CLEARING THE SITE
Even when we planned that metropolitan oasis, there were a few existing features we carefully kept—a valiant, five-leaved woodbine to train over the rail fence that kept out the trampling feet of the neighborhood small fry; a scrubby shrub I never managed to identify, which had voluntarily masked an ugly cellar window; a few precious patches of moss.
A wild garden in New York City
In Connecticut, of course, the area was almost completely overgrown, mostly by poison ivy. After that was cleared away, undesirable undergrowth was removed, leaving a rock here, a dogwood or azalea there. Baring the ground let us see more clearly what we had to work with.
A wild flower grows in New York City: bloodroot
When the ground is cleared, the designer makes a final decision about permanent features such as steps, path, pool, bog, bench. You might make a mental note of the place where an old tree stump might be artfully installed, when you find one, or where a dead branch might fall and make a background for some small plants. Of course, these are all kept carefully in scale and harmony. A path should be narrow and not sharply defined, perhaps just a series of barely matched flat stones. Steps are not conspicuous, but made to look as natural as possible.