Outdoor Rooms and Naturalistic Plantings Embrace a Dune Landscape
A landscape designer transforms an eroding sandy dune in Michigan into a native garden that celebrates the site
Annie Thornton
28 November 2018
Houzz Editorial Staff
Two Unilock Turfstone tracks lead from the road to the front of the house, creating a solid, permeable surface for the homeowners to drive and ride their bikes on (especially useful in winter). Over time, plants will grow through the material and create a softer, more planted appearance. “After” photos by Ben Pancoast
Landscape at a Glance
Who lives here: A couple with grown children, two dogs and chickens
Location: Coloma, Michigan (St. Joseph–Benton Harbor metro area)
Size: 80 acres (32 hectares); about 5 acres are landscaped
Designer: Anna Brooks; her company, Arcadia Gardens, also installed the project
A couple in southwestern Michigan hired landscape designer Anna Brooks to design the outdoor space around their newly built home, both to enhance their enjoyment of the site and also for another, more practical reason. The home is sited on a natural sand dune, part of a sand dune complex that is more than 200,000 acres. “Due to the construction process, [it] was reverting back to an active, moving blowout,” designer Anna Brooks says.
While this site falls outside of Michigan’s designated critical dune area, and its design is not subject to state regulations, the designer and homeowners made preserving the dune’s natural landscape as much as possible a priority. Their strategy was to create more formally designed spaces and plantings closer to the house. Farther away, closer to the woods bordering the dune, the design loosens up and bleeds more into the natural landscape.
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Landscape at a Glance
Who lives here: A couple with grown children, two dogs and chickens
Location: Coloma, Michigan (St. Joseph–Benton Harbor metro area)
Size: 80 acres (32 hectares); about 5 acres are landscaped
Designer: Anna Brooks; her company, Arcadia Gardens, also installed the project
A couple in southwestern Michigan hired landscape designer Anna Brooks to design the outdoor space around their newly built home, both to enhance their enjoyment of the site and also for another, more practical reason. The home is sited on a natural sand dune, part of a sand dune complex that is more than 200,000 acres. “Due to the construction process, [it] was reverting back to an active, moving blowout,” designer Anna Brooks says.
While this site falls outside of Michigan’s designated critical dune area, and its design is not subject to state regulations, the designer and homeowners made preserving the dune’s natural landscape as much as possible a priority. Their strategy was to create more formally designed spaces and plantings closer to the house. Farther away, closer to the woods bordering the dune, the design loosens up and bleeds more into the natural landscape.
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Before: This is what the entry to the home looked like before the renovation, after the design team had already installed the main hardscape and major trees, but before additional plantings were made and the driveway was updated.
Before: This view is from the front door looking left, down the dune and toward a lined pond on the property. The homeowners had worked with a landscaper in the past who had created the start of terraced patios and placed some boulders. To help stabilize the sandy slopes, they had covered much of the dune with chipped mulch.
This view from the front door shows the main patio area and lined pond beyond. A path of sandstone pavers meanders down into the landscape.
After: The garden starts at the front door, with grasses and perennials framing a winding path made of large Sierra sandstone flagstone. Specimen boulders are placed as points of interest along the path, inviting visitors to stop and look around. The paths also lead to natural walking trails farther out in the yard.
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After: The garden starts at the front door, with grasses and perennials framing a winding path made of large Sierra sandstone flagstone. Specimen boulders are placed as points of interest along the path, inviting visitors to stop and look around. The paths also lead to natural walking trails farther out in the yard.
Browse more path ideas
This main patio is one of the terraced seating areas in the design. The gold-topped ‘Karl Foerster’ feather reed grass seen at the top of the photo screen the driveway and arriving cars from view.
The path connects to various outdoor gathering spots in the yard, leading first to a main patio and a fire pit patio. It then moves to a sunbathing patio and bocce ball court. The sandstone paving blends with the natural ground color, receding into the background of the design. “Pulling the details of rustic stone and weathering steel from the house, we created multiple levels of patios and walls that flow together following the contours of the dune,” Brooks says.
