Thank you for coming to read our newest article. In this short read, we will be taking you through the incredible stages of bringing back to life the landscape of a home over 100 years old. Yes, you read that right. This home was built in 1916. The Historical Indian Village Home located near downtown Detroit was chosen with 5 other homes to be a part of the elaborate annual home and garden tour competition. This event was open to the public, over 300 people attended, and was also featured on Fox 2 News.
How it Started
We started with grading the backyard to give us a clean slate. We then used 21AA for the base of the gravel patio to make it stable and 2 inches of pea gravel which wraps all the way around the deck. To enhance this garden we installed a pergola, trex deck, arborvitaes, and other flourishing plants and flowers. Then we added mulch and sod vs grass seed to give it the greenery it needed just in time for the garden tour.
The Front Yard
In the front of the home, we planted boxwoods, lilies, begonias, hydrangea trees, coral bells, and small hydrangea plants with a pop of color. We built a flagstone walkway on both sides of the house which was found throughout the yard and saved to repurpose it from the homeowners who have lived there since 2018. The flagstone walkway leads to the garage and backyard from each direction. This is a beautiful low-maintenance landscaping for the homeowners to keep up.
Trex Deck and Pergola
To finalize the look of the garden we transformed a difficult-to-use faded-out deck and built it into a luxurious sturdy trex deck with a brown, darker color that has a nice texture which gives it a real wood feel. We then built the pergola on the deck with that same color and synced the hot tub into this area giving the home a more youthful (up-to-date) look. For the garden, we used unique curves for the structure with similar low-maintenance plants that were used in the front of the home. To add a bit of elegance we added arborvitaes around the corners of the garden and a couple of raised garden beds.