The Waverly Woodland Garden lies within a large forest expanse where the Plains meet the Piedmont. At this ecological edge, the land unveils an enchanting richness: an old growth forest, rocky knolls, flourishing fern glades, pawpaw floodplains, a swampland complete with a spring and beaver dam, and a myriad of fauna. This mosaic sets the stage for a garden that is meant to function as an active participant in a larger landscape.
The program called for a functional residential landscape that could accommodate parking, outdoor gatherings, and circulation without interrupting the continuity of the surrounding forest. The design sought a continuum between cultivated spaces and woodland rather than imposing an ornamental overlay. Decisions about placement of plantings, outdoor rooms, and pathways were made with care to maintain ecological flows, preserve existing trees, and create corridors that beckon wildlife across. Materials and plantings were selected to echo textures and patterns found in the surrounding forest. The resulting landscape balances practicality with ecological sensitivity, shaping spaces that feel purposeful yet unobtrusive.
The garden began with a simple ambition: to blur the line between forest and yard, prioritizing a mix of native plants borrowed from the palette of the surrounding forests. Swaths of perennials interplanted with drifts of shrubs weave through the site, creating channels that invite movement for humans and nonhumans alike. Layered plantings—low groundcovers under taller perennials and shrubs—offer texture, seasonal color, and habitat. Varied densities of planting create pockets of enclosure and open space, encouraging wild and unexpected encounters. In this way, the garden extends the woodland’s structure and biodiversity into the domestic realm, integrating cultivated order with the spontaneity of a rich forest environment.
Continuing the theme of drawing the forest inward, stacked stone walls were constructed from stone gathered on site. Hand-laid, each rock was turned and tested until it found a natural resting place, its irregular edges carefully nested to achieve visual continuity. The walls and gravel rooms impose moments of order within the intentional messiness of the planting by framing both the front parking court and back terrace. The play between constant, sharp forms and ever-changing, loose perennial swaths serves to enhance the experience of the garden’s ephemerality.
At every stage, the garden was designed with ecological impact in mind. Layered arrangements of native species create habitat connectivity, improve soil health, and enhance biodiversity at the forest edge. From the outset, we collaborated closely with a local landscape construction company to develop an initial garden layout and an adaptable planting plan. While this framework guided the overall vision, much was intentionally left open so that key design decisions could be made in the field, responding to site conditions and unexpected discoveries. By echoing the surrounding woodland in structure and composition, the garden creates a space that feels alive, responsive, and fully integrated with the forest beyond.
The Waverly Woodland Garden dissolves the boundary between cultivated yard and wild forest, inviting human and nonhuman life into a shared terrain. Rather than asserting a clear boundary, the design dissolves the edge, weaving native plant communities from the surrounding ecosystem into the everyday life of the home. Stone walls, terraces, and gravel courts anchor human habitation, while layered, dynamic plantings invite the rhythms of the wild to press close. In this calibrated exchange, residence and woodland coexist not in competition, but as interdependent parts of a shared landscape, integrating human use with habitat creation, structure with spontaneity, and permanence with seasonal change.
Installation by R&R Landscaping
