This Carlisle property began with a landscape familiar to many homes built in the 1990s: an expansive front lawn, foundation plantings, and a straightforward path to the front door.
We saw an opportunity to make the property feel entirely different without changing the character of the home itself.
The new landscape is built around a simple idea: less lawn, more garden.
Large trees were introduced to give the property scale and structure. Sweeping planting areas now occupy much of what had been open turf, creating a garden that moves from the driveway all the way to the house. A broad granite walkway winds through it rather than simply cutting across it.
The change is dramatic, but the materials are intentionally simple: granite, plants, lawn, and light.
A Granite Entry
Freshwater Pearl granite from coastal Maine became the defining material for the project.
Large slabs form the main entry walk, with their size and rhythm giving the path a much different presence than a conventional paver walkway. As the grade rises toward the house, the walkway transitions on a floating granite step.
Each step uses a substantial 4-inch-thick granite tread with a 3-inch recessed riser, giving us a comfortable 7-inch step height while creating the appearance that the individual slabs are floating above one another. The detail keeps the stair visually light despite the size and weight of the stone.
That contrast carries through the rest of the project. The granite is substantial and permanent. The planting around it is loose, flowering, and constantly changing. As the garden matures and begins to soften the edges of the stone, that relationship will become even stronger.
Bringing the Granite Into the Lighting
Some of our favorite details came from finding other ways to use the same stone.
Near the beginning of the walk, a pair of 12" x 12" hand-split granite posts support a pair of side-hung lights. Farther along, we fabricated smaller 12" x 12” granite bollards to illuminate the walkway.
They aren't standard landscape lighting fixtures with stone placed around them. The stone itself becomes part of the fixture.
During the day, the posts are architectural elements within the garden. At night, they provide low pools of light along the walk and pick up the texture of the granite and surrounding plants without overpowering them.
Repeating Freshwater Pearl in the walkway, steps, and lighting allowed us to carry one material through the property in several very different ways.
Turning Lawn Into Garden
A major part of this project was deciding where lawn was actually necessary.
The original front yard devoted a tremendous amount of space to turf. We kept lawn where it provided useful open space and removed it where we felt the garden could offer more.
That gave us room for larger trees and shrubs and a much deeper perennial layer.
The planting isn't based on a rule that everything needs to be native. Instead, we combined native and non-native plants that perform well in our climate and give us the character we wanted here. Flowering was a priority.
We selected plants so different parts of the garden would take their turn throughout the growing season rather than everything peaking at once. Grasses and foliage carry the garden between those flowering periods and provide texture later in the year.
There is structure to the planting, but we don't want it to feel overly controlled. The intention is for the edges to soften and the individual plants to become less obvious as the garden fills in.
Rethinking the Lawn That Remained
The remaining lawn was hydroseeded with a grass and microclover blend.
Reducing the overall amount of turf was the biggest step toward creating a more water-conscious property. Incorporating microclover into what remained was another.
It also suits this landscape aesthetically. A perfectly manicured lawn would feel somewhat out of place against the looser planting beds. The clover gives the lawn a softer character while still preserving the open space and function that lawn provides.
Built to Mature
Freshly completed landscapes can be a little misleading. The stonework is essentially finished the day we leave. The garden isn't.
The trees will gain scale. Shrubs will begin growing into one another. Perennials and grasses will fill the open ground and eventually start reaching over the edges of the granite. Light and shade will change as the canopy develops.
We designed for that future version of the property. The granite gives the landscape a permanent framework. The planting is meant to slowly soften it.
For us, the most successful landscapes aren't frozen compositions. They become better as the materials weather and the garden matures. This Carlisle project is just at the beginning of that process.
Roots & Rocks Landscape Artisans designs and builds distinctive landscapes throughout Carlisle and the surrounding communities of Massachusetts, combining natural stone, custom granite fabrication, planting, and landscape lighting.
Rooted in Nature. Set in Stone.