CHOOSING A LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT
Our first step was to choose a landscape architect. I wanted to work with someone whose gardens moved me and who had lots of experience in planning native gardens. I chose Sheila Brady, a principal at Oehme Van Sweden and a leader in sustainable design. Her work includes the Native Garden and the Azalea Garden at the New York Botanical Garden. At the corporate headquarters of United Therapeutics she designed a central plaza and three floors of green roofs, and she designed the Lakeside Gardens at the Chicago Botanic Garden. Fortunately Sheila also loves to do residential work and was willing to work with us.
Since our budget was limited, we decided to concentrate initially on one area. Together my husband and I and Sheila decided that the entrance to the property and the front of the house was a good place to begin. Blair was delighted, and hoping that implementing the plan would require him to purchase new machinery, his favorite part of gardening.
This picture is the Green Velvet boxwood on either side of the front walk soon after I planted them. They grew to 3 feet high over the years.