About the Garden
Set along the coast of Rhode Island in Zone 7A, this garden is shaped by conditions that are rarely predictable.
Wind moves through with enough force to shift light objects and dry the soil faster than expected. Fog rolls in just as regularly, holding moisture in the air and blurring the edges of everything it touches. The result is a garden that experiences opposing conditions at once—drying and damp, exposed and sheltered.
There’s a rhythm to the landscape beyond the garden itself. On certain mornings, fog settles in low, and the sound of fog horns carries farther than it should. The path down toward the small local yacht club runs alongside stretches of saltwater marsh that shift with the tide, quiet and atmospheric in a way that feels particular to the coast.
In the warmer months, kayaks are pulled into the water and guided slowly through the channels, following the edges of the marsh, watching for movement, and finally stopping along the ocean sandbar when the tide allows.
It’s not a quiet landscape in the traditional sense—just a layered one, where still marshes sit not far from the energy the coastline is known for.
That same rhythm carries into the garden.
Drainage is inconsistent. Some areas shed water quickly; others hold it. The land borders woodland and sits near a creek, which brings both seasonal saturation and steady wildlife pressure. Deer and rabbits are not occasional. They are part of the landscape.
This is not a garden built on ideal conditions.
It’s built on attention.
Plants are chosen, placed, and sometimes moved based on their response to wind, moisture, cold, and browsing. Some settle in immediately. Others don’t make it. Over time, the garden becomes a record of those decisions.
Structure matters as much as planting. A wide stretch of lawn acts as a pause, a field that separates and highlights the surrounding beds.
Planting is layered in drifts and repetition, anchored by a focused palette of pinks, lavenders, yellows, and whites, with occasional shifts to keep the garden from feeling static.
This is a working coastal garden.
Shaped by weather. Edited over time.
Most things stay. Some go.
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