Alongside a steep dirt road in the southern mountains of Vermont, The Pond and the Meadow is a family retreat, a series of sunny openings in the otherwise dense canopy. The primary residence sits at the top of the slope and the pond at the bottom, held in a small valley. For many years a straight, wide path was mowed between the two, perpendicular to the grade and treacherous to navigate for all but the most able. Through the transformation of land management practices, and the accumulation of additions and removals, Practice Landscape transformed the acres “in between” into a gently sloped, meandering walk through a series of changing conditions, each celebrated and cared for.

The first phase focused on selective clearing of brush and aggressive vines, revealing several beautiful lindens. Nyssa sylvatica were added at the feet of the existing canopy, their bright red fall color vivid against the yellow of the lindens. The cleared woody material was stacked between timber posts to create a textured “wall” nestled at the edge of the existing woods. Each year the walls settle and compost, and new pruned material is added on top. Thickets of introduced shrubs (Aesculus parviflora, Ilex verticillata, Kalmia latifolia) drift across the once mowed slope above the pond, blurring the views of the flat plane of water, adding color, texture, and habitat. Following the establishment of the woody planting around the pond, tall, tough, brightly colored perennials, including Baptisia, Eupatorium, Aster nova-anglae, Lobelia cardinalis, and Darmera peltata, were introduced to the existing Solidago.

Curving along the undulating grade, the new walk down to the pond includes a dense woodland on a rock ledge just below an old stone retaining wall for the large 19th century barn. Stone steps cut into the retaining wall hug the stone outcropping and lead to a mulch path through the woods, opening to a clearing above the pond. Aggressive vine removal and thinning and limbing of the maple and cherry seedlings opened space on the ground for Helleborus, Actaea racemosa, Aruncus dioicus, Athyrium angustum, Phlox stolonifera, and Epimedium. These introductions were tucked in between stones to mingle with existing Arisaema triphyllum and Rubus ssp.

Finally, at the sunny top of the slope, a new perennial cutting garden took the place of mowed sod and existing patches of Monarda didyama were thinned and interplanted with ornamental grasses and hardy perennials for diversity of texture and color. In contrast to the hot purples and reds of the flowers viewed from the house, the cutting garden planted against the house, seen primarily on the walk back up the hill, is a cloudy haze of white, pale pink, lavender, and chartreuse. Allium cernuum, Physostegia ‘Miss Manners’ and Thalictrum lucidum punctuate drifts of Amsonia ‘Storm Cloud’, all supported by the structure of Ilex crenata ‘Compacta’. Knautia arvensis tumbles out and over the woody armature of Rhus ‘Gro-Low’ and Veronicastrum ‘Adoration’ and Sanguisorba ‘Cangshan Cranberry’ add height.

The acres of hillside between the house and the pond are no longer an impediment through which the family must travel; instead, they have been transformed into an orchestrated meander through a series of differently managed conditions. The existing topography is celebrated rather than surmounted and introduced planting compliments the plant life excavated through selective thinning and removals.

Project Data

Landscape architecture: Practice Landscape
Ohter designers involved in the design: Architecture by Kiel Moe
Project location: Halifax, Vermont, USA
Year completed: 2017-2023
Photo credits: Practice Landscape