COPY cottage garden
3 In late May/early June, German irises and azaleas beckon visitors down this side-yard path toward the backyard. There is an herb and vegetable garden just out of frame to the right. “At this time of year, the peonies were about to pop,” Patek says — you can make them out on the left side of the photo. A group of paper birch trees are the KEY TO TURN left toward the backyard. The path is composed of randomly cut bluestone pavers.
7 The paper birches have gorgeous white bark. They provide shade for hostas underneath. Just in front of the birch trees is an al fresco dining spot and beyond that a fire pit. In the background you can see a silo from the original farm — the farmer sold some of his land for this developement, where each home is on a — acre lot. Underneath the birches is a shade garden, comprised mostly of different hosta plants.
5 Around the side is a patio, seen here at sunrise during mid-summer. The patio is composed bluestone in a pattern composed of five different sizes. “It has a full range of color — coppers, grays and blues,” Patek says. The bluestone’s hues work with the ever-changing colors in the plant palette. The boulders at the pond’s edge are local Wisconsin granite. “Granite is preferable to limestone around the pond because it has less of a leeching effect on the water,” he says.Around the patio you’ll spy silvery greens in a flowing Colma goddess grass and yellows from the Happy Returns daylilies. A pumila spruce provides evergreen color year roud.
9 The pond is about three feet deep. It has a rubber liner with a gravel bed on the bottom and two different waterfalls. Patek used a pond system by Aquascape and highly recommends it for its durability. From left to right you’ll spy a Gray Owl juniper, mugo pine, a barberry bush and little blue stem. In the pond there are water lilies and water irises.
13 In the fall, all eyes go to the brilliant orange-red leaves on the Japanese stewartia tree; its white summertime flowers are just a fading memory. The paper birches provide a beautiful golden yellow backdrop for it. I On the ground, the grasses transform to wheat colors, the lavender maintains its somewhat spiky structure and the yellow coreopsis and blue little blister blossoms going to seed.
11 The fall is a wonderful time of year to enjoy the fire pit, which is four feet in diameter. There is a metal ring inside concealed by limestone. This part of the patio is also in the full-range color bluestone, but this time the stone is cut in an irregular pattern. “It’s a little more natural and less formal,” Patek says.
2Michael Patek
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