The new owners of a home on Gibson Island hired landscape designer Annabelle Sailer to update the property, perched on a bluff, and improve access down to the Chesapeake Bay. After removing overgrown grasses and shrubs, Sailer planted the slope with three sustainable species: mountain mint, little bluestem and evening primrose, which erupts in pink blooms every May. “These are all native plants that support a wide variety of biodiversity,” she explains. “They attract tons of bees and butterflies.” Along existing stairs, the designer installed new rail posts and rope handrails. A hammock near a shady crape myrtle, she marvels, “offers expansive water views.”

Landscape Design & Photography: Annabelle Sailer, Annabelle Sailer Garden Design, Annapolis, Maryland.