Garden Notes

Brick patio in backyard with short walls providing casual seating.

This weekend I visited my daughter in Chicago for our annual Mother’s Day/Garden weekend. I usually spend a couple of days with her and we do some gardening, go shopping and do other girl stuff. This year Rochelle took me to Miller Beach near Gary, Indiana to visit her friend John.

A few years ago John purchased a small home with a large yard in Miller Beach and has been working ever since on renovating his new house and landscaping the yard. John is an architect and has been slowly transforming the home’s interior, taking out three walls and installing French doors. Now the original series of dark closets and hallways between the front and the back of the house is a throughway allowing light and air to flow and provides an instant view of the beautiful back yard from the front door. While he is not quite finished, I was able to envision the finished home and I must say it is a vast improvement on the original house I saw 2 years ago.

View of patio from dining room

To me, one of the most interesting projects that he has completed is located outdoors. When he originally purchased his house, the yard was very big but overgrown and without any distinguishing features – basically a blank canvas. John and his friend Larry Asimow, who owns Asimow Landscaping, built a berm and put in a brick patio consisting of a central space with short walls built on either side that hold back the berm and form casual seating. The berm was then planted with perennials to add a bit of seasonal color to the setting. I think this patio is simply inspired.

John’s new patio creates a focal point in a very flat back yard and is a lovely space to entertain friends or just sit with a cup of coffee and read the morning paper. He is currently looking for just the right table to fit his new space.