When Vic and Patricia Pfeiffer undertook a major renovation of their home on Chestertown, Maryland’s historic High Street, it was a natural time to resurrect their small yard, as well. Though the resulting landscape is as beautiful as it is functional, what’s revolutionary is what cannot be seen by the naked eye: that which is under the ground, not on top of it.
“The plight of the Chesapeake Bay is hard to avoid—it’s easy to see, it’s in the news,” says Vic Pfeiffer. “We became sensitized to that.” It didn’t take the Pfeiffers long to notice that when it rained, their house and their neighbors’ houses drained into High Street and immediately into the Chester River. This type of run-off compounds with other stressors and is a reason the Upper, Middle, and Lower Chester River are on the Maryland Department of the Environment’s list of “impaired waters.”
“There’s no way to catch the water from High Street,” says Pfeiffer. “It didn’t seem right to have all this water running down into the river.”While digging the foundation for the Pfeiffer’s new addition, about eight feet down there was sand, which gave D. Miles Barnard, owner of South Fork Studio Landscape Architecture, Inc. an idea. The sand would easily absorb water so that it could be slowly returned to the soil. To get the water into the sandy soil, Barnard worked with landscape contractor Ben Herr of Anthony’s Flowers and Landscaping to dig two nine-by-three foot water collection pits located under what is now the Pfeiffer’s patio.
“The storm water management system collects water in various, perforated pipes that flow into a central pipe, all sunk in gravel,” Barnard explains. “In a small rain event, most of the water dribbles out of the perforated pipes and into the gravel…the goal is to send as much water back into the soil as we can.”
In a large rain event, the pipes flow into the large pits where the water is collected and, when the rain passes, the water will slowly seep into the sandy soil. In a massive rain event, a hurricane for example, when the pits could be overwhelmed, an overflow pipe directs water away from the property. The system is so efficient, Pfeiffer says he has yet to see more than a dribble out of the overflow pipe. In addition, the Pfeiffers have two rain barrels that are also attached to the main system so the water gets redirected when they are full. The storm water management system is just one of many ways this small garden performs big functions.
A covered porch looks out to the terrace and gardens established above the property's elaborate stormwater management system.
The Pfeiffers wanted a seamless connection between their living space indoors and outdoors, added privacy despite their small lot, a vegetable garden, and access to their back parking area, while preserving two Eastern Red Cedar trees. “The site was tight,” says Barnard, crediting Herr for his professionalism with the contracting portion of the project.
“The nature of working in places like Chestertown and Annapolis is that you use little machinery—it’s a lot of hand-digging and wheelbarrows coming in and out.”Barnard worked with the linear nature of the site, creating a central focus with the brick terrace that flows from the covered porch. An axial path of crushed clamshells connects a street-side garden gate at the front of the property with the private parking area in the back. Boulders salvaged from the old foundation of the house are also incorporated into paths and steps.
Pfeiffer did not want any grass to mow, so the length of the garden is full of native plant species seamlessly integrated with herbs and a raised vegetable garden. According to Pfeiffer, they get particular enjoyment from their fig tree and blackberry and blueberry bushes, though the birds eat more of the blueberries than the Pfeiffers do. “That’s fine,” says Pfeiffer. “We wanted to attract wildlife to the yard.”
The Pfeiffers claim that their desire to be environmentally sound wasn’t born of a personal history of activism, but rather an inherent concern for the water that anyone who lives close to it eventually develops.
“When you live here, you realize how important the water and ecosystem are,” Pfeiffer explains. “We can all sit here and look out at the water, but eventually there won’t be anything in it or on it but boats. …We’re not crusaders and it wasn’t a big sacrifice. This was just my little way of making a difference and doing our part.”
Christianna McCausland is a Contributing Editor for ChesapeakeHome.
Contacts:
Anthony’s Flowers and Landscaping: anthonysflowers.net or 410-778-2525
South Fork Studio Landscape Architecture, Inc.: southforkstudio.com or 410-778-1098
