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Winner of the Gold Excellence in Landscape Design Award, 2008, from the Pennsylvania Landscape and Nursery Association

The homeowners wished to convert a small, limited, covered concrete patio to a larger, more useful patio and a beautiful garden space that could provide a view from the interior through the many windows and glass doors.  They also needed to eliminate a significant drainage problem. Baker Creative met the clients’ needs and created a bright space with year-round interest, an outdoor living space as an extension of the home, ease of access via the home and driveway, and a feeling of connection to the rural woodland setting surrounding the property.

We over-engineered the drainage with a combination of extended downspouts, below-patio grading, drywells and stone walls that deflect and direct water flow.  To make the space feel larger and more integrated with the surroundings, we built variegated edges to plant beds that we incorporated into the rectangular area, with regular dimension shifts that harmonize with the squared architecture while ensuring a dynamic line that telescopes the view toward the yard and woodland. An irregular flagstone path then continues the transition to the natural locale. Despite the seeming limitations of what began as a static, rectangular area, we created a generous, livable space, and made it appear still larger by focusing the gaze to the yard and beyond – with a feel of movement created by the shapes of the beds and the irregular pathway.