A Meadow Landscape: From Bare Lot to Layered Garden

Behind the design: creating a landscape that feels rooted, and a peek inside the thinking behind it, plus the before & after

This letter is part of Design Dispatches, design-forward essays exploring how spaces (both indoors and out) are shaped, why design choices matter, and how the built environment influences the way we live. You can easily adjust your email preferences anytime to skip this section and still receive all the other stories, reflections, and design inspiration from The Whiskey Porch.

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Greetings my dear reader,

I talk an awful lot about historic and smaller homes. It is truly my passion, and my favorite type of properties to work with homeowners on.

But in reality, the majority of the design projects I work on are large properties and newer homes - and in many cases they are even brand new builds. Often I’m asked to put together the design before the structure of the home is even complete, and in one instance before construction had even begun.

One of the challenges with new-build homes is that everything can feel abrupt.

Fresh walls. Bare soil. Little shade. No sense of age or personality or belonging yet.

This project in Prescott began exactly there - with an empty lot, strong sun, persistent winds, difficult soil, and a desire to create a garden that felt established, welcoming, and connected to the architecture from the very beginning.

I thought it might be interesting to share a small peek into the process behind how these landscapes evolve - from blank slate to design plan to lived garden.

“Meadow Landscape” in north Prescott, Arizona.

This isn’t intended to be a highly technical how-to article or an exhaustive explanation of every plant and design decision.

Instead, I wanted to share more of a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the process - how an empty new-build lot gradually became a layered, livable garden designed around seasonality, structure, beauty, and everyday use.

Even if you’re not particularly interested in gardening itself, I think there’s something fascinating about seeing how thoughtful spaces take shape over time.

✨ And for paid members of the porch, I’ve included a companion plant list from the project at the end of the post as an additional little studio resource and peek behind the curtain.

Meadow Landscape

A gardener's garden on a newly built 1/3-a​​cre lot, featuring meadows, shade trees, a large water feature, and native sanctuary for birds and wildlife. From bare, tree-less dirt to fabulous in 6 months. The Dells, Prescott, Arizona. USDA Hardiness zone is 7b and the elevation is 5,200 feet. Project completed fall 2022.

The Before

This property is in a large development area on the north side of the community, the kind where they release large sub-developments over time. The natural landscape up there is quite open and a grassland-type ecosystem in the high desert at 5,200 foot elevation.

This means that the newer home lots are quite exposed initially, and because there is a vast landscape up there it’s often rather windy.

When I was brought in, the home was nearly complete but there was literally nothing else. Not a tree in sight. No privacy what-so-ever. The home was large and dominated the lot. The lot had no discernible features - it was just very large and flat and … flat.

The drainage was a disaster. The dirt was - well really clay. The green stuff growing in the clay was not much more than tumbleweed and other scrappy weeds.

You get the idea... a lot of dirt

The Ask

The homeowners were interested in a landscape for a gardener - the wife had been an active gardener since their earlier life in the Midwest and had come to love the southwest.

Specifically they wanted a less manicured or overly designed looking plan - one with meadows and plantings that would connect to the open grasslands and mountains without a harsh border. There were specific views to maximize for stargazing, evening cocktails, and morning bird watching, as well as pollinators to feed and attract. The need for subtle privacy while keeping the space feeling natural and open was important.

There was a long list of much loved plants to consider - she had very specific varieties in mind - some were headed in the right direction, and some belonged in Ohio.

My role is to interpret, to listen, to get to really know not only the property but also the people who live there. My goal is to turn their wish list into a living canvas that elevates their lifestyle in the ways most meaningful to them.

I’m always a bit overwhelmed at this point with new builds - how to go from nothing to an enchanted space. It’s a lot to envision and pull together.

The Design Thinking

Creating Structure First

I always start with the foundation. Even on an existing older home. It’s like building a house or a layer cake - it’s all about the layers and each layer is only as stable and fabulous as the layer beneath it.

In this case, the space would ultimately be defined by the edges of the property which are the home on the south and two tallish block walls on the sides - the back edge will become a small open wall - really just to keep wildlife out of the space.

From there, I wanted to shape how the landscape would actually feel to move through and experience day to day - the views from inside the home, the pathways through the garden, the moments of pause, and the subtle sense of invitation and discovery as you moved through the space.

You’ll notice that I drew in those site lines with the pale yellow wedges and arrows (you gotta zoom in a bit to see those clearly).

The circulation was defined by walkways, gathering points, living spaces like patios for relaxing and being in the landscape, and of course primary focal points to draw the eye and create a sense of curiosity and destination while moving about.

For the Meadow Garden, the homeowners were looking for that open relaxed feeling, so we weren’t going to be creating garden rooms per se, but I still really wanted a sense of definition and structure.

For this core structure, I also knew we needed some anchor points and shade elements with larger shrubs and trees. I added those in along with a planned sloping rock garden along the west side of the property to soften the shift in elevation - the next house over is on a lot about two to three feet higher up than this one.

Here’s what I came up with, after two earlier renditions that we refined:

Designing for Four Seasons

The living layer of the design includes of course the plantings, as well as the furnishings and structures.

I wanted a seasonal layered bloom progression, with a strong evergreen backbone.

We worked hard at building in textures and winter interest, along with a loosely cohesive color palette.

