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May 19, 2009

Garden Makeover in Carroll Gardens

CG-Backyard-Before-0509.jpgHere's a homegrown story with a happy ending. A reader whose yard looked like the before shot (at right) complete with pool, when he purchased it wanted a slightly different look so he turned to Chuck Dorr of Dig Gardens on Atlantic Avenue, whom he found on a Brownstoner thread. "I already can see the angry posts about 'why on earth did you ruin the nice pool and put in a damn garden!'," writes the reader, "but I can handle it."




Posted by Brownstoner at 11:00 AM | Comments (30)
Categories: Carroll Gardens, Gardening

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Comments

Much nicer.

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at May 19, 2009 11:04 AM

"I already can see the angry posts about 'why on earth did you ruin the nice pool and put in a damn garden!',"

Any commenters from Staten Island here?

Posted by: heck_of_a_job_brownie at May 19, 2009 11:08 AM

I find it a bit boring. Why so much grass?

Posted by: coppermaven at May 19, 2009 11:10 AM

This also should answer a common fence question. A SOLID fence can only be 6' high but it can be higher if it's not solid, i.e. latticework.

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at May 19, 2009 11:10 AM

Hmmm, I think I would have considered perhaps a combination garden / wading pool if space permitted, but nonetheless, the after looks wonderful. Great job.

As a sidenote, I had a pool at my last home before moving to New York and the worst part was occasionally finding dead animals (squirrels, mice, etc.) in it. I can only imagine what one would find in their pools in New York!

Posted by: Biff Champion at May 19, 2009 11:11 AM

To me they both look nice, with very different purposes. I've been trying to keep my grass growing - this year is looking better (fingers-crossed). So for me maybe best would be a little more hardscape, much less grass and some larger planting areas. But it looks lovely. I am sure you are enjoying it. (I do fantasy invading my neighbor's neglected backyard and installing a pool there!)

Posted by: Putnamdenizen at May 19, 2009 11:12 AM

I am not sure that is true about the fence, btw. It is just that many of us prefer taller fences and just don't complain.

Posted by: Putnamdenizen at May 19, 2009 11:13 AM

Probably correct, Putnam...I don't know why anyone would complain but this is NYC and whenever there's a busy body with time on their hands there's going to be issues. LOL

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at May 19, 2009 11:15 AM

If I had a back yard, I would build my fence 12 feet tall and put a roof on it!

Posted by: tybur6 at May 19, 2009 11:22 AM


I'd take the new yard over the old one anyday.

And thankfully no lame little dollhouse path winding through the middle of the yard . . . those "walkways" really bug me.

Posted by: IronBalls at May 19, 2009 11:30 AM

Oh, that's lovely.

And great example of how foliage itself can anchor a garden, that if you think about the foliage in addition to flowers, then you don't have to wait for big shows to have your garden at its best. Nice.

Size of lawn vs a border like this is always a hard question. I think they did a good job of making quite a narrow border without it feeling skimpy.

Posted by: Nomi at May 19, 2009 11:43 AM

While I love the look of the redo I think every July I'd be regretting not having worked the pool into the new garden somehow.

Posted by: TownhouseLady at May 19, 2009 11:54 AM

I've had my pool for 16 years & never had any dead animals in it (nor live ones.)

Posted by: Arkady at May 19, 2009 11:57 AM

We are thinking about doing our back yard...how much did it cost?

Posted by: nako at May 19, 2009 12:00 PM

A big improvement over the former - and reminds me of one of my former gardens (http://img149.imageshack.us/my.php?image=1010025aut.jpg)

Mine didn't cost much to do apart from the summer house but it did involve about a month of evenings of sieving the soil!

Posted by: the chicken at May 19, 2009 12:20 PM

it's gorgeous the new version, but im gonna have to go with a +1 for the pool version.

*rob*

Posted by: PitbullNYC at May 19, 2009 12:46 PM


How much did all that cost?

Posted by: East New York at May 19, 2009 1:13 PM

Go on...tell them. Chuck is good but not cheap.

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at May 19, 2009 1:17 PM

I love a happy ending!

Posted by: superstooper at May 19, 2009 1:33 PM

Lovely - without a pool.

Our house had an above-ground pool when we made an offer, and that was our only condition for the closing - get that eye-sore outta there (which the RE agent paid for with his own money to make the sale).

Posted by: bupe at May 19, 2009 1:39 PM

Dave, is there a law solid fences can be only 6 feet high? How much do you think it costs to install one in the average townhouse backyard -- about $3000 or can it be done for less?

Posted by: mopar at May 19, 2009 1:40 PM

Six feet is the law so that firemen can get over it. You can have a flimsy attachment - such as trellis.

Posted by: Arkady at May 19, 2009 1:49 PM

mopar...I've heard there is but never confirmed it. I real nice cedar fence on three sides is going to be a lot more than $3,000. I don't remember how much mine was out of the total.....that's my yard on the "Brownstoner thread" link.

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at May 19, 2009 1:50 PM

I love the redo- very serene.

I do think Brooklyn grass-growers (the legal kind) are a bit masochistic, that stuff dies on you if the wind blows wrong.

Posted by: tiptoe at May 19, 2009 1:57 PM

Oh, Dave, what a nice backyard you have. I like the one above too. Nice grass.

Posted by: mopar at May 19, 2009 2:23 PM

I do have to say I bought a plant from Dig and had an issue with the trees.
When I asked Chuck to swing by to take a look and get his advice, he totally blew me off.
I called and stopped by 2 or 3 times. To no avail.

Must say, I love supporting local business, but his level of service was non-existent.
Would never buy from him again.

Posted by: boerumopinion at May 19, 2009 2:50 PM

Too much grass, not enough color!

Posted by: Architerrorist at May 19, 2009 4:06 PM

Do you have a mulching mower or do you bag the clippings?? Is it an electric mower or a gas one. There was a big discussion in the Forum last week about the merits of each.

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at May 19, 2009 4:27 PM


It's a really lovely garden. I like the grass - so much better than the pool.

Posted by: pmg at May 19, 2009 4:58 PM

I appreciate the posts and thanks for not slamming me for the removal of the pool. We wanted a lot of grass for our kid and dog to run around a bit, so that was the main reason for so much grass. It actually grows great other than spots here and there when the dog pees. As to color, things are starting to bloom and a lot of these plantings are flowering like wisteria, honeysuckle, clematis, hibuscus, roses, etc. It's really growing and blooming like mad now and not even a year since this was planted. I thought nothing was going to grow and was ready to go after Chuck, but absolutely everything is kicking ass. I will say, he gets busy and sometimes is not immediately responsive, but other than that, he really was awesome and did an amazing job. I'm going to check my files for cost. We had many estimates and they ranged from 10k up to 38k for back and front yard. Yes, 38k!!!! WTF. I can tell you it was at least 15k and probably closer to 20k when all said and done. He also did concrete removal and planting in the front of the house too which looks great.

Posted by: Brooklyn Willy at May 19, 2009 9:28 PM

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