This garden in Red Hook Brooklyn, designed for an artist, a baker and their young children, is part productive farm and part native garden. The design creates a framework for the activity and culinary and artistic projects of the family. A chicken coop houses two heritage birds that give eggs, and raised bed planters grow vegetables. 

A middle planting area partially screens the chicken coop and divides the lawn into front and back areas, making both a running loop and a smaller, hidden-away space for the kids to duck away into. The plantings create a framework of trees and shrubs: a Hornbeam hedge grows along the rear of the property screening an adjacent factory building, native Amalanchiers and Oakleaf Hydreangea provide texture. A slow-growing Stewartia tree, native Witchhazel, Torulosa Junipers and Fothergilla create textural fields of foliage and provide interest throughout the seasons. The lawn in comprised of walkable perennial plants – creating a no-mow and low maintenance lawn with less environmental impact. The design includes a palette of native plants that the clients continue to develop and explore.