Drake Design Studio

The owners of this property hired DDS in 2006 to develop a landscape design that would work in concert with their house, which was undergoing a major renovation at the time. DDS worked with the architect and contractor, adding specimen trees, perennial borders, an arbor, trellises and a reconfigured entrance. The owners wished to allow neighbors and passers-by to enjoy their gardens, so the surrounding hedges are maintained to 3.5-foot height. The plant palette offers year-round interest: holly berries and evergreens in winter; helleborus, tulips and daffodils in the spring; a constant display of perennials and flowering shrubs throughout the summer; and fall-blooming asters, heucheras and 'Autumnalis' cherry trees. Many of the perennials are divisions from the Battery Conservancy in New York City and are thriving in their new home by the sea.