Backyard of the Week: Woodland Garden With Scandinavian Roots
A Boston landscape designer found on Houzz weaves in beautiful textures and layers of green to create an elegant space
For a couple who work in Boston’s city center, their home about 20 miles outside of the city is a quiet place where they like to relax and be close to nature. They live in a Scandinavian farmhouse-style home that reinforces that feeling, with clean lines and lots of gray, white and pops of green. “They like to keep their lifestyle simple,” landscape designer Amy Martin says. “We wanted the outside to have that same feeling.”
The backyard, which began as an expansive lawn, slopes down toward a natural woodland and wetland. In addition to tying the backyard design to the house and creating backyard destinations, Martin — whom the homeowners discovered on Houzz and through her local work — also aimed to better ground the outdoor rooms in the landscape and connect the designed portions to the natural elements.
The backyard, which began as an expansive lawn, slopes down toward a natural woodland and wetland. In addition to tying the backyard design to the house and creating backyard destinations, Martin — whom the homeowners discovered on Houzz and through her local work — also aimed to better ground the outdoor rooms in the landscape and connect the designed portions to the natural elements.
The patio features two granite block benches cut in precise rectangles that are 2 feet by 2 feet by 6 feet; they have a clean, simple structure and a somewhat modern feel. “The large granite benches form a border along the back of the patio and contrast nicely with the birch trees and boxwoods, as well as offer a seating area when [the homeowners] entertain large groups,” Martin says.
The yard is on a slope, so the team designed the hardscape surfaces to act as mini retaining walls, seen here in the curbing of the granite patio. “The idea was to deal with the grade without making a highly structured terraced retaining wall,” Martin says. They regraded the yard, filling and sloping it to make navigating it easier and more comfortable.
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The yard is on a slope, so the team designed the hardscape surfaces to act as mini retaining walls, seen here in the curbing of the granite patio. “The idea was to deal with the grade without making a highly structured terraced retaining wall,” Martin says. They regraded the yard, filling and sloping it to make navigating it easier and more comfortable.
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The granite used for the benches, path and patio is Swenson granite from New Hampshire. “The reason I liked it and used it is because it’s basically black and white. It’s very speckled, so it really goes with the theme of the house,” Martin says. The plants, which are mostly green, pop against the stone.
Photo by Millicent Harvey
Lawn still occupies most of the landscape, but the design team added trees, shrubs, ferns and other woodland plants. “We chose a neutral color palette, so we wanted to focus on texture,” Martin says. Tight evergreens grow next to loose grass, which sits beside coarse hydrangea leaves.
Heritage river birch (Betula nigra ‘Cully’) trees frame the patio and other areas in the yard, showcasing beautiful bark and adding privacy. “The birch trees create a permeable wall along two ends of the patio, immersing the space in texture and foliage,” Martin says. “There are a lot of birch trees in Scandinavia,” the designer adds.
Littleleaf boxwood (Buxus microphylla ‘Winter Gem’) and ostrich fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris) grow beneath the birch trees, adding more texture and structure closer to the house.
Lawn still occupies most of the landscape, but the design team added trees, shrubs, ferns and other woodland plants. “We chose a neutral color palette, so we wanted to focus on texture,” Martin says. Tight evergreens grow next to loose grass, which sits beside coarse hydrangea leaves.
Heritage river birch (Betula nigra ‘Cully’) trees frame the patio and other areas in the yard, showcasing beautiful bark and adding privacy. “The birch trees create a permeable wall along two ends of the patio, immersing the space in texture and foliage,” Martin says. “There are a lot of birch trees in Scandinavia,” the designer adds.
Littleleaf boxwood (Buxus microphylla ‘Winter Gem’) and ostrich fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris) grow beneath the birch trees, adding more texture and structure closer to the house.
The plants’ color variation, for the most part, is only among different shades of green. A couple of burgundy ‘Forest Pansy’ redbuds (Cercis canadensis ‘Forest Pansy’), shown here surrounded by a sea of eastern hayscented fern (Dennstaedtia punctilobula), provide bold accents.
Because of the green and evergreen plants, the garden doesn’t experience dramatic seasonal changes. “The evergreens play a really important role in providing the privacy [the homeowners] wanted year-round,” Martin says. She adds that they also help to show the garden’s structure and layers, especially in winter when snow is on the ground.
Because of the green and evergreen plants, the garden doesn’t experience dramatic seasonal changes. “The evergreens play a really important role in providing the privacy [the homeowners] wanted year-round,” Martin says. She adds that they also help to show the garden’s structure and layers, especially in winter when snow is on the ground.
