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The naturalized landscape
One of the biggest challenges any homeowner or landscape designer will ever face is to create harmony between a home and a naturalized outdoor space. Frank Lloyd Wright has always been praised for his natural gift to do just that. This is even more evident when trying to manipulate the area around a cottage so that it works for the homeowner and yet still looks like it belongs in the forest or near water. Too often I see cottage owners trying to make a space into something it was never meant to be. It always ends up looking forced.
Here are my tips of how to create a naturalized garden for your home or cottage.
PLANT SELECTION CAN MAKE OR BREAK THE LOOK OF A NATURALIZED GARDEN
I tell homeowners to take a good look around their neighbourhood in the green spaces. What types of plants and trees do you see? This is your plant list. Whenever you introduce new species or varieties into a space that don’t naturally occur there, they become noticeable and can stand out in a negative way. Work with hemlocks, birches, ferns, lupines and violets—native species are not only hardier, they always look like they belong. I also try to save as many plants that are already growing in the space (pre-landscaping). Several experts have no issue with transplanting specimens from the surrounding forest, but personally, I prefer to leave nature alone.
USE LARGE AND SMALL ROCKS TO CREATE IMPACT POINTS
While a true forest full of trees and plants has its place, I love the look of the Canadian Shield or oceanswept stones, with mossy outcroppings and mysterious caves. When designing for a cottage, I always incorporate large stones to create points of visual impact. There is a trick to getting this right though. You have to bury a part of the stone, sort of like an iceberg. That way the stone looks like it’s coming out of the earth instead of being plunked down on top of it. I also like to add smaller stones and boulders around a larger one to really play up the idea that this stone grouping is part of something bigger under the soil.
LEAVE THE STUMPS AND BRANCHES WHERE THEY FALL
I have neighbours who are constantly trying to clean the brush and leaves from their forest spaces. Once you start, it’s a never-ending job. Instead, let nature do all of the design work for you. Keep your decks and patios clear, but let the leaves collect at the base of the tree. That decomposing mulch is fantastic for new growth and tender plants like Trilliums and Jack-in-the-pulpits.
Instead of trying to maintain large green lawns and manicured gardens, take a page from Mother Nature and let her do the work for you. Life is about balance between your needs and the natural world around you. Remember that when you are making changes and work to find that sense of harmony.
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