Showhouse Season V, Issue 6, In Real Life

Yesterday morning was dedicated to show house business. Frank Scheppe, my contractor extraordinaire, and I were at a local wholesale nursery soon after it opened to choose two Styrax japonica for the garden. After they were loaded we delivered them to the show house site.

Styrax blooms

image via Ambleside Gardens, Hillsborough, NJ

With one week to go, Sheep's Run was a flurry of activity, mud, and mayhem. There were delivery trucks stuck in the mud, people trying to get plants and accessories into spaces that are rapidly being cut off by the spaces adjacent them, and a general feeling of rapid fire problem solving.

All of the gardens are formal. A full trailer of boxwood was delivered last week and ours was included with that. The stonework for the paths & patios was finished earlier this week. We were able to use some bluestone that was leftover from the home's original terrace that is also one of the adjacent spaces.

Peagravel, granite cube edging & bluestone walkways and patio

The goal for yesterday was to layout the big plants and mark off the area that will be filled with groundcover. I also had to decide on what annuals we're using for the parterres and containers. More on that next time...

Defining the four quadrants

The arcs and angles w/space left open for containers

Under foot. A stone carpet.

A grey project for a grey day.

This is part of the project I've been updating here, it started with design work last spring and is now the last build of the season. The photo below shows a partially completed stone 'carpet' in the larger patio. What you see is a snapped salt & pepper granite ribbon border, random granite flagstone interior with a detail of 4 x 4 salt & pepper Belgium block. This is obviously before it's been cleaned up.

The stonework is taking a very long time due to the difficulty of working with the granite. It will be fits and starts now due to the weather window closing--rain and cold have dogged us all week long.