The design is quite simple: provide a shady grove of maple trees that dance above a consistent gravel surface. The maples amplify seasonal changes in the space. Sunlight enters the space more prominently in the winter and then is daintily filtered in the summer. Reds, oranges, and yellows flow to the ground in the fall. The exfoliating bark also offer rich texture and color throughout the seasons. The simple gravel groundplane provides a dynamic surface for many activities, both human and non-human.
The three remaining sides of the courtyard are enclosed by ephemeral walls, each evolving and adapting the space to the seasons. A five-foot tall clipped American Beech hedge (Fagus grandifolia) encloses the southern (and most public) side of the space. Like the upper-canopy, native Beech trees in the region, the clipped hedge retains its brown, paper-like leaves on the stems throughout the winter, providing substantial privacy throughout the dormant months as well as the growing season. Along the northern edge, a wall of Carolina Jessamine (Gelsemium sempervirens) trails up a steel mesh, offering dense privacy in the summer and filtered views in the winter. Finally, the eastern side of the space, the veil between parking and the garden, is defined by a forever-changing stack of firewood. This stack evolves through the seasons as wood gets burned for warmth and restocked over time. The firewood wall serves as the primary threshold into the garden. All in all, the design of the grove attempts to provide an understated space that amplifies the spectacular events within each season to be legible and celebrated.
