This Bellingham residence is being renovation from head to toe. The hardscapes are all designed and installed by intuitive stone artist Russ Beardsley, owner of Borrowed Ground, LLC. Russ invited me to design plantings to support his creations for his client on this roughly 1/2 acre property near Western University.
There is no lawn. There is a ridiculous amount of ivy on the property which is all slated for removal. It will be replaced with non native ground covers such as Rubus, Sweet Woodruff, creeping Jenny, etc and natives such as Vancouveria, Tiarella, Salal, sword fern and Mahonia.
This beautiful Montana Slate stairway on the north side of the house connects the courtyard to the west slope. Sarcoccoca ruscifolia, Helleborus and Black Mondo Grass is massed along the foundation to provide fragrance, flowers and an evergreen presence in this garden.
Climbing Hydrangea is repeated along the fence to provide a sense of depth and decorative interest as it matures and is trained along the solid panels. The color of the stone is supported by purple and chartreuse plant material such as Heuchera, Fuchsia, Hakonechloa and Baby’s Tears.
