Any homeowner who is planning to embark on a landscape project could easily feel overwhelmed. Whether they want an installation of colorful annuals or a complete outdoor entertainment space, involving an experienced company can make all the difference. Gale Nurseries brings over 90 years of knowledge of landscape and garden design/build to clients, ranging from elaborate English gardens to outdoor kitchens and pools.  

Vice President Loren Foster has been with the company nearly 20 years. With a degree in landscape architecture from Penn State University, Foster’s primary role at Gale is to work with clients on their landscape plan and manage the installation from beginning to end. He never tires of his job, saying, “I love the fact that what we get to do is build gardens. Clients are hiring us because they want to be outside. We spend so much time plugged in, I like being part of the reason to help people disconnect and come outside and connect with nature. It’s nice to give that to our clients.”

House & Home spoke with Foster about Gale’s approach to projects and why a design must be as functional as it is beautiful.

How do you approach projects with clients?
If a new client is calling me, it’s because they want to improve their landscape in some regard. We have worked on projects as small as a 10-foot-by-10-foot vegetable garden, to estates with acres of land; every project is different. The most important thing for any of them is that the client is in the driver’s seat. They have a goal in mind and my role is to parse out what their ideas are and see how we can turn it into a plan of attack. Some projects require a master plan, or maybe it’s just an annual planting to freshen the yard with color. We act as guides, but ultimately they are the ones who live there and it should address their needs.

What is a master plan and how does it help for larger projects?
Sometimes, if you’ve just bought a new house or if you’ve lived there 40 years and want a new look, it can be overwhelming to think of how much work there is to do. A master plan is a way of putting all of their ideas on paper and drawing up plans based on those ideas. We often can provide perspective sketches or a computer-generated walkthrough of what the finished space would be, but it doesn’t need to be completed in one fell swoop. We can break it down into sizable chunks and prioritize what the client wants done first and have a phased plan of attack.

How does the home/property influence a design?
The house is the starting point for the design. We’ll consider the architecture and details that make the house special. We’ll also do an opportunities and constraints analysis to see if there are features to play up, such as a 100year old beech tree, or challenges like steep grades or water retention. Ultimately, we can install a beautiful garden or feature, but it has to function. If there is a drainage issue, we want to identify and rectify it before we put plants in the soil. We make sure it’s all working, and then we make it pretty.

What advice do you have for homeowners approaching a spring project?
They have to think in the long term. This time of year there are so many colorful plants at garden centers and it’s easy to load up on annuals for color, but come winter, there is no interest in the garden. We structure gardens with layers to address the different seasons, including an evergreen component, layering in deciduous plants, perennials and then annuals for the pop of color. It’s also important to know what works in our area. If you plant 20 hostas here in Pennsylvania in an unprotected area they’ll be gone one week later because the deer will have eaten them. 

What expertise does Gale Nurseries provide?
A professional landscape designer can help you address those questions. There are so many facets to projects like pool installation— stormwater management, township regulations—and a company like Gale is good at not just looking at the pool, but the plant material that will go around it. Not a lot of companies have been around for 90-plus years, so we have a deep well of knowledge when it comes to more complicated projects. We love plants and gardening, and at the end of the day, we can build amazing spaces but also embellish them so you’ll feel like you’re in your own personal Longwood Gardens.

Gale Nurseries
Gwynedd Valley, Pa. | (215) 699-4714
GaleNurseries.com

Published (and copyrighted) in House & Home, Volume 19, Issue 11 (May 2019). 
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