As the title of Thomas D. Church's book, "Gardens Are for People" (McGraw-Hill 1983) implies, owning a beautiful, residential garden is a delight that all homeowners should be able to avail themselves of regardless of whether they are fabulously wealthy or of "modest" means;   i.e. that a beautiful garden can be designed to fit any budget or any space, large or small!  Neither are the gardening skills and the time needed to create one yourself an absolute requirement.  If you love "gardening" and have a "green thumb" to boot, so much the better!  However, if you (like about 90% of your fellow homeowners) would love to have a beautiful garden but are cursed with a "black thumb" and a lack of time, don't let that stop you from achieving your dream.  Just let us know and we'll design your garden accordingly.

     Please bear in mind that, contrary to popular belief, "gahdens" are NOT "all about plants and flowers".   First and foremost, they are all about "SPACE"; about "outdoor rooms without ceilings that have been designed for the use and enjoyment of people."  In the garden, trees and hedges along with fences and pergolas serve as ceilings and walls, lawns and groundcovers such as mosses along with brick, stone, or gravel surfaces serve as floors/carpets, shrubs and flowers along with fountains and statuary serve as "decorative elements", while a host of other man–made objects serve as furnishings, etc.

     Rest assured, that there are gardens for plant lovers and "world-class gardeners" as well as for folks who couldn’t tell a peony from a rose and wouldn’t know the difference between a good soil and a poor one.  Likewise, that there are maintenance intensive gardens and ones that are no harder nor any more expensive to take care of than ordinary landscaping.

     During the design of your garden we propose to observe the same "ground rules" (no pun intended) Beatrix Jones Farrand followed while designing the gardens at Dumbarton Oaks;

   ● The garden shall provide one, or more, private and enclosed "rooms" suitable
       for intimate family use and entertainment;
   ● The overall organization (floor plan) of the garden shall be such that those rooms
       will be intimately related to each other as well as to their indoor counter parts;
   ● Once the garden has reached one acre in size, its design and materials shall
       become increasingly less formal and "planned" as it recedes from the house;
   ● Whenever possible, we will choose plantings for their beauty, relative ease of
       maintenance (for "black-thumb" friendliness) and four season (including winter)
       interest;
   ● We will always endeavor to work "with" nature, not against her and seek to take
       maximum advantage of all of the natural land forms and other features (including
       any existing trees, shrubs, and other useful vegetation) a client property has to
       offer.