Panicled hydrangeas (Hydrangea paniculata ‘Grandiflora’), one of the garden’s few flowering plants, bloom from summer into fall, with their white blooms transitioning to a dusty rose. Seed heads appear on the grasses later in the season. The redbud tree blooms in spring.
Photo by Millicent Harvey
Farther out from the house, a more rustic, secluded seating area abuts the natural woodland. In this case the design team avoided using pavers or a more formalized path. “More steppingstones [would have] cut the space up and [made] it look more commercial,” Martin says.
Farther out from the house, a more rustic, secluded seating area abuts the natural woodland. In this case the design team avoided using pavers or a more formalized path. “More steppingstones [would have] cut the space up and [made] it look more commercial,” Martin says.
Photo by Millicent Harvey
The designers emulated the patio closer to the house in that they also included reclaimed granite blocks, but they finished them in a more rustic way. Each block is “more like it was broken into its shape, rather than cut into its shape,” Martin says. Wild thyme (Thymus sp.) and Pennsylvania sedge (Carex pensylvanica) grow on the ground around the seating area.
The garden bleeds into natural woodland beyond the seating area. The design has the areas closer to the house featuring more structure and order; the further you move away, the looser and more natural the look becomes. “Native plants create the transition between lawn and woods, including wild blue phlox (Phlox divaricata), ferns, Solomon’s seal (Polygonatum odoratum ‘Variegatum’) and hollies,” Martin says. She planted native coastal sweet pepperbush (Clethra alnifolia), ironwood and blueflag (Iris versicolor) farther out along the woodland edge.
The designers emulated the patio closer to the house in that they also included reclaimed granite blocks, but they finished them in a more rustic way. Each block is “more like it was broken into its shape, rather than cut into its shape,” Martin says. Wild thyme (Thymus sp.) and Pennsylvania sedge (Carex pensylvanica) grow on the ground around the seating area.
The garden bleeds into natural woodland beyond the seating area. The design has the areas closer to the house featuring more structure and order; the further you move away, the looser and more natural the look becomes. “Native plants create the transition between lawn and woods, including wild blue phlox (Phlox divaricata), ferns, Solomon’s seal (Polygonatum odoratum ‘Variegatum’) and hollies,” Martin says. She planted native coastal sweet pepperbush (Clethra alnifolia), ironwood and blueflag (Iris versicolor) farther out along the woodland edge.
Photo by Millicent Harvey
From the woodland area, you can look back to the house. Native plants — spotted Joe Pye weed (Eutrochium maculatum ‘Gateway’), New York ironweed (Vernonia noveboracensis) and white Culver’s root (Veronicastrum virginicum ‘Alba’) — frame the view.
From the woodland area, you can look back to the house. Native plants — spotted Joe Pye weed (Eutrochium maculatum ‘Gateway’), New York ironweed (Vernonia noveboracensis) and white Culver’s root (Veronicastrum virginicum ‘Alba’) — frame the view.
Evergreen hedges line a grass path that leads from the backyard to the front of the house, as this is the side of the house that overlooks neighbors. “One of the main goals for every homeowner I’ve talked to is privacy outside,” Martin says. A row of arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis ‘Smaragd’) grows on the right side of the path, with inkberry (Ilex glabra ‘Shamrock’) growing opposite it.
In the front yard, the same granite used elsewhere leads to the entry. Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) adds a red accent in a field of green.
The master plan of the redesign, seen here, shows the two new seating areas along with the natural woodland at the back and the evergreen screen along the side of the yard.
The design team also restored an existing wetland, seen at the top left of the plan, by removing invasive species and planting pollinator-supporting native wetland plants.
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The design team also restored an existing wetland, seen at the top left of the plan, by removing invasive species and planting pollinator-supporting native wetland plants.
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Browse thousands of landscape photos
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Landscape at a Glance
Who lives here: A couple who works in Boston
Location: Cohasset, about 20 miles from Boston
Lot size: The property is about 1 acre, of which half an acre has been landscaped
Designer: Amy Martin and Tish Campbell of Amy Martin Landscape Design
Contractor: Connell Landscape Design and Construction
Martin, who designed the landscape with Tish Campbell, maintained clean, organic lines to channel the Scandinavian-farmhouse aesthetic. This is seen in the granite patio, which is the primary gathering area in the garden and sits just a few steps away from the house. It’s reached by a path of granite pavers.
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