AFTER: Harmoniously combined open play areas for children with native plants, welcoming natural stone walkways, strategically placed boulders, and carefully selecting trees and perennials enhance the landscape.

BEFORE: The home was plagued by an overgrown front and side yard, dominated by unruly, unkempt trees and invasive species.

DURING: Skilled arborists and contractors removed massive trees and reshaped the steep slope, creating a clean slate for the subsequent phases.

— HAMPTON —

reimagining with unfussy designs + multi season evolution + installation + big machines

Highland Park, PA / 2023-2024

This grand Pittsburgh home was built around 1909 and epitomizes the classic four-square style of many historical Highland Park homes populating the neighborhood. Our team was asked to reimagine the front of the home using a lens of open space, native plants, 'unfussy' design, and areas where kids could play without worrying about harming any of the plants. They also wanted natural stone elements, new lighting, and space for raised planting beds and to preserve a lovely Japanese Maple, a mature Dogwood, and a Magnolia.

We kept the design simple and somewhat formal to connect with the style and personality of the home. Since the clients were hands-on throughout the process, had exceptional plant knowledge, and provided detailed feedback, the design process was accomplished quickly.

The actual implementation of it was far more challenging. Due to the time of the year, we needed to break this project into phases: Winter, Spring, and Summer. Stone Grow created a detailed Project Management Plan that made it easy for the clients, our crew members, and our subcontractors to stay on schedule, enabling us to manage all expectations and outcomes.

Late Fall/Winter: The first matter was removing the massive, overgrown trees, shrubs, and invasive species throughout the front and side yards. This undertaking had to be handled thoughtfully as the new 'nakedness' of a property can often leave some people feeling regretful or fearful of the sudden change. Our expert arborist Greg and his team spent a few days working with us on-site to ensure the removal was successful, and everything, including those deep Rhododendron roots, was removed so replacements could be planted effortlessly in the Spring. Ciriello Contracting came aboard while the overgrown plants were being removed to reslope the entire yard. We needed to correct the steep slope into a more natural and gentle sweep and then add a large boulder retention wall at the bottom near the sidewalk. We removed all of the grass, English Ivy, poison ivy, invasive vines and saplings, old root systems, buried construction debris, including a 'double-decker patio' of well over 200 bricks, old tin and roofing materials, and metal/lead pipes that had been buried for decades. We stopped counting after six filled dump trucks.

We stopped work for the season once we had a clean slate with a semi-placed boulder wall. It was late December; there was snow—time to rest.

Spring: We sprang to life in late March/April and began to complete our work. Finished placing boulders, installed lovely natural stone walkways, and began planting the large items such as new trees and foundational shrubs, including some evergreens such as boxwood, azalea, Stewartia, Clethra, Deutzia Yuki Cherry Blossom, Viburnum, Echinacea, Penstemon, Monarda, Liatris, Astilbe, Anemone, Plumbago, and a host of other perennials, and seasonal bulbs. We installed new pathway lighting and drip irrigation (with the expectation that within two years, it would be removed/recycled after the plants had been established).

Summer:  We returned in June/July to inspect and move, add, or replace plants. We also planted numerous Dahlia bulbs the client had saved from her previous garden. The raised bed gardens were in full bloom, producing tomatoes and squash, and the gently sloped hillside grew beautifully.

We loved this project and can't wait to revisit it during the Summer of 2024 to see how much our work and the plants evolved in two seasons!

Be sure to follow and check for updates and photos!