"Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path, and leave a trail."

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Rhododendron

    A steep slope presented a challenge to make the front door a usable and inviting entry.

    Large Blue Stone steps and irregular Blue Stone flagging were used to maintain a natural look that will lead guests up through a perennial garden to the front door.


    "David exceeded all our expectations. The end result of his knowledge, creativity and dedication is a walkway with grand steps that are truly a masterpiece in our landscape."

    ~Satisfied Client

    Large Blue Stone Steps Blue Stone steps another view Full Color Blue Stone walkway Looking down walkway Looking up walkway

    Full Color Blue Stone Flagging with Split Faced granite steps gives a little more formal look to a front entry walkway through a perennial garden.


    "Flowers are restful to look at. They have neither emotions nor conflicts."

    ~Sigmund Freud

    ContemplatingFull Color Blue Stone with Granite Steps Putting on the finishing touches Granite steps Full color Blue Stone Landing with steps

    Boston City Hall Pavers give a well worn look to an entry way. The warmth of the traditional red, water-struck brick is inviting as it winds through a garden to the front door. The manufacturing process creates built-in defects that give the brick an old weathered look.


    "If the path be beautiful, let us not ask where it leads."

    ~ Anatole France

    Boston City Hall, Cherry Red Brick Herringbone detail in walkway Wide and inviting entry to walkway Curved walkway with accompanying plantings

    A variety of paths and walkways


    "The best thing about Dave is his ability to design and build a new landscape that is beautiful, natural and looks like it's been there for years. His design complemented our home without dominating it."

    ~Satisfied Client

    Fieldstone walkway Bluestone stepping stones Boston City Hall Brick Bedford Solid Clay Brick Boston City Hall with Bluestone inlay Select Bluestone

    Here we took a back yard that had grade and drainage issues which made it difficult to use for anything other than a lawn. The large patio now makes the back yard space usable and great for entertaining as well as a way to transition to different parts of the yard and incorporate what were once issues into the overall design.


    "Dave DeJohn was a pleasure to work with. He impressed us with wonderful ideas that took into account our entire family's needs. He made sure to incorporate child-friendly areas and plantings, as well as providing our family with a wonderful outdoor area for entertaining. Our back yard is now a beautiful and usable space!"

    ~Satisfied Client

    Bolduc Manoir Antique Pavers Steps up to the garden Bolduc Manoir Patio with Fieldstone wall Steps to path Path to Firepit Patio with pergola

    This patio is made with the fieldstone that came from the original farmhouse cellar hole. The Granite edging that can be seen is part of the undisturbed foundation. A nice example of using exsisting material and gives the homeowner a feeling of continuity and connection with the orginal homestead.


    "Understated natural beauty that really enhances your home and property is what Dave's designs are all about. He had great design ideas but also valued our input throughout the process. Just a great guy, a hard worker, and a pleasure to work with."

    ~Satisfied Client

    Fieldstone patio Boulders and granite Patio showing fieldstone and old granite foundation Fieldstone from original farmstead cellar

    Select Pattern Bluestone gives this patio a formal appearence but is softened by a curvilinear shape and plantings.


    "He who plants a tree
    plants hope."

    ~ Lucy Larcom - Plant a Tree

    Select Bluestone Patio Patio with curvilinear shape Brick wall opening into patio Arborvitae for Privacy

    A variety of patios showing the many different materials that can be used.


    "David did a fantastic job on our patio. He is not only a talented landscape designer, but also a skilled craftsman when it comes to stonework.

    He fixed some difficult drainage issues (our basement is dry for the first time in years), completed the job on time and budget, and had an attention to detail that went above and beyond our expectations.

    He has an impeccable work ethic and clearly takes great pride in what he does."

    ~Satisfied Client

    Sunken Patio Boston City Hall patio Bolduc pavers around ledgestone Full color Bluestone Patio Full Color Bluestone Flagging Granite Cobblestone patio

    The owner of this home is an avid gardener and wanted a garden that always had something going on. From early April into October and November there is color for every season whether it is something in bloom or the vibrant colors of Fall foliage.


    "Pulling into the driveway after a week-long vacation in Maine, I remember the sight of the Amur Maackia and the astonishing precision with which David situated the tree - its placement perfect. Oriented to show the best aspects and sublimely mated to my home – a veritable pas de deux. If you think this happened by chance, give it a try. Go out and wrestle with a 15’ tree weighing a couple of hundred pounds. It takes skill, an eye for details and patience. I couldn’t do it."

    ~Satisfied Client

    Cobblestone patio and perennial garden Echinacea Echinacea and Helianthus Buddleia Helianthus White Swan Echinacea

    Here is a sunken patio surrounded by summer flowering perennials. A perfect spot for early morning coffee.


    "I perhaps owe having become a painter to flowers."

    ~Claude Monet

    Summer Perennials Perennial Garden Sunken Patio Great for morning coffee

    This garden takes advantage of the grade changes on the property and allows for some mystery as you wind your way along the stepping stone path to the fire pit. Only 100 ft away, the fire pit with it's sitting rocks is not visible from the house making for an intriguing destination point.


