A residential landscape designed to foster hands-on learning in food production, soil stewardship, and ecological gardening while creating spaces for outdoor living and family connection.
The client for this project envisioned a home landscape that would connect her family to the land through food production, ecological stewardship, and immersive outdoor spaces.
RDG designed a potager-inspired kitchen garden with 11 raised beds, enclosed by a cedar-and-mesh fence with crafted arched gateways that double as vertical trellises for climbing crops. The garden links seamlessly to the greenhouse via a bluestone patio, while surrounding beds integrate edible perennials like rhubarb and asparagus with pollinator-friendly natives such as fall aster, bergamot, and butterfly milkweed.
Elsewhere on site, a new patio and outdoor kitchen expand opportunities for seasonal gathering. Here, existing rock outcrops and a mature magnolia are celebrated, and plantings weave together ornamentals with blueberries, woodland strawberries, lingonberries, and schizandra vines.
Sustainable methods emphasized soil health: sod reuse, cover crops, and winter-killed mulches reduced disturbance while building fertility. As first-time gardeners, the clients received guidance on crop rotation, succession planting, and ecological maintenance—practices that continue to deepen their relationship with the landscape.
The gardens have drawn us outdoors and connected us intimately to the land. They have provided us with a degree of self-sufficiency which we so appreciate during these times of climate and political instability.”
— Client
Client
Private Residence, Weston, MA
2019–2021
Partners
- RP Marzilli (landscape contractor)
- Botanica (plant procurement/installation support)
- James Quinn (consultant)
Key Features
- Potager-inspired kitchen garden with 11 raised beds (525 SF growing space)
- Expanded pollinator habitat with native perennials and fruiting shrubs
- Deer-resistant fencing designed for aesthetics and vertical growing space
- Outdoor living spaces with edible ornamentals
Services
- Residential landscape design
- Edible and pollinator garden planning
- Soil stewardship and cover crop strategies
- Client education in ecological gardening practices
