When Bette Lou Fletcher and her husband Bruce moved to Sag Harbor, New York, during their retirement, Bette Lou was determined to build the garden she’d always dreamed of. She connected with local landscape designer Daria Szalinska, who had just established her own design practice, Landelier Landscape Atelier.
Bette Lou told Szalinska she longed for a garden room, an abundance of flowers that would feed and attract wildlife, and a deer-free zone to grow vegetables and cut flowers. One thing she didn’t need? A lawn. “I was beyond excited when Bette Lou told me she did not want a lawn,” says Szalinska. “I had been following Meadow Lab for some time, waiting for their wildflower sod to become available and for the right project where I could use it.” Bette Lou was game to try it out. In Szalinska’s redesign of the Fletcher’s yard, turf grass is used only for pathways and parking, with meadow sod replacing much of the former front lawn.
Bette Lou was also keen to keep the brick walkway, picket fence, and trellis that Bruce had built, a request that at first felt like a design challenge to Szalinska. As is so often the case, the constraints brought about especially lovely solutions. After debating the idea of weaving brick into a larger patio, Daria decided to use organic bluestone pavers, pushed right up against the existing brick, creating a moment of contrast. And surrounded by meadow and perennial plantings, the fence “took on a much softer, almost nostalgic character,” says Szalinska. To create the “rooms” that Bette Lou desired, Szalinska leaned on rigid geometry for the patio and paths; she also designed a fire pit surrounded by a ring of crepe myrtles and a fenced area in back to grow fruits, vegetables, and Bette Lou’s beloved dahlias.
One of the biggest changes Szalinska made is not visible in the photos because it was an act of concealment. She shifted the driveway closer to the edge of the property line, carving out more space for the garden. The landscape contractor Coastal Arborcare raised the grade of the garden, which helped hide the driveway. The final touch was to plant a hedge of native northern bayberry, which screens the driveway from the garden in a naturalistic way. “Bruce got a practical working area and Bette Lou a beautiful garden—making both of them happy,” says Szalinska.
Already, in its first year, the garden is lush, filled with blossoms and wildlife. Bette Lou finally has the garden she’d always imagined, but more significantly, she says, “The garden brought me back to life.” Not only is she surrounded by beauty, she’s been inspired to pick up her camera after years away from photography. “I can’t express the joy that it’s brought me,” she says.
Let’s take a tour of this Sag Harbor garden. (And be sure to scroll to the end for the “before” shot.)
Photography by Laura Castrillón, courtesy of Landelier Landscape Atelier.
Before
See also:
- Garden Visit: From ‘Just Dirt’ to Lush and Diverse in North Haven, NY
- Garden Visit: Beauty and Biodiversity in Lieu of a Front Lawn in Bridgehampton, NY
- Steal This Look: An Inviting Porch in Bellport, NY (the Anti-Hamptons)
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