Landscape designer Joanna Pertz continues to document a new garden project in Prospect Heights. You can view the first post here.
When I look at a space I think of the Geometry first, then the Program (or what the family wants to do in the space) second and finally what Plants will thrive. I roll through these criteria again and again as I develop a design. Soon I will fix on a specific material that I want to see in the space and never forget the budget that I must work within.

The geometry:
The shape of this garden is a challenge. It’s like a railroad apartment, rooms are interrupted by circulation space and neither feels open. The right geometry will inspire you or your eye to move thru the space, experience a change and have a place to rest. Curving paths in small gardens are tempting and tricky- they are often too busy and do not embrace the size of the garden and how many curves it can hold. I recommend one or two wide curves, if any. This design will try and get away from having a real path by blurring the line between planting and path.and creating rooms with fluid circulation by introducing topography. I am proposing a planted mound to offer a strong change in the ground plan and bring the garden abit closer to the deck above. I want to bring movement as well as a unifying architectural element into the space, this element will be a wide horizintial board fence, like ribbons, built on site.

The program:
A deck for gathering and eating, a welcoming stair, horizontal fencing, areas to sit with children, a basket ball hoop, a sand box, and vegetable beds. And something to hold a casual object for display.

The plantings:
Grasses, clover, thyme, bulbs, fern, skimmia, blueberries, deciduous azalea and the requested a dogwood and a Japanese maple.

The materials:
The fewer types of materials the better. The pallet of hard materials (not plants) sets the tone of the garden and restraint in material chose brings clarity to the feeling of the space. A garden is a great opportunity to explore different ways to use the same material. This pushes the materials and reveals more about them. Working materials gives soul to a place.

I love concrete and I love my client who loves concrete and understands that it need not be cold. I love wood and steel. I want to make the deck polished concrete with the aggregate exposed, I want to keep the fence low, open and still create a strong enclosure for the space. I am proposing a cedar board fence with wide openings, 4′-6′ tall. Rectangular planting beds will slide into the mound the frame will be steel and its edge will be revealed with the slope of the mound The structure of the deck and its articulations are also steel, painted or galvanized…we’ll see.