Beautiful new homes aren’t necessarily immune to landscape issues, and this gorgeous property in Whitemud Park was a perfect case-in-point. Despite a few big obstacles, this Edmonton family had a clear, fantastic vision and a property with loads of potential. Landscape designer Andreas Lietz did an incredible job taking this sprawling landscape to the next level.
The Vision: Formal, Yet Family-Friendly
This family’s stunning home featured beautiful masonry, wrought-iron balcony railings, and an elegant mansard roof reminiscent of classic French design. This refined home design called for a more formal landscape style to match. However, the yard still needed to be relaxed and practical enough to meet the needs of their growing family.
Ideally, the family hoped to have an outdoor space where they could entertain adult guests and also appeal to their kids’ entourage of friends. They were looking for ample seating and a roomy barbeque area in the backyard that would make a gorgeous setting for family cookouts.
Meanwhile, the yard needed to have a dedicated space for their active kids’ lifestyles. They envisioned a space that could be used as a hockey rink in the winter, and used for other court sports from spring to fall.
To keep things looking formal, the family requested plenty of clean lines and a limited range of coordinated plants. By limiting the plant diversity to about ten plants with similar colour palettes, the look of the yard could stay consistent and symmetrical throughout, adding to the traditional aesthetic.
The Whitemud Park Challenges
As beautiful as this home is, the homeowners had experienced their share of bumps in the road. The original build had forced a walk-out basement, which was great in theory, but improper grading and insufficient attention to drainage had repeatedly caused water damage issues in the home and landscape. This was a major problem that would be our first priority to address.
Unfortunately, this wasn’t the only issue to worry about. The entire yard lacked marked powerlines, gas lines, irrigation pipes, and the heated driveway wasn’t working.
Luckily for the homeowners, the lot was spacious and beautiful with lots of potential. This was an excellent example of an otherwise great property that ended up needing extensive remedial work because the previous work was riddled with cut corners. The Salisbury team was able to spot the issues quickly and dig in to get them fixed up!
The Design
Senior Landscape Designer Andreas Lietz took the lead on this project to come up with a gorgeous, formal, and multi-functional outdoor space. This Whitemud Park landscape essentially needed a full rebuild to correct the water drainage issues, including the installation of new highpoints and beautiful tiered green spaces lined with stacked-boulder retaining and wing walls. Garden areas were limited to ten species of plants in various sizes, and flowering plants were limited to white flowers for a polished, formal look in the spring and summer.
We added a large formal entertaining area behind the house with interlocking pavers that matched the colour of the retaining wall stone. Meanwhile, the wide, flat concrete slabs topping the retaining walls could double as spillover seating for birthday parties and other large gatherings.
Further back, we installed a large multi-purpose sports court that both kids and adults could use to play hockey, basketball, tennis, volleyball, or badminton depending on the season.
When it all came together, the family was thrilled with their new landscape. We were proud to have given them a space that was formal without being stuffy, traditional and yet inviting, and just as beautiful as their gorgeous home. We had a lot of fun working with the homeowners to create this outstanding yard, and we’re only a little bit jealous of the parties they’ll be throwing here for years to come!
