SHEPARD BUTLER LANDSCAPE ASSOCIATES   vermont landscape architects

Collaborating with BLBenn Architects, SBLA created a woodland inspired series of connected minimalist gardens encompassing a newly constructed contemporary residence in Hanover, New Hampshire. The entry garden and its spine of two juxtaposed stone walls, rest above a micro-forest of densely planted Yellow Birch (Betula alleghaniensis). The garden creates an enticing yet mysterious approach to the main entry of the home. A set of stone steps at the elbow of the walls leads one down under the canopy of the grove garden, through a carpet of Hayscented Fern (Dennstaedtia punctilobula),  and eventually through a square cut out in the building. Once through the cut, the dramatic contrast from dark to light is immediately felt as one finds themselves perched above a wildflower meadow which aids in stabilizing the steep slope down to the banks of the Connecticut River. A crunchy stone path along the top of the meadow and through another building<>garden cut out brings one to the play lawn with its London Planetree (Platanus × acerifolia ‘Bloodgood’) specimens dotted throughout.