There are very few slow days at a Blade of Grass – we're busy designing and maintaining Boston's most beautiful properties. Below are some of the recent highlights of our work, design awards, Boston landscaping events, press mentions, and general Blade happenings. For more Blade news, be sure to follow us out on Facebook and Instagram.
Bringing the Indoors Outdoors | Wellesley Weston Magazine
Jim discusses with Wellesley Weston Magazine‘s Patty Lenz Bovie the ins and outs of creating the perfect outdoor living space. Among his suggestions are an awareness of the room’s accessibility, incorporating multiple levels in order to define the area, mixing it up when it comes to visual elements, and finding the right mix of plantings and hardscaping. Read the entire article to see what Jim, and several other local designers, offer as their landscaping advice.
Wayland Farmhouse Recognition | Garden Design Online
Noted Garden Design Online blogger, Jane Berger highlights Jim’s Wayland Farmhouse – APLD’s 2017 Gold Award winner for Residential Design. With a designer’s eye, Jane describes the property’s unique challenges and amazing transformation. Be sure to check out the story and the rest of the website for some great reading.
Our New Offices | 9 Old County Road, Sudbury, MA 01776
That’s right, we’ve moved from our Boston Post Road location in Wayland to a brand new building just a few miles down route 20 in beautiful Sudbury. It’s a big deal for us as our team has been growing (a lot) and space was rather limited. A new conference room, several design studios, and lots of natural light are just a few of the perks in our new Sudbury location. We’ll be sure to post a few photos of the offices and property on facebook soon, but if you’re in the area, please feel free to stop in and say “hi” and see our new home for yourself.
Gardening for Good | Hope in Bloom, Inc.
We can’t imagine a more rewarding way to apply our landscaping skills than on behalf of the Hope in Bloom organization. Based in Dedham, this wonderful non-profit provides gardens to local women and men who are being treated for breast cancer. Free of charge, each garden is tailored to the recipient’s property and tastes, with the goal of improving the quality of life for the patients and their families. If you would like to volunteer your gardening talent, materials, or simply make a donation, please visit their website to support this very worthy cause.
Dramatic Landscaping Transformations | New England Home
Jim Douthit speaks with New England Home‘s Kaitlin Madden regarding the strategy and impact of a great property makeover. Examples of our projects in Brookline, Wellesley, Dover, Boston, and Weston are examined as Jim explains his perspective on “outdoor rooms.” As they say – seeing is believeing. Check out these amazing transformations and learn more about challenges and successes of each.
Wayland Farmhouse Wins APLD’s Gold Award for Residential Design | APLD
The 2017 winner of APLD‘s Gold Award for Residential Design goes to Blade designer and owner, Jim Douthit, for his “Wayland Farmhouse” project in Wayland, MA. To be sure, this property offered a unique opportunity for Jim to flex his extraordinary creativity and design vision, and we’re so proud that his hard work was recognized by this very prestigious organization. Be sure to see the results of this amazing transformation for yourself.
Backyard Bluestone Patio With Stacked Stone Retaining Walls | HGTV
It’s a quick mention, but always an honor to be included in such a popular publication. In this design tip, HGTV asks our designer Heather Lashbrook Jones her thoughts on prioritizing a patio in terms of focus and materials.
Giving Back | Heifer International
For the past several years, a Blade of Grass has been donating to Heifer International – an amazing organization that is “working to end hunger and poverty around the world by providing livestock and training to struggling communities.” In an effort to include our clients in this charity, we also make contributions for each word-of-mouth referral they generate (they really add up!). The tally is in and our contribution for 2016 is: 24 flocks of chickens, 7 goats, 3 alpacas, and 3 llamas. Congrats to all – it really feels great to be a small part of this effort.
Backyard Retreat Near Boston | Traditional Home Magazine
Check out our work in the February/March issue of Traditional Home magazine (pdf). Kudos to designer Tom Wilhelm for creating a “lawnless” (and low maintenance) outdoor space that fits the family’s lifestyle perfectly.
See You at the Marketplace | Wellesley Hills Junior Women’s Club
Be sure to stop by the Wellesley Marketplace on November 19 and support a great cause. Keep an eye out for a few of our planters that are being raffled off for the Wellesley Gardeners’ Guild.
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