Garden Design Maine | Perennial Garden Designer in Limerick ME - New Gardens for Newly Renovated Riverside Retreat

New Gardens for Newly Renovated Riverside Retreat

New Gardens for Newly Renovated Riverside Retreat in Damariscotta, ME

Garden Design Maine was invited to create new landscape designs for a recently renovated home overlooking the Damariscotta River in Damariscotta. The project included front and back garden plantings, along with a thoughtfully designed privacy screen to provide seclusion along the southern property boundary.

The goal was to complement the updated home with cohesive, low-maintenance gardens that offer year-round interest and a strong sense of place.

Garden Design Goals

This multi-area landscape design focused on creating beauty, privacy, and cohesion across the property. Key goals included:

Design new front and back gardens to complement the renovated home
Create a layered privacy screen along the property boundary
Provide four-season interest with a mix of trees, shrubs, and perennials
Maintain visual cohesion across all garden areas
Incorporate low-maintenance, climate-appropriate plantings

Before the Garden Installation

Following the home renovation, the landscape required a complete refresh to match the updated structure and riverside setting. The property offered great potential, but lacked defined planting areas, privacy, and cohesive design.

Property boundary mid-section with existing overgrown shrubs that were to be removed and replaced by a mix of evergreens, deciduous trees , ornamental shrubs, and herbaceous perennials.

Garden Design Concept

Two comprehensive design concepts were developed for each area of the property, giving the client options that balanced structure, color, and seasonal interest while maintaining a unified plant palette throughout.

Repetition of key plants and complementary foliage colors helped tie together the front entry, privacy screen, and backyard gardens.

Garden Areas and Planting Highlights

Front of House: Two design options, depicted by the following renderings, explored contrasting but complementary styles. One featured an Asian-inspired composition with Hinoki cypress, holly, deutzia, and ornamental grasses, softened by flowering shrubs and roses. The second concept emphasized bold foliage contrast and seasonal color, incorporating beautyberry, spirea, bluestem grasses, weigela, and pollinator-friendly perennials.

Asian-inspired garden design for home in Maine

Asian-inspired garden design for home in Damariscotta, Maine

Privacy Screen: The privacy planting, depicted by the renderings below, was designed as a layered mix of evergreen and deciduous trees and shrubs to provide year-round screening and visual interest. Both concepts included combinations of conifers such as blue spruce, false cypress, junipers, and Austrian pine, paired with flowering shrubs, ornamental grasses, and perennials to create depth, texture, and seasonal variation.

Rendering of privacy garden design, intended to help screen views between neighbors using a layered approach to planting

Back of House: The rear garden designs echoed plant selections from the front and privacy areas to create a cohesive landscape. Options ranged from simple, elegant groupings of hydrangeas and ornamental grasses to more colorful combinations featuring ninebark, dogwood, roses, and flowering perennials, as shown in the following design renderings.

Installation and Outcome

The client ultimately selected Concept #2, and both the privacy screen and front entry gardens were installed in 2025. The result is a cohesive, layered landscape that enhances the home’s riverside setting while providing beauty, privacy, and year-round interest.

Plants Featured in This Riverside Garden Design

The following trees, shrubs, and perennials were selected for their durability, seasonal interest, and ability to thrive in Maine’s coastal climate while contributing to a cohesive, multi-area landscape design.