Up to the Challenge

            Wes and Yvonne Williamson got their lakefront lot at a bargain price. The seller considered the steep terrain to be too difficult to build on comfortably and sold it for a song.

What the seller saw as problems, the Williamsons have transformed into assets, and their ingenuity, hard work and creativity has reaped rewards; theirs is the winning garden for the second Lovely Laker Landscape contest. 

            The house was built in 2002, but the couple lived with the mountains of red, muddy clay for a year to learn the water flow patterns and other characteristics of the site before commencing work on the garden. The first landscape project the Williamsons tackled was to terrace the steep slope leading from the street to the front door. 

            Wes, a marine engineer who works on oceangoing cargo ships for six months of the year, designed the retaining walls for the terraced slope and did all the excavating, digging the foundations in preparation for building the walls.

            “I’m the chief hardscape designer and installer. Then I’m demoted to the guy who digs the holes and plants the bushes,” he said with a smile. “Yvonne is the plant person.”

            When the footings were ready, the Williamsons solicited several bids from stone masons who wanted to build the walls of imported stone available from “big box” home supply stores.  The couple felt the stone these workmen proposed using looked out of place in the setting. Later, masons turned up with a reasonable bid using stone from the nearby Peaks of Otter. The Williamsons knew this was the right material for their walls and hired the men on the spot. The masons spent the next six months building the series of four walls of varying heights, which stretch across the width of the house front. 

            When the walls were finally completed, Yvonne began the job of planting. Working on a budget, she relied on her garden club plant sales and nursery end-of-season sales to populate the terraced beds. 

            “The only plants I bought for full price were the Encore Azaleas,” she said. “They were worth it. They bloom beautifully in the spring and again late in the summer.” 

            Other plants that have given good value are the iris and dianthus, which provide spring color; Russian sage and black-eyed Susans; a ground cover sedum which is a great gap-filler; and blueberry bushes for the fruit.

            On the lake side of the house, Wes built a large deck to create outdoor living space. To add interest, he built the deck with varying levels. Each space has a specific use. At one end, the deck is cut around a stone fire pit. The middle section is cantilevered out over the slope, thus giving more space for lounging and making the lake feel close and immediate. A hot tub is the main feature of the third deck space. It’s tucked into a corner of the house so it feels sheltered and private. 

            Wes also built two stairways from the deck down to the lake. Hugging the slope and following the contours of the land so they don’t stand out as scars on the landscape, one leads down from the fire pit to the dock. He built a screened gazebo on a landing part way down where the couple and guests can sit in a sheltered place to overlook the lake. Taking advantage of the steep slope, he also built a lake storage shed directly underneath the gazebo so it is actually a two-story building. 

            The second staircase leads from the hot tub down the opposite side of the slope to a sandy beach. It too hugs the hillside, minimizing the visual impact on the setting and making the trip up and down comfortable because the rise in each step is not too tall. 

            There is a third stairway from the driveway to the lake. It was the first one Wes built, and in hindsight, he said he realizes it was a mistake. 

            “I didn’t take the time to think it through,” he admitted. “I put it there to cover a drainage area, but Yvonne felt it was in the wrong place, and finally convinced me to build the set of stairs from the hot tub to the beach. She was right. I’m going to tear out the first stairs and instead build an observation deck overlooking a waterfall running down the slope.”

            In 2005, the Williamsons hired Millbrook Landscaping to help them with the waterfront slope. They wanted a low-maintenance buffer garden to protect the lake water quality. The designer used ornamental grasses, planting them in rivers that run across the slope. The mixture includes feather reed grass (Calamagrosis), fountain grass (Pennisetum alopecuroides), switch grass (Panicum virgatum 'Heavy Metal'), and a large clump of maiden grass (Miscanthus sinensis) at the bottom of the slope near the stairs leading to the dock. The grasses have established well, but other plants that were mixed with them have died off. Yvonne now has a vision of weaving purple coneflowers, black-eyed Susans and Liastris among the grasses to create an ever-changing tapestry of color and texture. 

            Working as a team, the Willliamsons have created a remarkable garden on difficult terrain. Although they have no formal landscape training, their innate skills and sensitivity to the site have resulted in a relaxing, beautiful garden that is in harmony with its setting.

            “We are strong believers in working with what you are given,” said Yvonne.

As winners of the landscape contest, the Williamsons will receive a $1,000 credit at Lakescapes Nursery.