The Outsider: Cobble Hill Garden Shines in Fall With Grasses

Clipped round balls of greenery, grasses waving in the breeze, and expanses of bluestone bridge modern and historic design.

Photo via Staghorn NYC

by Cara Greenberg

Even gardens are heaving a sigh of relief that the worst of summer heat is past, though this low-maintenance Cobble Hill backyard, dominated by boxwoods and ornamental grasses, probably tolerated it better than most. It was conceived from scratch as a modern outdoor retreat for a pair of new homeowners who were “not particularly excited about flowers,” said landscape designer Katherine “Kat” Aul Cervoni, founder of the 12-year-old New York City-based boutique garden design firm Staghorn NYC.

Her clients “had a vision of a pared down, edited aesthetic, marrying historic elements with modern minimalism,” Cervoni said. “They weren’t looking for color. They wanted to look out on the back and see green.” The garden was the first thing the couple focused on when they bought the mid-19th century row house. “The yard was overgrown, with synthetic turf, euonymus encroaching on the fence, and a mostly dead cherry tree,” the designer recalled. “It felt dark and enclosed, and they wanted it to feel airy and inviting.”

Staghorn NYC began by taking down the sad cherry tree. “We discovered an incredible tricolor beech behind it, and a lovely dogwood in great shape,” both of which remain. “Then it was about creating a nice seating area from bluestone, very New York vernacular, neutral and long lasting.”

The dogwood tree flowers in spring, the beech tree’s leaves glow pink, and the boxwoods are pushing out fresh new growth. In fall, the ornamental grasses — miscanthus, carex, and pennisetum varieties — are in their prime, their plumes backlit by the autumn sun. Structured and unfussy, the garden is consistent from year to year, Cervoni said, “with a lot of movement and texture.”

Staghorn NYC reclad an existing deck in bluestone, including the steps, and gave the railings a fresh coat of paint. They chose vertical skinny-slat cedar for the perimeter fence. “It’s subtly modern without too much of a specific time stamp — not too trendy,” Cervoni said.

A skip laurel hedge runs along the back, undergirded by ostrich fern, which thrives there in full shade.

Teak lounge furniture sourced from Jenni Kayne sits on a durable thermal bluestone patio. Outdoor lighting is nestled unobtrusively in planters.

A pea-gravel path through a bed of miscanthus leads to an unexpectedly luxurious surprise in the compact space: a copper outdoor shower.

Grasses of varied height “make the garden lean contemporary,” Cervoni said. Up front, pennisetum thrives in the sun. Toward the rear, the seedbeds of larger, more shade-tolerant miscanthus provide height in late summer.

Boxwood balls “toe the line between traditional and contemporary, depending on how they’re clipped and placed,” Cervoni said.

[Photos via Staghorn NYC]

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The Insider is Brownstoner’s weekly in-depth look at a notable interior design/renovation project, by design journalist Cara Greenberg. Find it here every Thursday morning.