Projects

Kalorama Road

Cathy Carr, FAPLD, of GreenHeart, LLC designed this walled garden. Gilday Renovations was refurbishing the inside of the house and introduced Cathy to the new homeowners. They wanted to remove a swimming pool and a monolithic brick patio that took up the entire back yard. New Select Blue thermal 2'x2' squarel PA flagstones were used to create the paving for three outdoor rooms, with oversized flagstone steppers connect them.  The large living room space, which features an Allison Armour Aqualens that can be seen from the sun room, is ample for large groups. A dining space for 10 and an intimate seating area were created to offer a variety of experiences in a relatively small site. A wide range of shrubs, perennials, and small trees color the space in four seasons. Great American Landscapes installed hardscape and plantings, and Outdoor Illuminations installed the irrigation and lighting.

Many Options for Entertaining on Kalorama Road

NW DC Townhouse

This elegant, semi-detached town home in Massachusetts Avenue Heights needed a makeover. The homeowners love blowsy English country garden plants and classic garden colors. GreenHeart helped them with an overall plan that transformed the ho-hum space to a beautiful pleasure garden. Our design greatly increased their sense of privacy and enhanced the value of their home.

Romantic Classic Garden

Narrow DC Property

Homeowners had an ugly view of their narrow back yard. The garage is accessed from a back alley; it takes up some of the yard space. My design provided three new entertaining areas: a transitional deck just outside the sitting room door which is perfect for enjoying a cocktail; a grilling and dining terrace set on the diagonal to visually widen the space; a 'getaway' upper garden 'living room' from which to view the house. Lush plantings provide four season interest: color, fragrance and textures abound.

Mid-Century Home: Charles Goodman, Architect

The artist-homeowner wanted two patios that he could use for pleine air painting. We re-located his AC unit and constructed a flagstone patio surrounded by a stone seat wall to the right of his front door. A berm of soil in front of the wall created more privacy for his work. New mostly native plantings provide privacy and four-season interest. A second gravel patio to the left of the front door has become a private contemplative space. The new front walkway now has a graceful curve and a generous, welcoming landing at the curb.

Tradtional in the Front, Modern in the Back

GreenHeart’s client’s home in Cleveland Park DC was built in 1925. It is classic in the front but a glass-walled addition by a previous owner makes it contemporary in the rear.  

The homeowners have a strong sense of design evidenced by their interior furnishings and a lovely art collection. Our design directive was to create a mostly-evergreen and simple, geometric planting palette in the front and a softer, more colorful and inventive garden in the rear.  In the back garden, they wanted space for a small vegetable garden and spots to move their chairs about for different experiences of the yard.

Because they have views of the narrow back garden from each of three floors, we wanted to make the back fence line of the garden — which includes a gate and steps down to a parking area accessed through an alley — the focal point.  Our clients found some modern zen linear planting containers that serve that purpose well.

We designed several sitting areas to augment the concrete paver patio that was already there.  An irregular ‘stone spine’ walkway leads first to the grilling area then, with stone steps down the grade, to the larger stone patio at the end of the property. 

We collaborated closely with the residents on every aspect of the design. They selected a stone we’d never used before because it has a bit of shine from mica. The shrub forms, shades of color, leaf shapes, and textures were matters of great attention. The homeowners love their ‘seed pod lawn’ surrounded by carefully selected shrubs and perennials. They will have interest in all four seasons, with gorgeous, sometimes fragrant blooms, evergreen foliages, and beautiful bark and berries.

Great American Landscapes constructed the garden, and OlsonWeaver Lighting designed and installed the lighting, with the owners’ help selecting fixtures. Just completed, can’t you imagine it filled in in two years? A lovely city retreat.

Traditional in the Front, Modern in the Back

The lighted pavilion is a great space in which to hang out: Bug free!

The screened pavilion, at the end of a narrow suburban property, provides both a bug-free destination and a spot from which to look back at the main house. Made with Mahogany walls, Ipe flooring, a standing seam metal roof, and containing a ceiling fan and futon, it is a wonderfully private garden spot. A curved stone wall retains the hill on the left and irregular flagstone is used to create the patio and path. Boulder steps lead up from the auto court.

Screened Pavilion Retreat

Shade Garden

This mature landscape welcomes the homeowners with flowering trees, shrubs, and perennials. Tiarella, hosta, and solomon's seal mingle with ferns, hellebore and lungwort. The landscape contractor who installed this garden over many years is Garden Gate Landscaping.

A More Visible Entrance

Cathy Carr of GreenHeart, LLC designed the landscape for this attractive Chevy Chase, MD home. The front entrance was opened up by transplanting existing boxwoods from either side of the walkway leading up to the front door door to a new location at the top of the hill.  The lower area's Linden tree canopy made it too shady for turf to grow, anyway, so the lower lawn was replaced with beautiful flowering shade-loving perennials.  New flagstone walkways were built straight to the front door, and to lead towards the backyard. 

Mid-Century Ranch Extended into the Outdoors

Cathy Carr of GreenHeart, LLC designed this screened porch/pergola for homeowners who love to spend time outside.  Their previous patio was a small concrete pad and we upgraded it by adding to the concrete base and capping it with flagstone. Now the homeowners have an outdoor kitchen/dining room area and an outdoor living room. The portion of the room that is screened has skylights and, since the homeowners love fresh breezes, the screens are motorized to appear only when mosquitos are bad.

