The Garden Cruise

PROFILES FROM THE 2023 GARDEN CRUISE…

LAFAYETTE GREENS

The Greening of Detroit’s Lafayette Greens is a green space and urban garden in the heart of downtown Detroit. Visitors, city workers, and neighborhood residents enjoy and relax in the space, watch veggies and flowers grow during the summer and enjoy seasonal programming. The award-winning garden was donated to The Greening of Detroit by Compuware in 2014. The Greening grows hundreds of pounds of chemical-free fruits, vegetables, herbs and flowers every year. Everything harvested goes to food banks, church pantries or volunteers. Visit www.greeningofdetroit.com for a calendar of events. Lafayette Greens is open to the public from April to September, Monday through Friday, 9am-5pm.

WELLINGTON

The landscape at Wellington has evolved steadily over the past 25 years. My clients began planting trees, shrubs, and perennials on the 7-acre property five years before building their house. They are still planting. The purchase of the home and property next door greatly expanded the landscape and garden potential. They chose rare, interesting, and unusual plants that appealed to them and sited them according to their inclination and the plant’s horticultural requirements. This strategy worked incredibly well on an informal property of this size. Later, a design relationship was forged over the development of a more formal and orderly landscape adjacent to the primary home and the next-door getaway cottage. Places for friends and family to gather, enjoy the garden, and share a meal became a priority. An extensive collection of containers are companionably planted for the summer season. The contrast and relationship between the informal and woodland spaces and the more structured house gardens are quite remarkable. Their collection of fine and beautiful garden ornament is evident throughout the property. Do not miss the opportunity to tour this extraordinary landscape.

A DETROIT LANDSCAPE - REIMAGINED 2023

This landscape was designed and installed in 2015 and featured on our 2016 Garden Cruise. Some seven years later, many trees, shrubs, and perennials have grown substantially. This project is well worth a second visit. This gorgeous old Tudor-style home is located in a lovely neighborhood in Detroit. The house is one hundred years old this year! My clients decided to purchase the house, knowing it would take extensive renovation both inside and out. Their willingness to move into an old neighborhood in Detroit, and put down roots, is a move I greatly respect. Highlights include a beautiful pool and spa, a steel pergola of epic proportions planted with grapes and clematis, a small but charming conservatory, terraces sized for entertaining, and raised beds for vegetables and herbs. The wild garden, which spans the entire length of the rear yard, has become a major landscape feature. Formal geometric plantings of boxwood, yews, and barberry in the front yard embrace the house and look beautiful from the street. If you did not tour this garden in 2016, it would be a delight. If you did see it in 2016, you will marvel at what changes nature and thoughtful care can add to a new landscape.

MALVEN HEIGHTS

These clients purchased a lovely home on several acres for themselves, but speaking for that property came with some considerable challenges. The house sits on the steepest and smallest piece of land on the entire parcel. This position provides them with a good bit of privacy from the road. But it also greatly limited the flat ground people ordinarily develop for outdoor enjoyment and entertaining. These clients are also very active in their community and regularly host events at home. There was work to be done. The first year was devoted to re-grading the expansive front yard and a new, less steep, and more functional driveway—the new, rather formal landscape in the front concentrates on the areas immediately adjacent to the house. Year two began with the engineering and construction of a swimming pool surrounded by an expansive ipe deck that functions as a backyard and entertainment space, all rolled into one. The rear landscape, designed and installed in year 3, is informal and respects the surrounding natural woodland areas. Trees, shrubs, and perennials are a lush foil to the contemporary pool, deck, and steel pergola. A property that is as functional as it is beautiful is a joy to come home to.

HIDDEN OASIS

A sizeable portion of this corner property features an upper-level patio off the house's side door that is perfect for hosting gatherings and summer cookouts. Adjacent to this terrace is a ravine that drops dramatically to a flat lower level outfitted with a spacious pool and pool deck. This unusual topography inspired a beautiful slab stone staircase and several terraces planted with roses, hydrangeas, and perennials. Changes in the grade make for interesting landscapes. The effect is quite private and quite garden-like. My client has owned this property for a long time, so the green giant arborvitae, redbud trees, and Japanese maples are mature and of a large size. Pots, garden ornament, and outdoor furniture have been sourced from Detroit Garden Works.

CORGI RUN

My landscape and garden have been on every Garden Cruise since its inception in 2008. It was remarkably stable over those years, except for losing a mature rose garden during the terrible winters in 2014 and 2015. But since 2019, there have been some significant changes in the fountain pool yard landscape. A collection of Princeton Gold maple trees planted on the lot lines was removed. In its place is a grove of compact growing tulip trees called “Emerald City.” The trunks of those tulip trees have been whitewashed, a practice that exists in gardens in many and various countries. The change is dramatic, as the tulip trees are young. What once was a very shady garden is now drenched in sunlight. A new Ipe deck replaced an old pine deck overlooking the fountain, and new furniture was added. A mix of new and old will make visiting this garden interesting.