Grass Garden and Hill Walk

To the north of the residence is a small hillock which we developed as a "hill-walk". Large boulders were collected from a local "boulder quarry" (Sticks and Stones Farm) and placed on the north face of the hill. The boulders change the mood of the area and create a natural gateway to mark the beginning of the hill path. At the crest of the hill, just where the inlet of Long Island Sound becomes visible, is a small granite water basin - linking, through the use of water, the 'large' and the 'small'.

Descending from the hill walk, one finds a small garden made of stone and grass. The entry is defined by a low wattle fence from where a stone walk winds through the garden like a dry riverbed through a green canyon. The grasses include: Blue fescue (Festuca glauca 'Elijah Blue'), Creeping broad-leafed sedge (Carex siderosticha 'Variegata'), Feather reed grass (Calamagrostis x acutiflora 'Karl Foerster'), and Fountain grass (Pennisetum alopecuroides 'Caudatum').

Just opposite the Grass Garden is a Sunken Garden which the client uses to display the miniature "alpine" troughs she designs and builds. The "stairs" on which the troughs sit are made from old granite foundations imported from Kyoto.