Garden Design Maine | Perennial Garden Designer in Limerick ME - Wind-Tolerant Landscape Design for New Build

Wind-Tolerant Landscape Design for New Home in Berwick, ME

Wind-Tolerant Landscape Design for a New Home in Berwick, ME

Garden Design Maine was hired to design the landscape for a newly constructed home in Berwick, Maine, owned by the builder and his family. The property presented two significant landscaping challenges: extremely windy conditions and poor, sandy soil.

Because the home was planned for sale the following year, the landscape also needed to provide strong curb appeal while remaining well adapted to the site. The homeowner trusted Garden Design Maine to develop a single comprehensive planting plan designed to enhance the property’s appearance and help it stand out to prospective buyers.

Garden Design Goals

This new construction landscape design focused on beauty, durability, and thoughtful plant selection. Key goals included:

Select plants that can tolerate strong winds and sandy, poor soil
Create attractive landscaping to enhance the home’s curb appeal
Design low-maintenance garden areas suited to the property
Provide cohesive planting throughout the front and side yards
Create landscape features that would add value to the property

Newly constructed home, before garden design or installation

Before the Garden Installation

As a newly constructed property, the home had little established landscaping to soften the architecture or define the outdoor spaces. The exposed site was particularly challenging because of its strong winds and sandy soil.

The design needed to account for these conditions from the beginning, selecting plants known for their resilience rather than simply choosing plants based on appearance.

Garden Design Concept

Garden Design Maine created one comprehensive landscape design incorporating four distinct garden areas: a foundation garden, two island beds flanking the driveway, and a side-yard garden designed to screen the propane tanks.

The plant palette combines flowering shrubs, ornamental grasses, perennials, evergreens, and fruiting shrubs to create structure and seasonal interest. Repetition of key plants throughout the property helps tie the individual garden areas together while maintaining visual balance.

Rendering 1 (Foundation Garden): A continuous foundation planting spans the full frontage of the home, creating rhythm, balance, and a welcoming approach from driveway to front door.

Seasonal Flowering Perennials

Long-blooming perennials including catmint, daylilies, lavender, yarrow, echinacea, rudbeckia, geranium, and Russian sage provide color throughout the growing season.

Ornamental grasses such as Panicum and little bluestem add movement and structure, while flowering shrubs—including hydrangea, ninebark, spirea, weigela, dogwood, and lilac—provide additional height and seasonal interest.

Garden Areas and Planting Highlights

Foundation Garden
The foundation planting combines shrubs, ornamental grasses, and perennials to soften the home while providing a welcoming, finished appearance. Junipers, hydrangeas, ninebarks, spirea, weigela, catmint, lavender, and daylilies create layers of texture, foliage color, and bloom.

Driveway Island Beds
Two island beds provide structure and color on either side of the driveway. A mix of dogwoods, junipers, ninebark, blueberry, little bluestem, echinacea, rudbeckia, geranium, and Russian sage creates visual interest while maintaining an open, welcoming approach to the home.

Propane Tank Screening Garden
The side-yard planting was designed to soften and screen the propane tanks while remaining attractive in its own right. Panicum, catmint, echinacea, and sedum provide a combination of height, texture, and long-lasting color.

View from propane screening garden toward house on planting day

View of propane screening and foundation gardens on installation day with a total of approximately 175 perennials, including shrubs and trees. The customer would install the front walkway himself before the end of the season. (Front island beds not pictured.)

Plants Featured in This Front Garden Design

The following trees, shrubs, ornamental grasses, and perennials were selected for their durability, seasonal interest, and ability to perform in the property's challenging windy and sandy conditions.