Appleton: Small Spaces

Appleton landscape before our arrival

The design challenges of small spaces are the ones that set the average designers apart from the really special ones. With every square foot at a premium, it’s incumbent on the designer to not only create something beautiful, but to plan for how the client will use the space so that every bit is utilized.

Such was the case with this older home in downtown Appleton. With a side yard no wider than ten feet and a backyard no deeper than fifteen feet, creating a space that provided for all the amenities of a larger backyard in such a small space was a challenge Stonehenge was up for.

appleton landscape small space 1

With neighboring lots sitting higher than our client’s, storm water flowing onto our client’s lot and against the foundation was an issue. To get the neighbor’s draining water and our client’s storm water to flow toward the street and not their foundation required complex slopes in the paver patio base preparation that few companies in the Fox Cities could successfully execute. It also required installing a surface drain a previous landscaping company tried (unsuccessfully) to install to mitigate the drainage issue. Instead it directed water along the foundation and sped the deterioration of the cinder block foundation, a foundation we were able to repair thanks to our in-house masonry service, without holding up construction of other portions of the project.

Stone, brick and mortar steps

When it was done, we had torn down a narrow wooden set of steps and replaced them with a curved brick, stone and mortar step structure that included a planter yet with a smaller overall footprint.

Hardscapes complimented by outdoor furniture

A sand-molded clay paver from Glen-Gery more befitting the older homes of downtown Appleton replaced the concrete pavers a previous company had installed.

Appleton landscape renovation

A new, more decorative entry fence and gate were constructed, an arching arbor entryway was built at the other end of this space, and the refuse cans, conspicuous before we began our work, were now hidden by decorative fence, softened by perennial plantings, yet extremely easily accessed to bring cans to the curb and back.

view through new appleton hardscape