When a family came to Dirt Queen NYC seeking a backyard makeover, they really just wanted one thing: to be able to use their yard. The existing “garden” was a patchy stretch of grass with garages on three sides. Now that their kids were older, the family no longer felt they needed a lawn for playtime. Instead they craved an adult space for hosting dinner parties and a dedicated firepit area, which might even entice their teens to hang out at home.
Jarema Osofsky and Adam Bertulli, co-founders of Dirt Queen NYC, took stock of the existing conditions. The family wanted to keep the existing trees, including some arborvitae that were nicely screening the neighbor’s garage and some Norway maples that were creating dense shade on one half of the garden. Bertulli and Osofsky saw an opportunity to give their clients the function they craved, carving out two distinct garden rooms in the small space, while also creating a dynamic pollinator garden.
Here’s how they did it.
Photography by Brett Wood, courtesy of Dirt Queen NYC.
Before
Above: The yard was nothing but balding grass, arborvitae, and a stand of Norway maples. One impactful move Bertulli and Osofsky made was asking the neighbors if they could paint the back walls of their garages the same color. Luckily, they agreed.
After
Above: From uninspired and useless to inviting and functional.
Above: Native flowering shrubs are the backbone of the new garden. For the garden’s midlayer, Osofsky used Clethra summersweet, oak leaf hydrangeas, and Viburnum dentatum, which she notes provides really beautiful berries for birds.
Above: Sweeps of flowering perennials were planted so there’s something blooming for birds, bees, and beauty throughout the year. “You can turn even a small lawn into a rich habitat for pollinators and wildlife,” says Osofsky, who notes that they chose mostly native plants, which tend to be more drought-tolerant. Left: A bee visits Agastache ‘Blue Fortune.’ Right: Helenium ‘Mariachi Fuego’ cozies up to Eupatorium ‘Phantom.’
Above: Half the yard lay in deep shade thanks to the Norway maples and the other half was in full sun. (While these trees are invasive, there are many in this neighborhood, so cutting them down wouldn’t have removed them from the ecosystem and clients liked to have some shade in summer.) Osofsky imagined the shadier area like a woodland, planting shade-tolerant ferns and shrubs. “We tried to capture that moment when a wooded forest transitions to an open meadow,” says Osofsky. Two plants that particularly helped bridge the sunny and shady conditions were tufted hair grass and amsonia.
Above: Osofsky and Bertulli brought on Built to Last Hardscapes to build the bluestone patio and specified a similarly hued gravel for the firepit area. Two tips from Osofsky: make sure the patio is large enough for guests to pull their chairs all the way out; and look for premium teak outdoor furniture, which will age gracefully and last longer than other woods. Williams-Sonoma Home no longer makes this particular dining table; here’s a similar version. The Hot Mesh dining chairs are from Blu Dot.
Above: Repeated materials give the garden a pulled-together look, especially in a smaller space. For example, the garden bed edging is the same Cor-ten steel as the firepit, and the chairs around it are teak like the dining table.
Above: Many decisions were guided by the clients’ desire for a low-maintenance yard; for example, gravel does not need to be mowed and cushion-free furniture means not having to protect them in in inclement weather. This photo was taken a year after installation for more images, check out this post on Dirt Queen NYC’s Instagram.
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