Mark M. Holeman Inc.’s award-winning landscape from the second story of Centennial Estate, the 2019 Decorators’ Show House and Gardens. Photo courtesy David Gorden
In the middle of the rear landscape at the 2019 Decorators’ Show House and Gardens sits an oasis. Ringed in gravel and swatches of lush green grass, the design embraces two gnarly native redbud trees, including one with a propped up limb.
The Mark M. Holeman Inc., landscape design team names it “Outdoor Oasis.” It replaces a long-abandoned koi pond, which was filled in to make a gravel and bluestone seating area at the 2019 Decorators’ Show House and Gardens, this year at Centennial Estate, 4160 Washington Boulevard.
An oasis is the purpose it serves, a respite where you can sit at a bistro table for a glass of wine, cocktail or beer, or cozy up at the tabletop fire pit, just a few feet away.
Holeman’s “Outdoor Oasis” is the award-winning landscape at the 2019 Decorators’ Show House and Gardens. (C) Photo Jo Ellen Meyers Sharp
Circular raised beds, heavily planted with masses of low-growing evergreens and perennials, are accented with a weeping Japanese maple, umbrella pine and goldthread chamaecyparis.
The Holeman team wanted to create a peaceful area that was interesting to sit in and to look at from inside the house, especially the row of second floor bedrooms that overlook it.
The Holeman contribution to the 2019 Decorators’ Show House’s landscape includes two DIY suggestions for homeowners.
Decorators’ Show House DIY 1
Off to one side of the garage was a section where trash cans and other items considered unsightly. A lot of people have these areas in our landscape, especially in urban-suburban settings, where out-of-sight storage space is limited.
Holeman’s team attached a piece of opaque landscape cloth to a piece of forest green, heavy plastic lattice and braced it to hide the cans and other items. It worked perfectly.
Lattice backed with landscape cloth provides a screen from unsightly trash cans at the 2019 Decorators’ Show House and Gardens. Holeman’s use of the screen earned it a Maggie Award. Photo courtesy David Gorden
Decorators’ Show House DIY 2
Say you have a leaky bird bath? That’s what the Holeman team found at the Decorators’ Show House and Gardens. The bowl on the antique, moss-laden piece leaked, so a bed of flat-ish stones gave it an interesting look while dramatically slowing down the drip.
An old bird bath at Centennial Estate, the 2019 Decorators’ Show House and Gardens, leaked, so Holeman placed flat pebbles in the bowl to slow down drips. Photo courtesy David Gorden
This is the 21st year Mark M. Holeman Inc., has participated in the Decorators’ Show House and Gardens. The event, which ends May 12, is a fund raiser by the St. Margaret’s Hospital Guild to support Eskenazi Health. This year, David Gorden, Ron Howe and Mike Roth headed up the Holeman team.
“Outdoor Oasis” picked up two honors: The Key Award and Best Landscape. The team also received a Maggie Award, given to a company that goes above and beyond. That includes installing the lattice screen, and a section of gravel to facilitate foot traffic and carts to food areas.
To learn more about your landscape’s award winning possibilities, contact a Holeman landscape professional.