Lavish Landscapes

Despite the access to exotic plants, sometimes Minnesota natives make the most sense, and the evergreen is ever popular. “As a landscaper, I’ve always taught that in Minnesota, you start with the winter in mind first, since this is our longest landscape season visually,” says Glen Ray, owner of Masterpiece Landscaping in Minnetonka. “We have to have evergreens. That’s our structural material.”

Evergreens provide an ideal framing for formal gardens, particularly for popular European-style gardens. “There’s almost always some sort of structural element to these types of gardens,” Sweeney says. “In most cases, the bones of the garden are created by some hedging, perhaps by a boxwood. And because boxwoods are so dainty, they have a whimsical feel.”

Sweeney likes working with a variety of evergreens. “It’s about the interplay of conifers and their colors and textures with the garden space. They create accents,” he says. “A lot of times, we’ll do unusual evergreens, such as a weeping hemlock, with its wispy flow and soft texture, or Horstmann’s silberlocke fir, a compact evergreen with bright purple-violet cones, irregular branching, and curling needles that show off the silver underside. These make good conversational pieces.”

As another structural—and functional—element to large, traditional gardens, Sweeney recommends adding paths. “In order to fully appreciate, use, and enjoy a garden, you need a way to meander through it,” he says.

Water and Stone Unite

Although water features are not new to landscaping, their prominence and diversity are growing. What once was a trickling fountain is now a full-fledged waterfall cascading down natural stones. What used to be a reflecting pool is now a swimming pond, complete with waterfall, fish, and plants. “There’s an increase and interest in a pool that you and fish can swim in at the same time,” Ray says. “It’s tremendously more attractive to have a naturalistic area where you can swim. It’s also lower maintenance [than a traditional swimming pool].”

Even without swimming possibilities, people enjoy pond environments in their landscaping. “Introducing koi and plants into a backyard water feature creates an ecosystem,” says Craig Trenary, owner of Terraforma Design in Bloomington. “The plants help oxygenate the water, and the koi feed on the bacteria that’s naturally produced. It all works together to be more sustainable as a system.”

However, it’s possible to have a pondless water feature by replacing the pond basin at the bottom of a waterfall with rocks, where the water travels for recirculation. “People are still getting the sound and movement of water but not the maintenance with a large pool collecting at the bottom,” Kopfmann says.

Stone enhances the beauty of a landscape when it’s used for paths, driveways, patios, benches, outcroppings, and retaining walls. Despite its name, bluestone presents a warm tone and is ideal for patios or walkways. Limestone offers multiple uses; it can line paths just as easily as it composes more solid structures, such as retaining walls and permanent benches. Landscapers may juxtapose two different stones to create a rug effect. Homeowners also seek out one-of-a-kind stone. In one patio he created for a client, Sweeney used old cobblestone that came from a Duluth street but originated in Europe.