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The path connects to various outdoor gathering spots in the yard, leading first to a main patio and a fire pit patio. It then moves to a sunbathing patio and bocce ball court. The sandstone paving blends with the natural ground color, receding into the background of the design. “Pulling the details of rustic stone and weathering steel from the house, we created multiple levels of patios and walls that flow together following the contours of the dune,” Brooks says.
Browse patio furniture on Houzz
Before: Here, the bocce ball court is under construction. The site had been graded and walls installed around a base of compacted crushed concrete.
Native blueberry, sand cherry and chokeberry bushes surround the decomposed-granite bocce court.
After: The completed decomposed-granite-topped bocce court sits farther down the dune from the patio, just off the driveway, and doubles as a large entertaining area. “The bocce ball court was designed to be a loose and casual play space for two people or a functional event area for a tent and 100 people,” Brooks says.
The dry-set stacked-stone wall that runs the court’s length serves as a place for guests to sit and rest during a party or game of bocce. A Cor-Ten steel retaining wall runs along the front of the court.
What to Know About Adding a Backyard Bocce Ball Court
After: The completed decomposed-granite-topped bocce court sits farther down the dune from the patio, just off the driveway, and doubles as a large entertaining area. “The bocce ball court was designed to be a loose and casual play space for two people or a functional event area for a tent and 100 people,” Brooks says.
The dry-set stacked-stone wall that runs the court’s length serves as a place for guests to sit and rest during a party or game of bocce. A Cor-Ten steel retaining wall runs along the front of the court.
What to Know About Adding a Backyard Bocce Ball Court
Before: This shot shows the landscape during construction, after the retaining walls and flagstone steps had been installed but before any plants went in.
The home and landscape are nestled into the side of the dune, with terraces creating a main patio in the center and the fire pit area to the right. The Cor-Ten retaining walls peek out just above the planted grasses and perennials.
After: Cor-Ten steel retaining walls frame the outdoor terraces, recalling the home’s architecture and adding a small nod to Southwest style — which the homeowners wanted to bring into their home. “It’s not a material that is commonly used in landscapes in southwestern Michigan,” Brooks says, but it also lends itself to the natural quality of the design. Specimen boulders selected by the homeowners and sited by the designer interrupt the steel walls every once in a while, adding even more of a natural touch.
After: Cor-Ten steel retaining walls frame the outdoor terraces, recalling the home’s architecture and adding a small nod to Southwest style — which the homeowners wanted to bring into their home. “It’s not a material that is commonly used in landscapes in southwestern Michigan,” Brooks says, but it also lends itself to the natural quality of the design. Specimen boulders selected by the homeowners and sited by the designer interrupt the steel walls every once in a while, adding even more of a natural touch.
Plants add beauty, screening, wildlife benefit and slope stability to the site.
Brooks looked at the surrounding landscape, as well as other natural landscapes, for inspiration. “The clients were very inspired by the mountainous Southwestern region of the U.S., and asked for a landscape that recalled that region for them with rocks, sand, grasses and scrub brush,” Brooks says. They requested a plant palette that was mostly native, edible and wildlife-friendly.
Existing plants mingle with the new plantings. “Considering the fragile nature of the site, existing pockets of vegetation were to remain and be preserved,” Brooks says. The plants on the property are planted in natural drifts, rather than evenly spaced, as they appear in nature.
The plants also serve an important purpose in helping to preserve the dune, as their roots help hold the sand and soil in place. “One particular challenge is that the wind blows the sand around,” Brooks says. “Buffering the edges of the planted areas and the hardscape with dune grass helped stabilize the sand.” Additionally, the designer used plants with deep roots and spreading rhizomes to increase slope stabilization.
Designer tip: For a similar site, consider using small grass and perennial plugs for the majority of your plantings. Here, “they were more economically priced and allowed us to get denser spacing than traditional gallon-sized pots would have. Within a season they catch up,” Brooks says.
