Urban Gardens
Landscape Design
A Garden Oasis in the Middle of a Bustling City
An extra-long backyard in Brooklyn, New York, is transformed into a lush garden getaway
Before: The previous backyard was paved in brick, had numerous container plants and was bordered by fences on both sides that had seen better days.
Haiman says the homeowners were inspired by gardens and landscapes they had seen while visiting France, and they wanted him to add some French character to their yard. Haiman and his team built new cedar fences and added a French blue farm door that doesn’t actually open. “In 18th-century French gardens they called them ‘follies,’” Haiman says, referring to the practice of adding ornamental structures, such as Egyptian pyramids or Roman temples, to landscapes to create an interesting focal point.
Outdoor furniture: RH
Outdoor furniture: RH
The backyard features two identical fiberglass fountains designed by Haiman and constructed by a local artisan. “They look like concrete, but they’re actually fiberglass and they’re very solid,” he says. One of them is pictured here.
Browse outdoor fountains
Browse outdoor fountains
The homeowners also wanted to stock the garden with flowers and plants that would attract wildlife, such as bees and birds. This pink zinnia has attracted a hungry bee.
Before. Haiman and his team added a French drain to the backyard to assist in irrigation and flood control. The team dug a ditch down the center of the yard and laid a pipe that is perforated with small holes. The pipe is wrapped in a canvas “sock” that allows rainwater to slowly disperse throughout the backyard, preventing pools of water and also irrigating the flowers and plants along the way.
At the back of the property, Haiman and his team built a new wall of reclaimed bricks. Since many of the homes in the neighborhood were built in the 1890s, Haiman researched popular brick wall designs of that period and replicated one of the designs he found.
Haiman says he likes to create conceptual drawings on his computer to share with his clients at the beginning of a landscape project. “It’s a great way for them to visualize the design and to make changes to the plan before we get started.”
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Backyard at a Glance
Who uses it: A young couple with one child and a dog and cat
Location: Brooklyn, New York
Size: 1,840 square feet (170.9 square meters)
Landscape Designer: Todd Haiman Landscape Design
The owners of this single-family home in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, aren’t the type of people who want to run off to the Hamptons on the weekend, says landscape designer Todd Haiman. “They like to stay close to home on the weekends, so making their backyard an oasis of their own was the driving force behind this project.”
Luckily, the homeowners and Haiman had a lot of land to work with, especially by Brooklyn standards. The home is located on a street known for its extra-long lots — a second street that no longer exists once ran through the backyards of these now-oversize lots. The backyard is 92 feet long by 20 feet wide.