Monday, 8:00 AM. 61 degrees, wind WSW, very light. The channel is wrinkled, the sky clear with some haze and the barometer predicts sunny skies.
The Reiten Boatyard Condominiums design and installation has turned out quite well, although it needs another year or two to mature completely. The project started two years ago with a proposal to renovate the old landscape plantings on the west side of the complex, and grew to a proposal to landscape the east side as well, which abuts a city beach, park and the water. My design concept was to make the complex look like it was “at the beach,” which it did not relate well to at that time. I used mostly native plants, in arrangements that would have the essence of a south shore Lake Superior beach. Such beaches are quite varied and often very ephemeral, so the design was by necessity an esthetic approximation of such a beach. One concern of the owners was that the design retain a look of care and control, so the plantings have a semi-wild, semi-formal look in front of the buildings. A large area was seeded to mature to a more natural appearance further away from the buildings, with some mowed lawn in between. Most of the grasses and wildflowers were obtained from Wildflower Woods Nursery in Washburn, and the woody plants from Northwoods Nursery in Rhinelander. The native plant seeds are from Prairie Moon Nursery in Minnesota.
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