At our recent landscape installation on Regent’s Drive in Ann Arbor, we reimagined the entry experience with the timeless beauty and balance of a Japanese garden, highlighting the artistry of Tsukiyama earth mounding to swale and carve the entry.

Our goal was to create an entry landscape that feels both serene and contemporary, blending minimalist plantings with organic, dissolving lines. The result is a space that naturally draws the eye through unfolding layers of texture, color, and shadow, all while complementing the home’s treehouse-like views into the Nichols Arboretum.

Rich seasonal color now anchors the composition. A Sango Kaku (Coral Bark) Japanese Maple glows in fall, its coral-red branches set against the clean, low mounds of Immergrünchen sedum. Newly planted ‘Morning Light’ maiden grasses sway in the breeze, adding soft motion and contrast beside the multi-stem Paperbark Maple, whose exfoliating bark brings warm texture through winter. The pathways are surfaced in decomposed granite, offering a low-maintenance, permeable solution for natural drainage and an understated, modern finish.

This Ann Arbor landscape design celebrates craftsmanship, restraint, and seasonal beauty—a place to pause and reconnect before entering home.