Home & Design
Backyard - Swimming pool
Backyard - Swimming pool

The new pool is visible from the house through floor-to-ceiling windows.

Water - Tree
Water - Tree

The firepit offers fantastic views of the Miles River.

Garden - Houseplant
Garden - Houseplant

Large containers hold colorful mixes of coleus, lantana, begonias and calla lilies.

Garden - Lawn
Garden - Lawn

A mix of flowing grasses and colorful hydrangea offers texture and color to the sweeping lawns.

Water - Car
Water - Car

The picturesque wooden dock is bordered by cattails.

McHale Landscape Design, Inc. - Landscape
McHale Landscape Design, Inc. - Landscape

A welcoming approach to the new gardens.

Landscape design - Garden
Landscape design - Garden

A new flagstone patio offers sunbathing space.

Natural Backdrop

McHale Landscape Design breathes life into a property on the Miles River in Easton

Natural Backdrop When clients called McHale Landscape Design to refresh their Easton property in time for their daughter’s summer wedding, the job entailed a list of tasks that included creating suitable sites for the wedding and reception; shielding the home from the road; revamping weedy beds, and replacing the dated kidney-shaped pool. “It came down to the wire,” observes project manager Keith Bowman.

Working closely with the owners, Bowman and Steve McHale delivered a sleek, rectangular pool, gardens, flagstone terraces and a welcoming driveway lined with flowering trees.

A “Two for the Shore” sign set amid flowing grasses greets guests as they arrive. Redbud, dogwood and Green Giant arborvitae trees screen the home from the road; they provided a natural backdrop for the wedding reception on the lawn.

A mix of flowing grasses and colorful hydrangea offers texture and color to the sweeping lawns. A cutting garden near the new flagstone terrace in front offers 20 varieties of herbs in addition to perennials. Large containers hold colorful mixes of coleus, lantana, begonias and calla lilies.

The new pool is visible from the house through floor-to-ceiling windows. Beside it, a new flagstone patio and wooden deck offer sunbathing space.

Anchored by a grassy area, a picturesque wooden dock is bordered by cattails with a fire pit close by.

AWARD: Heritage Award, Residential Maintenance. LANDSCAPE DESIGN: STEVE MCHALE, principal; KEITH BOWMAN, project manager, McHale Landscape Design, Upper Marlboro, Maryland. POOL CONSTRUCTION: River View Pools, Stevensville, Maryland.

Writer Karen Watkins is based in Bethesda, Maryland. 

For a list of all LCA 2014 residential awards click here.

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