St. Mary’s River House

A serene riverside home serves as a weekend retreat. To evoke the placid, almost spiritual vibe our clients wanted, we kept the turf areas to a minimum, opting instead to use a palette of different meadow types. The area between the house and the river was impenetrable, thick with invasive vines and trees. To clear the land, we hired a herd of goats who promptly ate the weeds and pulled ivy from tree trunks so we could install riverine buffer plants such as Switchgrass and Swamp Mallow. A mix of hardy herbs like Russian sage and Lavender appear throughout. The pool terrace itself is composed of large pavers planted with mazus. A tulip tree was preserved, which we later discovered housed an osprey who used this tree for nesting, a sure sign that this property was meant to be a sanctuary.