How to Find the Right Native Plants for Your Yard
Brooks looked at the surrounding landscape, as well as other natural landscapes, for inspiration. “The clients were very inspired by the mountainous Southwestern region of the U.S., and asked for a landscape that recalled that region for them with rocks, sand, grasses and scrub brush,” Brooks says. They requested a plant palette that was mostly native, edible and wildlife-friendly.
Existing plants mingle with the new plantings. “Considering the fragile nature of the site, existing pockets of vegetation were to remain and be preserved,” Brooks says. The plants on the property are planted in natural drifts, rather than evenly spaced, as they appear in nature.
The plants also serve an important purpose in helping to preserve the dune, as their roots help hold the sand and soil in place. “One particular challenge is that the wind blows the sand around,” Brooks says. “Buffering the edges of the planted areas and the hardscape with dune grass helped stabilize the sand.” Additionally, the designer used plants with deep roots and spreading rhizomes to increase slope stabilization.
Designer tip: For a similar site, consider using small grass and perennial plugs for the majority of your plantings. Here, “they were more economically priced and allowed us to get denser spacing than traditional gallon-sized pots would have. Within a season they catch up,” Brooks says.
How to Find the Right Native Plants for Your Yard
This zoomed-out view of the landscape from a peninsula in the middle of the pond shows how the home fits into the larger context. You can see how the design stands out in the landscape, with the terracing and Cor-Ten walls, but also blends in with the natural beauty of the site.
Brooks used plants that would survive in the hot, dry sand dune conditions, but she also installed an irrigation system as a backup. “This allows the clients to control the irrigation in zones to water their vegetables interspersed throughout the plantings, as well as prevent any serious damage to the landscape plantings during drought conditions,” she says.
The irrigation system pulls from the natural spring under the lined pond. The plumbing and pond aeration system are housed in a cellar-like structure that is built into the side of the dune.
Irrigation: Turf Services
Steel retaining walls: Farren’s Custom Metal Works
More on Houzz
Tour inspiring gardens
Learn more about gardening with native plants
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Brooks used plants that would survive in the hot, dry sand dune conditions, but she also installed an irrigation system as a backup. “This allows the clients to control the irrigation in zones to water their vegetables interspersed throughout the plantings, as well as prevent any serious damage to the landscape plantings during drought conditions,” she says.
The irrigation system pulls from the natural spring under the lined pond. The plumbing and pond aeration system are housed in a cellar-like structure that is built into the side of the dune.
Irrigation: Turf Services
Steel retaining walls: Farren’s Custom Metal Works
More on Houzz
Tour inspiring gardens
Learn more about gardening with native plants
Get more landscape inspiration
Shop for outdoor products
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Thank you all for the compliments, it was a wonderful project to be part of! To answer the questions regarding the pond: yes, it is lined with a 'rubber' liner, similar to golf course ponds. We did not install the pond, which is about twice the size as shown in the photo. As I understand it, there was a natural spring, which was then excavated to create the pond, but didn't provide enough water to keep it full. A liner was placed, which is covered with enough sand that the liner is protected from punctures. There is a cistern that collects the water from the spring underneath the liner, and it gets pumped out to keep the pond full and provide irrigation to the landscape.
Probably EPDM (synthetic) rubber, given that they have harsh winters there. All rubber, vinyl and PVC pond liners need to be replaced at some point (10-20 years, depending on material and site). It’s a huge, messy undertaking.
I was surprised to see blueberry and chokecherry in the planting scheme. Both plants need very acid, evenly moist, preferably peaty soil. But I see they are essentially in a planter, so are likely sitting in imported soil. Be aware that chokecherry can be toxic to dogs if they eat enough of the fruit. Some dogs won’t touch it, but some dogs will snarf down anything that looks like food. I once had a group dogs who suddenly decided to gobble down pyracantha berries after a new dog joined the pack and started the fad. End result — massive digestive distress for all, one dog in emergency intensive care, and no more pyracantha on my property.
Beautiful views