Setting the Scenery

March 13, 2012

Text by Paula M. Bodah

Level Best
A three-tiered, terraced plan defined by granite walls and a grove of birch trees integrates the house with the vegeable garden and shed at the opposite end of the long, narrow front yard, while respecting the wetlands and native woodlands that abut the property.

Location: Marblehead, Massachusetts
Landscape design: Douglas Jones, Keith LeBlanc Landscape Architecture, Boston, (617) 426-6475, www.kl-la.com
Photography: Keith LeBlanc

High Energy
A sinuous bench of cedar and Fireslate that begins inches wide and ends at a comfortable depth for sitting winds the length of a long, narrow roof terrace overlooking Boston’s Public Garden. Zinc planters hold boxwood, flowering ornamental trees and a host of perennials and annuals for year-round beauty.

Location: Boston
Landscape design: Gregory Lombardi, Gregory Lombardi Design, Cambridge, Mass., (617) 492-2808, Chatham, Mass., (508) 593-3175, Palm Beach, Fla., (561) 228- 1467, www.lombardidesign.com
Photography: Warren Patterson

Maine Attraction

Reclaimed slabs of granite hand-tucked with native moss, dry-laid stone walls and indigenous plantings are appropriate materials for a rugged waterfront spot well populated with wildlife–including a vixen that would prowl the site at night and make off with the workmen’s leather gloves.

Location: Southwest Harbor, Maine
Landscape design: Matthew Cunningham, Matthew Cunningham Landscape Design, Melrose, Mass., (617) 905-2246, www.matthew-cunningham.com
Photography: Matthew Cunningham

Cool Customers
The landscape plan includes a pool area whose sleek, boxy shape and cool white granite reference the history of the old house, once owned by a man who made a fortune selling ice from the nearby pond. In the front yard, a stairway formed of irregular granite blocks adds a rustic, farm-like fee.