02Apr

Little Traverse Bay Cottage

We first met these clients on a cold winter day in 2017. Sipping coffee around the dining-room table we looked out over the frozen shoreline. As you can see in the first images, all vegetation had been removed, truly presenting a blank slate. We spent the morning learning about our clients’ aesthetic preferences and discussing North By Nature’s mission and methods. Their primary goal was to re-establish the lake-side landscape with low-growing, native perennials and grasses that would attract pollinators and require little long-term maintenance.

Based on the conversation that day, a concept was developed and, in the following weeks, presented to the clients, along with a draft plant list. Images that conveyed a sense of what we envisioned were included and showed scenes of native rock gardens and coneflower medleys.

After working through the concept phase, we moved on to material selection and plant procurement. Our client was concerned about also attracting nuisance pests like ticks, so finer sedges replaced the proposed grasses and we suggested planting lavender as a deterrent. The woodland fringes were planted with a few multi-stemmed paper birch trees and bayberry and nanny berry shrubs to enhance and frame the view. Temporary irrigation was used to establish plants, but there should be little need to water once established. A variety of straight native species were combined with selected cultivars for a broad palette of color displayed from June through October.

Please take a moment to peruse the slideshow. The captions have been written to guide you through the first two growing seasons and help identify these native beauties. If you have any questions about this project, please feel free to call or email Bret.