Le Petit Chalet Recognized in Bangor Daily News!

The Bangor Daily News recently ran an article in their “Community” section about MCLD’s 2011 International Gold Award from the Association of Professional Landscape Designers, (APLD), for “Le Petit Chalet” in Southwest Harbor, Maine!

I am originally from Bucksport, Maine, and building a garden on Mount Desert Island provided an amazing opportunity to reconnect with a landscape that has shaped a massive part of my appreciation for native plants. It just so happens that the summer the landscape was built was one of the wettest ones on record, making for some unpredictable and memorable experiences during the installation process. One storm in particular dumped over 4-inches of rain on site in less than 24-hours––I was staying on site that night, and let me just say that I barely slept a wink!

The garden was built by Gardenform, a Massachusetts-based landscape construction firm. The owners, James Barrett and Susanna Jewell, lived on site during the five-month construction period. Having the builder so close to the project provided immeasurable value in responding to frequent, torrential rains and high-wind storms throughout much of the installation process.

Building this garden within the context of one of the nation’s most cherished national parks provided unparalleled career-changing experiences for everyone involved.