For this rooftop perched above the Hudson Bay, we created a planting design to complement the big sky, maritime breeze and 360 degree views of Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn.
This south-facing terrace sits more than 20 stories above midtown Manhattan, offering incredible views of the Plaza Hotel and Manhattan's Grand Army Plaza. Our design highlights the views both from inside the apartment and from the two outdoor seating areas. Furniture is from McKinnon and Harris, plant containers from Pennoyer Newman.
Hidden between two associated buildings on the Upper East Side, this shaded courtyard is truly a secret garden in the middle of the city. With the tall buildings acting as a canopy, the feel of this garden is that of an understory woodland. Small- and mid-sized trees mix with a diversity of shrubs and perennials suited for the forest floor. From the formal elements including paired boxwoods and espaliered witch hazel, to the more informal matrices of ferns and astilbes, this garden offers residents a place for rest, contemplation and inspiration.
Sitting north of a row of townhouses and beneath neighboring tree canopies, this garden is a study in extreme shade tolerance. For this space we created a simple look, with walls of English Ivy skirted by hardy ferns. At the back of the property, a cherry tree grows out of a tapestry of ferns, hostas and woodland perennials.
A tranquil backyard in a busy part of the city, this garden offers cool shade on even the hottest of summer days. An understory of ferns, hostas, and hellebores offer a rich greenery made all the more vibrant by the property's rustic brickwork. A line of boxwoods in clean teak planters create screening in this famously tightly-packed neighborhood.
With a front row view of the World Trade Center and lower Manhattan, this rooftop is designed around borrowed views. The serviceberries and dogwoods serve to frame these views while at the same time offering the owners and local birds fresh fruit in summer and fall. For the children, a special planter is dedicated to edible herbs and vegetables.
With impressive 12th story views of some of midtown Manhattan's more impressive architecture, this rooftop terrace offers a simple, modern aesthetic. Arborvitae are used for screening, while the Japanese maple anchors the space and focuses attention in the direction of the Empire State Building.
This vignette is part of an elegantly built, south-facing balcony sitting between Central Park and Lincoln Center. Two evergreens are centered in the windows, softening the view of the neighboring architecture from the living room. Seasonal annuals and perennials are placed as accents and highlights.
This postage stamp garden punches above its weight, creating an outsized effect on the adjoining apartment. Due to the layout of the space - particularly the windows, this garden can be viewed from the apartment's patio, living room, kitchen, bathroom and bedroom. The low-light situation necessitates a shade-loving tapestry of hostas, ferns, epimediums and vines.
Down under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass, the noise of the city is buffered by the quiet, clean design of this woodland-inspired garden on a second-floor terrace. Ferns, hydrangeas, vines and mixed perennials provide a sense of cool comfort as they blend with clean lines and a simple color palette of green, brown and white.
This brownstone downtown includes a shady front yard garden and a sunny third-floor terrace. Out front, we packed the planting beds with autumn ferns and flowering perennials like Japanese anemone. Upstairs, a very simple combination of tall Miscanthus to hide the wrought-iron fencing is skirted with summer-flowering geraniums and fall-flowering asters.
Here is a collection of gardens we’ve either designed and not had professionally photographed, or gardens we’ve inherited from other designers and enhanced over the years. These gardens range from brownstone backyards to penthouse terraces, along with a Fire Island property and a penthouse in Beverly Hills.
