Wildscape Design, LLC.

As the first real snow of the season is falling here in Burlington, we can't help but dream about this sublime lakeside landscape we had the opportunity to design and install for one of our clients this summer 😍

We helped them to establish a no-mow buffer along their existing stabilized shore (boulder and retaining walls), planted a sweeping garden of native species to further reduce lawn and improve habitat, and finally -- what would a lakeside property be without meaningful access for recreation? -- we designed a sheltered gathering space with sweeping views of the sunset over the Adirondacks and steps down to the water.

The dry-laid stone seating wall, steps, and site grading were completed by and we're obsessed with how it all turned out. Thanks for delivering on our client's vision!

Wishing everybody warmth and comfort as winter arrives!

Peek-a-boo 👀
One of our community facing gardens at Wake Robin was briefly featured on this interesting piece from WCAX-TV

How Wake Robin residents are mastering storytelling Stories are handed down through generations and the best ones are well-told. Now, the residents at Wake Robin in Shelburne are learning how to share their legacy.

Our fall gardens are really popping right now, with asters, anemone, and chrysanthemums putting on a spectacular flower show against a backdrop of autumn foliage 🍂 such a magical time of year!
Also the best time of year for a break to hike some mountains and peep some leaves with your special people 💛

Foamflower (Tiarella cordifolia) and woodland phlox (Phlox divartica) are coming in strong and putting on a show at . We love these native groundcovers!

One of our larger projects to date, and very exciting!

The owners of this 6-acre property in the Champlain Valley aim to convert over one-and-a-half acres of their existing lawn into meadows, adding onto the two acres of existing oldfield/meadow. The process has been really interesting, as we co-create new spaces, destinations, windbreaks, and focal points across their landscape.

We're integrating a mix of "designed meadows," which will be tarped this spring to destroy the sod, and seeded with a custom seed mix from this fall (it's been quite fun putting together the spreadsheets); "naturalized meadows," which abut existing meadows and will be allowed to return through reduced mowing - we'll curate these spaces with masses of native shrubs and plugs, while regularly pulling nuisance plants, such as brown-spotted knapweed and parsnip; and managing an oldfield complex toward meadow once again, through a targeted brush hogging schedule and removal of some invasive woody perennials and shrubs. We were honored to consult with Mike Bald (Got Weeds? Not on IG) this fall to ID nuisance plants and develop a restoration and maintenance strategy.

The new landscape will boast a dramatically improved habitat value for migratory birds and native insects, a ten-fold increase in biodiversity, and a cure for the traditional lawn aesthetic to boot. We'll be sure to post about the process as it unfolds over the next three-to-four years.