The project received a Special Projects award in 2019 from the international Association of Professional Landscape Designers.

Inside-Outside Living

Drainage Issue Beautifully Solved

The homeowner's contemporary home had one big problem: Water leaked regularly into the basement.  The design not only resolved the problem, it created a much more beautiful space and view.

Drainage Issue Artfully Solved

A house addition required rebuilding the back patio and garden for these homeowners. GreenHeart designed a new shade garden for the path to the back yard and transplanted as many mature plantings as we could. A more generous patio was constructed: colorful plantings alongside provide interest and separation from the large lawn, where kids can run around freely.

Space for Parents and Children

Attractive In-Town Residence

We capped the front porch with PA flagstone and built a lattice panel covered with climbing Hydrangea to provide privacy from the neighbor. A brick retaining wall was constructed along the sidewalk. Shade-loving Sum and Substance Hosta, Pieris japonica, Hellebore, Yew, and Azalee thrive under a mature Saucer Magnolia.

Pool Renovation Project

Replacing the old wooden fence with ornamental steel fencing kept the pool safe and created a garden. PA flagstone pool coping and decking allows the pool to feel like part of the natural landscape.

New Front Entry

This is a large home on a tiny lot and the front entrance was unattractive and hard to locate. A new front porch with wide steps highlights the front door. A generous walkway of PA flagstone installed on the diagonal visually widens the entry and upright flagstone retains the soil of the plant bed.

Avenel Residence

AFTER PHOTO: Front Entry Renovations

Before and After views of four vastly different homes in the DC Metro area.

Front Entry Renovations

Kensington Backyard Retreat

GreenHeart has worked with these homeowners for several years, because their first priority was their front -- read 'curb appeal' -- yard.  They needed more space to entertain than their simple concrete patio allowed.  They also have an energetic dog, so keeping lawn was important.

We enlarged and modified the old patio by lowering the grade at which the patio sits. Instead of it being immediately outside the back door, we built the first of several steps down to it.  Additional steps past the paved area travel through a new planting bed to lead down to the lawn.

A warm-colored brick was chosen for the patio.  It complements the white house, and the surface flows to the planting beds that surround it.  Three CrepeMyrtles provide summer bloom and Serviceberry trees along the property boundary bloom in spring.  Both trees have great fall foliage color. By planting the hillside, more privacy was created when the family uses the patio.  Natural gas was piped in for their grill, and a separate fire pit area was constructed at the bottom of the hill, providing a focal point from the patio and a view of the garden from the house.

They - and their dog - love their new space.

Kensington Dog-friendly Backyard

Cathy Carr, APLD

The home is small and the family likes to entertain; I was asked to provide as much outdoor living space as possible. The back corner became a private spot in which to chat and listen to the water fountain. The sunroom opens to a deck close to the outdoor dining space. A grill is located near the kitchen door in the far right property corner.  Crepe myrtles minimize overhead wires. A private yard that feels intimate can still handle larger gatherings.

Small Property, Four Outdoor Spaces

Surrounded by McMansions

The homeowners live in an area where 'scrape and build' McMansions are prevalent. The brick-edged flagstone patio was present and the huge house two doors down was in the process of being completed when I was commissioned to design a solution that would let my clients love their home. Design program included creating screening from the looming neighbor and something nice to look at out the family room's double doors. A water feature delights: the homeowners even installed another bay window from their dining room so they can see the waterfall.

Gazing Ball and Quartz Boulder share pride of place

This cedar home is located in a wooded community known for informality and eclecticism. The old brick patio did not reflect the character of the neighborhood. It had also been poorly installed and was intersected with cracked and broken concrete. Plantings were overgrown and needed editing. 

A Cottage Garden

Bethesda, MD family home with room for entertaining

Homeowners wanted a swimming pool and spa for their family of five to enjoy with friends and neighbors. Land sloped steeply from the bottom of a straight line of steps down from the deck. Main design idea: classic Cut and Fill approach. We constructeda 3.5' tall retaining wall at the bottom of the property to raise the elevation and lowered the swimming pool level by 18" (3 steps). 

Swimming pool project

Creating Space for a Family of Gardeners

GreenHeart, LLC's Cathy Carr designed this project for homeowners who had downsized and needed to make to the backyard slope of this home useable for gardening. One homeowner loves to grow food, and mostly native perennials. We decided that a trio of three foot tall walls would allow for more ornamental plants to be grown. We also decided to give the walls undulating curves for beauty and interest. It was a large project requiring lots of time and heavy equipment. A concrete block wall was selected to complement the contemporary home and keep the investment reasonable. Steps and paths allow for easy watering, maintenance, and the enjoyment of strolling through the garden. The front driveway was expanded with flagstone to make the door easier to see and access. The same material is used to form a small patio underneath the beautiful existing Japanese maple. Low-voltage, dark sky, LED lighting was installed to extend the garden's use into the evening hours. Great American Landscapes installed the walls, paving, and large plantings, and Olson Weaver Lighting designed and installed the outdoor lighting. The homeowners are having fun developing the remainder of the gardens.

A Trio of Curved Walls

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