Let’s face it - in a natural setting you won’t find a 5-color refined color scheme that coordinates with your seating upholstery. And for this garden to feel like it belonged and was well rooted, it needed to be connected to surrounding landscape and climate.

My initial planning focused in on three primary planting zones, and within those I did create loosely themed areas within the larger garden for a sense of movement, function, and sensory interest:

• fragrance garden

• rock garden

• cutting garden

• cactus and succulent beds

• grasses and bulbs meadow

• mediterranean and desert plant garden

• and raised beds for herbs and veg

Balancing Beauty & Practicality

Aside from the aesthetics and sensory enjoyment of this space, there were many more practical elements that needed to be included in the design thinking.

The obvious practical items include things like lighting (although in my view this is one of the most artistic ways to increase the beauty and accessibility of the space), mulching layers and materials, and of course irrigation.

But there’s more to making a landscape successful in the long-term, which are often neglected elements. Things like the useability and access of the spaces by people as they retire and age, the maintenance levels required as the plantings shift through the seasons and mature, and of course supporting and encouraging wildlife - to the extent that the owners make that a priority.

The owners here were avid bird watchers and star gazers. And they had retired a few years earlier and planned to age in place and wanted to continue to enjoy their landscape for as long as possible.

While they were willing to get some maintenance support a couple of times a year, they planned to do most of the weekly and seasonal tasks on their own, so I needed to make selections that weren’t going to be too taxing.

Making a New Build Feel Rooted

Perhaps most of all, the climate and micoclimate of each garden is something that is always at the core of the choices and decisions I make. It’s tricky for me sometimes, because I may be working with homeowners who lived for decades in the mid-west and they often have strong feelings about familiar and favorite plants that just can’t thrive on their property.

You may recall that these homeowners gave me lengthy and very detailed lists of plants that they wanted in their space. It’s hard for me not wanting to disappoint them initially, but I was truly invested in the long term success of their garden and wanted to ensure that our selections would have the best chance of not only surviving but thriving.

When I’m working on a huge transformation like a new build, I’m planning for the maturity of the landscape.

And I always have that conversation with the homeowners - repeatedly - where I explain that the initial plantings will take several seasons, and in some cases many years, to reach maturity.

The Final Design Plan

The After

The homeowners here were thrilled and excited with the design we came up with.

It took us about 3 months of work to complete the process.

And then the installation finally could begin - which took about 6 months to complete.

Sure enough, I remember the homeowners grappling with the small size of the plants and especially the trees and shrubs. We had spent so much time envisioning the mature landscape and planning for that.

We got to be friends during this process and it was such a thrill to see their excitement and joy as the garden settled in and came to life.

After three seasons, they could see the larger trees really spreading and anchoring the space.

We did have a couple of failures - plants that just didn’t do well. And that’s totally normal, to be expected. There’s a period of adjustment, tweaking and fussing that occurs during that first full season.

It’s a process. It takes time. And then, it’s a living and shifting space that continues to forever evolve.

And then finally, the magic of the landscape begins to feel settled, softening the home and wrapping around it like it had always belonged there.

The Garden Beginning to Mature

In its third full season, I captured a few snapshots - this was spring in 2025. And this garden is even more glorious in autumn.

I never tire of the satisfaction and joy that comes from bringing someone’s vision and dream to life - their dream, not mine. Every landscape has a personality, and it should truly reflect that of the homeowners who inhabit that space every day.

Gardens are one of the few creative works that continue unfolding long after the design drawings are finished, and the installation is completed.

Client Reflection

We cannot say we had a 'good' experience with Miriam of The Whiskey Porch – it was an exceptional experience.

We contacted four local landscape companies to discuss our landscaping and design concerns. Only two responded back. Only one had listened to what we wanted; Miriam of The Whiskey Porch. Yes, listened and then interviewed us.

She wanted to get a real feeling of what we envisioned and desired. The initial plan was wonderful. It incorporated the “yard” feeling that we wanted to achieve and took some things to a better place.

Plant selection? She also listened there and brought a font of knowledge regarding plants to us. She is an exceptional master gardener with insight as to how plants will grow, mature and thrive in the area.

​We couldn’t be more pleased with this extraordinary experience.

Kudos to a job well done.

The Meadow Landscape: Curated Botanical Guide

[ A Seasonal Gift for Paid Members of the Porch ]

A thoughtfully organized collection of trees, shrubs, grasses, meadow plants, pollinator favorites, and seasonal perennials used throughout the Meadow Landscape project in Zone-7.

Paid members of the porch will receive a companion botanical guide from this project in the coming days, including botanical names, planting roles, and growing notes.

💌 If you’re not yet a paid member of the porch community, I hope you’ll consider joining now, before that email arrives in your in-box in the coming days. You’ll find other seasonal gifts curated in The Gift Library for paid members..

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Thank you for joining me for this behind-the-scenes look at creating a living landscape from nothing. It’s a rewarding and demanding process that I feel so fortunate to spend part of my days engaged in.

With contentment & possibility,

P.S. If you’ve been with me for a while, you know I usually send out my Friday letters in the morning. There was a lot of good stuff to put together for this one, so now it’s gotten to mid-afternoon and I’m just finally hitting send. Pheww! Have a fabulous evening and weekend my friends.