AFTER: The once-overgrown and neglected yard now stands as a testament to sustainable landscaping and native plant integration.

BEFORE: Tangled with overgrowth, invaded by vines and other unwelcome elements, and missing the sustainable, natural allure the homeowners desired.

DURING: Over 370 carefully selected deer-resistant native plants were strategically placed, hardscaping details were maintained, and collaborative efforts brought the project to life over four intense days.

— CEDAR —

complete redesign + a dislike of grass + sustainable solutions + weird hotels

Butler, PA / 2023-2024

I have to admit, when I got the call from the clients on Cedar Road in Butler, PA, I was, at best, skeptical. It was already mid-January: cold, stark, and gray, and I was 'technically on a break' from work. But honestly, I didn't feel like driving to Butler – one hour seemed so far from the city and my comfort zone – but I did. I was curious.

When I approached the brick, cottage-styled home, my immediate thought was to turn around: there was a sad, obviously dead, giant ornamental weeping cherry surrounded by an enormous volcanic mound of river stone (as opposed to mulch) at the 'hero corner' of the large yard. "What the heck?" I mumbled under my breath. Before I even got midway up the front path, Bill came out of the front door and cheerfully said, "You must be Suzanne! Welcome!". Too late, I thought, I couldn't back out now.

Bill walked me around the yard's front, back, and sides, talking about seeing my profile on the Phipps Conservatory website, wanting natives, and how much he didn't like grass. Everything was completely overgrown, and vines and other invasives were meandering through whatever they could. He and his wife were looking for sustainable solutions that included native plants and trees, and he wanted things to look natural and even a little wild. I was hooked.

A little cold and a little confused, I thought this would be a big project; we would have to remove and replace literally 90% of what was currently in the yard, and I doubted he and his wife would be up for the challenge. I wasn't even sure I was: how will I get machines, crew, plants - literally everything up here to do this work? I had a lot to process. I told him I would be happy to send a design estimate and that he would hear from me within a few days. I sent the design estimate and, within a week, had a signed contract and deposit in hand. And then the work began.

I couldn't 'see' how to make the significant changes he was looking to do, and more importantly, I had a mental block in solving the technicalities of it all. I called my old friend Chris Smutts, owner of Smutts Brothers Debris Removal Services, and I convinced him to go to Butler with me and walk through the job site. We discussed the needs of the client, my design concepts, loose budgets, and a timeline. And while I didn't have any design work committed to paper at this point, only 'napkin sketches,' he totally got it and was in.

I spent the next couple of months creating the Master Plan for Cedar Road, which included a scaled architectural rendering of a complete redesign, a plant list (primarily natives) and mini plant book, a lighting and irrigation plan, and a project management plan. I presented it to the client, and they were 100% in. They immediately handed me a check so I could hire my team of subs and get to work.

The first order of business was getting Chris and co back to the site and having them demo, which, unfortunately, was in August, complete with the requisite heat, humidity, and mosquitoes, but this was the earliest we could manage. After removing trees, shrubs, stone, soil, and debris, we began laying out / rough in the areas where the new beds were going. The hardscaping was not changing, so we had specific delimitation space in addition to full sun, shade, and mixed areas.

I ordered my plants, 370 in total AND they had to be resistant to the herds of deer roaming around the woods and neighborhood: Trees (including four 2.5 caliper River Birch, three Serviceberries, five Witch Hazel, and a Franklinia, which sadly had to be replaced as it died that Winter), Shrubs (Clethra, Fothergilla, Winterberry Holly, Elderberry, Perennials (over 225 individual native perennials), and scheduled the delivery to coincide with the delivery roughly 25-30 yards of new organic soil/compost mix.

I had figured out that my crew would spend four full days working, so I booked a block of rooms at a nearby hotel, which became our weird (but safe and clean) little home for the next few days while we installed the project. I contracted with a supersmart local plumber from Butler who built the Rainbird irrigation pump manifold system and installed it in less than two hours; he was terrific to work with!

My partner, Voyager Electric from Pittsburgh, drove up to install new dedicated power for the outdoor lighting throughout the property. My team spent four long, hot days installing plants, cleaning up giant messes, and moving heavy things around, all with excitement and mostly big smiles.

You can see the before and after images to understand how much work went into this fantastic project. We all learned so much together, and the biggest takeaway for me was the feeling of pride in having the client 100% trust me, my process, my crew, and my partners to do the work and make beautiful things happen.