    "Garden-making, like gardening itself, concerns the relationship of the human being to his natural surroundings."

    ~ Russel Page

    Garden and sitting wall Pennisetum Winding path Fire pit View from Fire pit Stone steps to path

    Various ways of using plants to create inviting entry ways, solutions for problem areas, and give texture, fragrance, and color to your yards.


    "When you take a flower in your hand and really look at it, it's your world for the moment."

    ~Georgia O'Keeffe

    Perennials for shade Front entry garden Cone Flower and Black Eyed Susan Coneflower and Helianthus Doublefile Viburnum in winter Pond and waterfall

    This Pennsylvania Flat Stone wall fits the Colonial style of this house. Using three sizes of stone gives the wall the look of fieldstone yet maintaining a more linear face. By measuring from the edge of the road we were also able to give the wall a subtle curve.

    Ancient Stone Temple
    Pennsylvania Flatstone wall Boston City Hall walkway Capstones Colonial Style House and wall Three sizes of stone Subtle curve
    "Every time we dry-stack a wall or build a stone sculpture, we join the the thousands of people before us who have expressed themselves in stone."

    ~David Reed - The Art and Craft Of Stonescaping

    All the stone for this large retaining wall came from the wall that had been there before and from the foundation of the house when it was being renovated.

    The steps down through the wall now allow access from the parking area up top to the rest of the yard.


    "Stones are the bones
    of Heaven and Earth"

    ~ Chinese philosoper

    Fieldstone retaining wall Stone from old foundation and wall Corner of wall Stone steps through wall Looking down the steps Wall and fall color

    By creating a terrace, these walls took a steep and unusable problem area along a driveway and created a perfect spot for a rose garden.

    The stone steps give access from the driveway to the barn above.


    "The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago.
    The next best time is now."

    ~ Chinese proverb

    Stone stairway leading to barn Pennsylvania Flatstone wall along driveway Early Fall Curved Stone stairway in the wall Looking up the driveway Looking down the driveway

    Various styles of retaining and freestanding walls.


    "I've made an odd discovery.
    Every time I talk to a savant I feel quite sure that happiness is no longer a possibility. Yet when I talk with my gardener, I'm convinced of the opposite."

    ~ Bertrand Russell

    Moved right in Fieldstone terraced walls Pennsylvania Flatstone walls and steps with Bluestone Treads Double faced Fieldstone wall Pennsylvania Flat wall with Bolduc patio Fieldstone Planter to hide foundation

    After much trial and error, we finally settled in on a layout for this backyard patio as seen on the left.

    Surrounded by several acres of lawn, I wanted the patio to have a comfortable and intimate feel yet it had to be proportional and not get lost in the sea of grass around it.

    The unique stone from Vermont, the brick walkways and circular stonedust path around the garden all blended to make the area seem bigger than it is and create a one of a kind patio


    "There is no spot of ground, however arid, bare or ugly, that cannot be tamed into such a state as may give an impression of beauty and delight."

    ~ Gertrude Jekyll

    Layout for patio View of finished patio Layout and end result

    The before photo shows a fieldstone retaining wall that had become dangerous and unsightly due to age and poor construction as well as overgrown by weeds and brambles.

    After dismantling the wall, all the stone was separated into various categories and 90% was re-used.

    This reconstructed wall is now a safe and elegant part of this property.

    Tearing down the old wall Rebuilt new wall using stone from old wall Old wall and new wall with steps
    "Dave deJohn is one of the hardest working people we've met. Once he starts on a project, he works long days and weeks to finish it. And he has a good understanding of landscape and garden design, as well as a love of the outdoors and gardens. Just as important, he approaches his work with good humor and real enjoyment.
    We've hired Dave for several large landscape projects -- patios, retaining walls, planting beds, reworking an old farmer's wall -- and would hire him again."

    ~ Satisfied Client

    This area between the road and formal lawn, as seen in the before picture, has been kept in more or less its natural state as a meadow.

    The 130 ft. freestanding wall now acts as a transition from meadow to formal lawn and echoes the Farmers Walls on the other side of the road.

    "Nature is not a place to visit,
    it is home."

    ~ Gary Snyder

    Excavation for wall 130 ft. double-sided wall Ready for base stones and finished wall

    An uneven, poorly drained lawn with ledge outcroppings made this backyard difficult to use and maintain.

    Notice the ledge on the right hand side of the "before" photo.

    Then, in the "after" photo, notice how we blended this stone outcropping into the new patio.

    The dry river bed now captures all the roof runoff from the various downspouts of the gutter system when it rains and allows it to move away from the patio and seep back into the ground. They now have a backyard that is both functional and beautiful.

    "If you have a mind at peace,
    a heart that cannot harden,
    go find a door that opens wide upon a lovely garden."

    ~ Author unknown

    Backyard with ledge and drainage issues Bolduc Patio and pergola Dull to Spectacular