McLean gardens,
scaled to the lot.
Bespoke landscape design for McLean estates. Composition tuned to McLean's mature canopy, established root systems, and the architectural language of the homes - working with what is already there rather than starting over.
Smaller lots,
denser composition.
McLean estates run smaller than the Great Falls average - often under two acres - and the work calls for a different design discipline. Every square foot reads. Mature trees set the bones. Neighbors are visible. The architecture sits closer to the street.
Eden & Dane designs McLean gardens that respect what is already there. The mature oaks and beeches that took fifty years to establish are kept. The root zones are protected. The composition is layered into the existing canopy rather than imposed on top of it.
Our McLean work tends to emphasize privacy that reads as garden rather than fence, edible elements integrated quietly into the ornamental layer, and a level of detail at the entry sequence and rear garden that matches the architectural language of the home.
We design. We install with our trusted local crews. McLean projects are usually three to nine months from first walk to substantial completion.
Four things we work with in McLean.
Composing around the canopy.
Most McLean lots have established trees that took half a century to mature. We treat them as the structural bones of the design, protect their root zones, and compose the new garden into their existing shade and form.
Layered, not walled.
McLean privacy is achieved through layered planting - mid-canopy infill, evergreen anchors, structural hedge lines - rather than walls of leyland cypress. The lot still feels generous. The neighbors recede.
Garden that matches the home.
McLean architecture ranges from traditional colonial to transitional contemporary. The garden should belong to the home, not look like it was designed for a different house. We tune the formality, the palette, and the materials to the architecture.
Integrated, not separate.
Most McLean clients want some edibility - herbs, espalier fruit, a small kitchen garden - but do not want a visible vegetable patch. We integrate these elements into the ornamental layer so the garden reads as composed throughout.
A McLean garden has to belong to a specific house, on a specific lot, with trees that were already there. That constraint is what makes it interesting.Dane Hoover, Founder
Three reasons it works.
We know the soils and shade.
McLean's specific microclimate - shade-heavy lots, established canopy, varying soils from the Potomac flood plain to the upland - calls for plant choices most designers approximate. We design with palettes proven in McLean specifically.
The garden belongs to the house.
We adjust the formality, hardscape, and palette to match the architecture of the home. A transitional contemporary gets a different garden than a traditional brick colonial - both can feel right when designed to the building.
Respect for the neighbors.
McLean lots are close. Our crews work quietly, clean up daily, and manage the project so the neighbors do not have to budget patience. The work is invisible until it is done.
A garden that belongs
to your McLean home.
Begin with a 15-minute discovery call. We will discuss your lot, your home, and the garden that should already be there.
Book your discovery call