A country estate garden in the city sits on a seven acre site that borders White River on Indy’s north side and was the location of major renovation that we were invited to participate in. The homeowners wished to add on to the existing house and create a dynamic yet naturalistic garden that would meld with the surrounding woods. They had seen gardens in England and Scotland and wished to re-create the look and feel of those gardens on their property.
We were first contacted by the homeowners as a result of a tip provided by Dick Crum, aka ‘Dr. Dirt.’ When asked, after a Indianapolis Garden Club talk, who would be the best person to contact to help create a garden in a wooded setting, he responded ‘Mark Holeman.’ Thus our relationship was born and continues to this day.
The original house was first constructed in the early 1920’s as a gardener’s residence. A second floor, living room, and sunroom were subsequently added to the four room dwelling. We were hired to completely revamp the landscape after construction was complete. After a few years of enjoying the renovated house and garden a neighboring piece of property came up for sale. It was purchased quickly and the existing house was demolished. All of a sudden the property almost doubled in size. A substantial pool house was built to accompany the new infinity edge swimming pool. Once again, we were hired to design and install gardens that would connect the two properties.
Mark Holeman, Ron Howe, John Katterjohn, and our landscape crews collaborated to design and create gardens, walkways, and terraces for both construction projects on the two properties. A substantial grade change existed between the original property and the newly acquired piece. The homeowner did not want steps on the connecting pathway so that the pool house could be accessed via wheelchair, if necessary. To accommodate this requirement a sloped bluestone walk was installed with large Indiana Green County boulders holding back the earth on the uphill sides. Brick walls and stacked block walls were also used to connect the two properties.
Other design features in the gardens include custom ironwork fencing and gates, a pergola covering an outdoor kitchen area, a travertine pool deck, bluestone walks, brick walls, and large planters with seasonal tropicals and annual flowers. The plantings are a delightful mix of formal hedges, masses of perennials, groundcovers, spring bulbs, native trees and shrubs, and woodland forbs native to Indiana.
This secret garden was featured in the Indianapolis Star on May 28, 2011 and was part of the 2011 Indianapolis Garden Walk produced by the Indianapolis Garden Club.
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