Water Mill
This second home is used by the clients primarily in the summer. They requested a series of structured garden rooms that maintain their form throughout the seasons, but the majority of the plants bloom late May through early October. This image shows a majestic specimen European Beech set as a focal point at the end of the entry court. (Landscape contractor: Whitmores Inc.)
Across the entry court from the house’s front door, a small fountain is set into a semi-circle of Lavender defined by miniature Boxwood at the edge.
The front garden incorporates a variety of specimen trees; in addition to the European Beech there are Yellowwood, Katsura Tree, and Forest Pansy Redbud. Clumps of Boxwood are planted in drifts as an understory.
Behind the house, passing through an Arborvitae hedge, one arrives at a Parterre Garden. At the intersection of the gravel pathways on either end of the garden are oversized urns with plantings that rotate through the seasons. The ornamental grasses are coloring up in the early fall.
Another small fountain with two flanking benches is located at the center of the garden. The beds are delineated by low Boxwood hedges and filled with Iceberg Rose.
A lawn separates the back terrace of the house from the swimming pool. The edge of the Pool Terrace is defined by rows of Sarah’s Favorite Crapemyrtle underplanted with Summersweet and Boxwood hedges.
An exuberant planting of Globemaster Allium blooms beneath the Crapemyrtles around Memorial Day.
Passing through the row of Crapemyrtle leads to another lawn beyond which the tennis court is screened with a layered planting.
The screening for the tennis court is composed of Arborvitae, Plane Trees, and Little Lime Hydrangea.
Detail of the tennis court screening, showing the Hydrangea flowers, which are greenish-white in the summer, taking on a pinkish coloration in the early fall.