and Green filled it with pots of herbs and perennials, including edible ones like elderberries and bronze fennel. Arrington notes that the Campo di Fiori pots patina beautifully, “as they take on water, they begin to grow a bit of moss on them, which is so lovely.”
See also:
- Landscape Design Visit: A Rejuvenated Outdoor Living Space for a Landmark Home in Brooklyn Heights
- Before & After: Less Fence, More Flowers in Melissa Goldstein’s Brooklyn Backyard
- A Small Brooklyn Backyard Where ‘Every Detail, Every Inch’ Is Important
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