Landscape Tour: Two Acres of Rural Maine Hillside

When two retired teachers built their dream home, their property was basically two acres of mown grass. They loved the pastoral Maine landscape and weren't interested in mowing two acres weekly. So they called landscape architect Matthew Cunningham to reduce maintenance and help their home fit the rural landscape.

For inspiration, Cunningham looked to surroundings and old-fashioned land management. Key aspects: restoring the large meadow to a naturally wild aesthetic, embellishing panoramic views, ringing the house with formal plantings, and creating a playful arrival sequence from the road. Plantings designed with color and seasonal interest; newly carved paths allow the clients and their lab, Kuli, to walk to nearby children and grandchildren.

Landscape at a Glance

• Who lives here: A retired couple; extended family within walking distance
• Location: Penobscot, Maine
• Size: 2 acres
• That's interesting: The clients were their landscape architect's algebra teachers in high school.

Matthew Cunningham Landscape Design LLC: An ornamental orchard of crab apples planted in front of the original barn, perennial edge in foreground with catmint and spirea.

Matthew Cunningham Landscape Design LLC: "We allowed former lawn areas to regenerate into manicured meadows," explains Cunningham. Area shown is now a hayfield mown and mulched once a year.

Matthew Cunningham Landscape Design LLC: Spectacular native plant communities returned: rushes, clover, grasses, daisies, Queen Anne's lace, thistle, goldenrod, rue, vetch, lupine, buttercups, and more. Wildlife immediately followed.

Matthew Cunningham Landscape Design LLC: While the house is new, its style nods to area farmhouses. Works well with the regenerated hayfield.

Matthew Cunningham Landscape Design LLC: "You can see the entire region from the house," says Cunningham. "Left: Acadia National Park; right: Blue Hill Mountain. The hayfield adds a beautiful foreground to the expansive view.

Matthew Cunningham Landscape Design LLC: More meticulously planned perennial gardens and shrub borders placed closer to the house. While designed, the mix of textures, color, and species gives a soft, informal look.

Cunningham has gardened in Maine since age nine, so plant selection came naturally. Color palette: predominantly purple, green, silver, pink in spring/summer; transforms to yellows, oranges, rust, cranberry red in fall. "The garden still looks great when the first frost hits," he says.

Matthew Cunningham Landscape Design LLC: "The shrub and perennial borders around the house draw the eye in," Cunningham says. They create soft edges and thresholds between domestic yard and meadow.

Borders mix perennials with deciduous shrubs, creating a ringed perimeter. Species with strong multiseasonal characteristics: forsythia, red twig dogwood, iris, hydrangeas, lilacs, rugosa roses, coneflowers, spirea, daylilies.

Matthew Cunningham Landscape Design LLC: In background, bright sunflower blooms pop through fog — part of the clients' vegetable garden.

Matthew Cunningham Landscape Design LLC: Good look at rugosa roses in shrub borders. "Rugosas are spectacular in fall — foliage lemon-butter yellow, rose hips beautiful cranberry color."

Matthew Cunningham Landscape Design LLC: Cunningham hired after driveway installation. "Driveway was basically a straight line from road to house, so I added a sugar maple grove for a playful arrival sequence. Also common to see beautiful double allées of sugar maples lining driveways in the area — a reinterpretation of that historical local element."

"Region is blanketed in fog about a third of the time, so I chose maples for their interesting silhouettes." Sugar maple leaves turn fiery red in fall.

Matthew Cunningham Landscape Design LLC: Other parts include very lightly managed woodlands — cleaned up, edges maintained via annual hayfield mowing. Natural succession continues within woodlands.

Matthew Cunningham Landscape Design LLC: Paths carved through meadow were important — couple's children and grandchildren live nearby. "Children live down a country lane; not much traffic but people drive too quickly," says Cunningham.

Matthew Cunningham Landscape Design LLC: Kuli the dog joins daily walks.

Matthew Cunningham Landscape Design LLC: Cunningham photographs projects during different weather and seasons. This image shows clients and oak, maple, ash trees in fall.

The master plan shows how mown lawn, perennial gardens, and shrub borders casually demarcate the domestic yard. Importance placed on paths and trees. Installation and cleanup complete — owners enjoy a beautiful functional landscape embodying qualities they love about Downeast Maine.