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If you could have a garden like this one in Cambridge, MA, you, too, would wish that your house burned down. The current homeowners bought the modern house, which went up after the previous owners' traditional style house was destroyed by a fire.
Now, the front yard is dominated by a large beech tree that sucked up most of the water and finally persuaded the owners to pull out the rhododendrons, Virginia sweetspire and supposedly dry-shade-loving groundcovers and replace them with a dwarf bamboo (Pleioblastos viridistriatus) or golden bamboo.
As you head into the back yard, you walk through a side yard with needled evergreens on one side, some roses and groundcover on the other. You can't help but notice the five-trunked enormous beech tree in the distance, which dominates the entire back yard.
A large bed of petasites nicely balances the beech tree, which is to the right and just out of view. Note the tall bamboo (Phyllostachys aureosulcata 'Aureocaulis') on the back border that completely screens out the adjacent house, and the brick paths that wind in back of the petasites.
From the back deck, you can hear the sound of the small waterfall cascading into the pool -- in a location that's totally hidden from the rest of the garden by the giant leaves of the Butterbur. Ferns, epimedium, hostas, hellebores, pachysandra and other shade lovers are planted everywhere, ...
And of course you just can't ignore that magnificent copper beech tree. There arent' many modern houses in Cambridge, but it is perfect for the size of the lot, and the simple planting palette, with many bold textures, is exactly what's called for to complement the style of the residence.
This house was on the recent Cambridge garden tour, which is held every two years by the Friends of the Cambridge Public Library. Mark your calendars for 2014.
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