Sometimes, great ideas grow from the inside out. The inspiration for a cottage garden in Kennett Square sprang from the renovation of a circa-1920 house nestled on a small downtown plot. The recent buyer had replaced a window and a single door with two sets of French doors, each with glass transoms on either side. The result was a panoramic view of a yard short on charm but teeming with possibilities.
“She wanted to create her own oasis—a place for her and her favorite things,” says Danilo Maffei, a landscape architect who lives around the corner from the cottage.
Maffei already knew the lay of the land, homing in on a patch at the bottom of a hill where rainwater accumulated. His attractive and pragmatic remedy for the soggy spot was to plant thirsty species to act as a giant sponge. The mix includes tufted hairgrass, Little Joe Pye Weed, Amsonia Blue Ice, Little Henry Sweetspire and the summersweet clethra shrub. “Once they get established, they care for themselves,” he says.
The French doors open onto a formal patio where the owner hosts alfresco cocktail and dinner parties. The patio is home to the garden’s only annuals, an exotic blend of elephant ears, cannas and palms that live in pots during the warmer months and spend winter indoors
“Designer Danilo Maffei found wire-framed orbs on a holiday lighting website, installing them in an old crabapple tree”
As the gardens fan out in a series of outdoor rooms, the spaces grow more casual. “The closer you are to the house, the more formal and structured it is. As you move away, it’s more relaxed,” Maffei says.
An intimate seating area for two is accessed by repurposed steppingstones defined by a bed of Delaware River stone, a pea gravel differentiated by its variegated blend of purple, tan and cream pebbles. “It makes a nice sound when you walk on it,” the designer says. “Crunch, crunch, crunch.”
Maffei makes a pilgrimage to Longwood Gardens each Christmas, where he stands in awe of the towering trees illuminated by LED lights. For this garden project, he found wire-framed orbs on a holiday lighting website and installed them in an old crabapple tree. “We wanted the garden to be active, even at nighttime,” he says.
Maffei Landscape Design
202 N. Garfield St., Kennett Square, (610) 357-9700
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