Luscious Landscape Renovation
This home had a lot of history and had been neglected for some time. The new owners took on a restoration project for both the inside and outside of this property.
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Royal Creations was first contacted to look at restoring the spring fed waterfalls and pond that surrounded the back portion of the basement. We quickly realized that the entire landscape would need a major face lift in order to get it to a state that matched the glory of the interior and lived up to the vision of this special family.
the challenges
Overgrown unkept landscape
Massive water feature needing major restoration
No existing lawn to speak of for Zoe the family dog
No lights to show off this amazing architecture
Needed home for sculpture collection
Phased approach to coordinate with other contractors
Old paver driveway needed repair
Existing sprinkler system didn’t work
how it went
from master plan to complete landscape renewal
We created a master plan based on the concept of the processional journey around the property from the new flat front lawn and down around the natural bluff that divided the front and back of the lot. This walking path would be differing materials from crushed stone, to stepping stones and a grand limestone staircase leading back up to the front.
Along this journey would be a collection of sculpture at key viewing areas with lighting to enhance the experience. This spacious lot offers a variety of plants, paths, and focal features to keep the home owners and visitors entertained.
An amazing set of waterfalls feeding the pond that surrounds the foundation of the house is the heart of the property and creates a sound that echos through several stories of this outside space.
Our Design Approach
Step 1) Layout the path around the property
The first step was to document the concept of the path wrapping around all quadrants of this outdoor space, and suggest the transition in materials as the path moved along.
Step 2) Placement of sculpture collection
After the paths were defined we had to choose the best locations along the path for viewing the sculptures from both the inside and outside of the home.
Step 3) planing design
There were hundreds of trees on this property and many that were removed and pruned to open up the outside space and provide some light to establish a lawn and help with plantings. Most of the garden areas were at least semi shady and we started with understory trees, like dogwoods, redbuds, and small magnolias to provide spring color and mid level structure.
Then, we filled in with some evergreens for winter interest and larger shrubs such as hydrangeas, fothergila, viburnums, and ninebark. We then filled in spaces with perennials for both sun and shade that would add pops of color throughout different seasons.
Step 4) Lighting Design
This project is the largest lighting design and install that we have completed. The plan used 5 transformers and over 100 lights to fully illuminate different parts of the landscape, including stone walls, paths, sculptures, specimen plants, and fountains.
The lights are carefully placed to enhance the historic home’s exterior naturally, providing visibility and advanced aesthetics at the same time.
“We did a complete yard remodel and absolutely love it. I’d recommend Andy and his team!”
the results
rejuvenated landscape for a kanas city historic home
