The document provides details about Laura S.D. Greloch's landscape design work from 2005-2010. It summarizes her inspiration from nature, development of intuitive design skills, and realization of design projects. Specific projects discussed include the Bell Terre residence in Saucon Valley, PA and the Chipman House estate in Bethlehem Township, PA. The document emphasizes Greloch's use of garden rooms, sustainable practices, and varietal plantings in her designs.
2012 Laura S.D. Greloch Portfolio Works v. 9.29.12
1. But she had a down-to-earth hands-on style: “Her own experiences as a dirt gardener were the
foundation of her art”¹
LAURA S.D. GRELOCH
Project Works Sampling 2005 through 2010
2. Introduction: Inspiration, Intuition & Realization Slides: 3 - 6
Residential Projects: Bell Terre & Chipman House Slides: 7 - 30
Sustainable Foot Steps & Restorative Landscapes: Slides: 31 - 36
Bibliography: 1. Robin Karson founding director of the Library of American Landscape History of Ellen Biddle Shipman
2. Edith Wharton, Italian Villas and Their Gardens
3. Edith Wharton, Biography
4./ 4a. Reference Beatrix Farrand : Garden Refuge, Dumbarton Oaks Gardens, Harvard Magazine July-August 2012
5. David Bennett, Landscape Architect reflects on the work of Beatrix Jones Farrand
3. She structured the gardens to “devolve” from formal and structured to progressively less
so as one moves downhill from the main house. As one enters the “wild,” less landscaped
portion, stone paths trail off abruptly into dirt or lawn. BLISS & FARRAND a
INSPIRATION
In Nature, there is detail, character and rhythm. On any given day, I am
reminded by familiar striking beauty where I was the year before. The light,
the air, a flower that has blossomed that was not there the day before, a
fresh fragrance, the soft sounds of life humming, bring me home; ground me
gently. The landscape in nature is to be admired, learned from, repeated.
4. Indigenous elements fit
without question. Designed
and crafted to create age and
intentionally extend
architecture into the
landscape.
5. INTUITION
Learning by observation is gradual,
an experiment in practice, patience;
barring results initially
unpredictable.
A journey toward intuitive design is,
life-long in study, hugely gratifying;
satiating an audience with purpose
greater than oneself.
6. Growing knowledge, as learning how to see, how to listen, thrives in
commitment and in wonder. Talent lies idle with out expression and voice
to a greater audience. Success is realized in opening new doors
and sharing vision.
REALIZATION
7. “Gardens should be divided into rooms and planned in
concert with the house and the natural landscape.”²
Belle Terre
Saucon Valley, Pennsylvania
- Benjamin L. Walbert: Architects & Planners
- Laura S.D. Greloch:
Landscape Architect & Projects Coordinator
- Lewis Brothers Construction:
Building Contractor & GC
- Creative Landscapes: Flat Work Subcontractor
- The Outdoor Room: Softscapes & Irrigation
8.
9. Original
conceptual drawing
resulting in the award for
full- service design contract.
– AD Marker on Sepia–tone Diazo
Presentation Paper
NOTE: the original plan depicted a first generation pool design with natural features. A ha-ha
wall in lieu of required pool fence enclosure which offered an unobstructed view to the meadow
below and melded the living spaces to the site gracefully.
10. She used plants to create
“impressionistic” effects of texture
and color, and also was known for
creating outdoor “garden rooms,”
with “the idea of moving through
a landscape in a sequence, from
one space to another, where each
space has its own character,”
…“One space may be very shady
and enclosed, and you pass
through a hedge or a row of trees
or through an actual gate in a
wall to enter a very sunny and
open space.”³
This working conceptual reveals a European Garden Style with formally aligned multi – level outdoor living
spaces. The heart-shaped garden to the left of the residence was an original 1940’s feature that was the only part
of the original landscape to be renovated as it was originally intended.
13. Fragrant culinary herbs are conveniently
incorporated into the landscape along the path just
outside the Manor-House Kitchen & adjacent to
outdoor dining space.
21. Formal gardens in the European tradition, but
with a distinctively American flavor that
acknowledges their setting—are laid out as a
series of “garden rooms,” with walls formed by
trees in some cases, by terraces in others, with the
result that something new lurks around each twist
of the winding paths. One has the constant feeling
of going where one isn’t supposed to go—a place
this beautiful just can’t be open to the public.
THE DUMBARTON OAKS GARDENS
Chipman House
Chipman Estate, Bethlehem Township,
Easton, Pennsylvania
-1870 Georgian Brick Architecture
- Penn Contractors, Kitchen Addition
- Laura S.D. Greloch, Landscape Architect, PM
- E.L.K. Masonry
- The Outdoor Room: Flatwork, Planting,
Irrigation & Lighting
23. Chipman House post addition, before site work.
Wharton believed that the design of a house should be treated architecturally and should honor the principles of proportion, harmony,
simplicity, and suitability. She thought gardens, too, should be architectural compositions.
24. Awkwardly sited this home sits a
mere 10’ off the road, is tight to
the property boundary and lacks
cohesiveness to its 3 acre open
landscape. A retaining wall was
necessary to extend architecture
into the property and create a
level outdoor living space
accessible to first floor grade of
the house.
31. SUSTAINABILITY
Adaptation of sustainable
practices has made a difference
on residential scale projects.
Clients are open-minded where
they can recycle, utilize native
plantings along-side hybrids
and incorporate thorough bed
amendment in order to
conserve water and maximize
organic soil nutrients.
32. Blue Wonder Cat Mint adjacent to Japanese Golden
Hakon-Grass create a soft foreground to the swing
and twig-sculpted tree in a photographer’s garden.
36. “ She had a strong appreciation for the natural character of the land and the appropriate way of integrating a designed “ DAVID BENNETT
VARIETAL PLANTINGS
Herbaceous plantings breath life into and are restorative to an otherwise predominantly static garden. Once
defined, the landscapes structure plantings may yield to perennials & grasses reflective of the designer’s
attentiveness to contrast in color, foliage seasonal characteristics. Appropriate spacing offers fast cover with
little room for weeds.
