Hawthorne Garden Design will transform your yard into a beautiful and aesthetically interesting garden space that showcases both plants and mixed stone materials in its creation. We worked with HDG to redo our DC townhouse back and front yards. We had lots of requirements and HDG came through on each one resulting in an inviting and aesthetic backyard garden and a very pleasing front garden.
Tamara, owner of HDG, has both the vision and project management skills to make projects come together in a timely and budget conscious manner. She is a pleasure to work with and the results are enhanced by the craftsmanship of her hardscape crew, led by Andrew, and the experience of her gardener partner, Sandoval. Tamara got back to us promptly - usually the same day -- when we had any questions or concerns. She was open to new ideas as the work progressed and systematically addressed any issues we called to her attention. Whether it meant meeting together to discuss options on-site as the work progressed, or for her crews to redo something that on the rare occasion had fallen short; she was on it.
The backyard was the more interesting and complex project; we wanted a complete redo. We needed/wanted:
* Water to drain away from the house, reversing the pronounced grading.
* A place to store four bikes that did not cut too much into the relatively small space. (Prefab plastic options were out.)
* A layout more interesting than the rectangular brick patios of the neighboring yards.
* Integration of the arbor under which we had been married. (Something that had eluded all attempts to date).
* A backyard that worked with the existing configuration of the back of our house, which includes a 5 and 1/2" porch, and a planned new addition that will eat up the porch and some of the yard, and move the backdoor by about ten feet.
Meeting all of these requirements, Tamara created a beautiful backyard garden with a winding flagstone path that separates two elliptical brick patios, a smaller one for a full-sized sofa covered by the arbor, which was widened with extra wood. Coral honeysuckle is starting to grow up over the arbor creating a cozy garden nook. The open bike shed is disguised at the back of the yard to match the new cedar fence. A teak table with eight chairs occupies the other patio. Brick stairs off the patio lead to a grill that sits against the house and a back stairway. There are five lovely, distinct garden areas around the patios, integrated by hidden hosing for automatic drip irrigation. We love it and so does everyone who has seen it. In fact, our neighbors have asked that HDG make the same configuration in their yard. If only we could work with Tamara on our new house addition! read more
