In addition to stabilizing the bluff and creating the Living Wall, the team also built a trail down to the Lake Michigan beach and designed and installed a cantilevered deck at the top of the bluff.

The project received a 2015 Award of Merit in the Residential Category from the Wisconsin Chapter of the American Association of Landscape Architects (WI ASLA).

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Special consideration was taken to bluff dynamics and site ecology throughout the project to minimized site impact as much as possible during construction. Other improvements to the property, including invasive species management and supplemental native woody and herbaceous plantings. Our Stewardship team has been keeping the new native plantings happy and healthy through regular maintenance for the past several years.

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The softscape features include three native plant communities; woodland, meadow, and prairie. The plantings were also placed within stepping stone walkways, natural stone planters, and woodland paths.

Hardscape features include dry stacked walls using collected fieldstone, limestone planters, and a fire pit. The fieldstone was collected from a Waukesha County farm and retains moss and lichens, adding to its “always there” appearance. A fieldstone “fence” provides reference to the lands’ agrarian roots, while suggesting an architectural extension of the house. Dry-laid New York Bluestone was used for walking paths and patios. Weather-edged Lannon stone was used to mimic bedrock outcroppings where the landscape meets the bluff. Recycled granite pavers, from a roadway project in Milwaukee, were used for the driveway to lend an “Old World” look to the fore-court of the house.

Other designs completed for the residence include an extensive lighting plan that subtly accents the major features of the house and garden and the planning & implementation of an extensive bluff stabilization.

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The limestone patio and the water feature uses an intricate stone work and fine craftsmanship. In the water feature, stored rainwater is pumped up to the surface and bubbles from the client’s antique sharpening stones to meander down a narrow cobbled stream through the patio and back to the storage system. The water feature provides a tranquil vision and quiet respite from the stresses of the day.

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Black Locust is one of our favorite materials to create with. Durable and rot-resistant, it makes an excellent choice of lumber for boardwalks, decks, posts for handrails or lighting, and various other structures, such as this retaining wall. We typically harvest wood this invasive tree in the Winter months alongside the removal of other non-desirable woody species.

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Natural stone stairs lead into the patio space lined with cor-ten steel, floating black locust benches, and two custom cor-ten steel planters. Ten-foot black locust posts were installed in the corners to allow for café-style string lights to be hung. Ten square feet of concrete, which made up much of the original patio, was removed to increase the available planting space. A pattern was cut into the portion of concrete that was not removed to add texture and blend in with the transformed landscape.

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This residential installation project in the Northpoint neighborhood highlights some of the innovative products and techniques that are unique to Marek Landscaping.

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