Design Your Cottage Landscape with the Mystery of a Savanna

How to use native plants to enhance the view between your cottage and the lake.

Have you been to Barnum Creek Nature Reserve? I love it there – and one reason is because, unusual for the Highlands, part of it is open land rather than forest.

The area was farmed, and now the Land Trust is leaving unforested areas to encourage species that need this kind of habitat, while other areas are returning to forest. The result is, views open up and native shrubs punctuate the vista. There’s a certain mystery.

These days, I look at landscapes through a designer’s eye and I noticed how attractive this landscape is. And how it can translate into designs for our homes and cottages.

I learn from a designer, Kelly Norris, who uses what he calls the savanna archetype for some of his designs. A savanna is a mostly open area – under 30% tree coverage with the landscape filled with smaller shrubs, perennials and grasses.

It’s said we like savannas because of our evolutionary history. Savannas, with their open areas and scattered trees, offer both viewing opportunities and shelter. In other words, we can see what’s around… and we can hide from it.

Some have challenged that theory, but we can definitely say humans are drawn to landscapes with visual complexity and “mystery” – areas that invite exploration.

A savanna at the cottage

So how does this translate into the landscape around your home?

Imagine you’ve got a view from your cottage towards the lake. Currently, that view is open and covered in grass. There’s nothing blocking your view of the water.

I think you can improve the view by putting something in front of it. When something partially obscures a view, it invites mystery. Your eye is led through the landscape, giving it more to dwell on. And more dwelling is more interesting!

Could you perhaps have a couple of small trees or taller shrubs that punctuate the view? Perhaps something like an American Plum or a couple of Serviceberries? You (and nature) will be rewarded with flowers, fruit and colourful foliage, on top of an enhanced vista.

Then you could lead the eye through the strategic placement of a few shrubs. Perhaps a Pagoda Dogwood and a couple of Ninebarks? Surrounding these, maybe a two or three Northern Bayberries and some Bush Honeysuckles.

Then, in another layer, some flowering perennials. Depending on the amount of sun and moisture, perhaps some Foxglove Beardtongue for late in spring, a splash of Lanceleaf Coreopsis for summer yellow, or some Azure Asters for some pale blue to round out the season.

You could leave the lawn surrounding all these plants, but perhaps save yourself some mowing by letting it grow a little longer. Or you could replace it with a matrix of warm-season bunchgrasses, sedges or strawberries.

Then, as your eye finally reaches the lake, you could create a planting of varied heights that lines the water, leaving some of the lake in mystery and at the same time helping to keep the water healthy. If it’s wet, perhaps some Swamp Milkweed or Cardinal Flowers, coupled with some Sweet Gale and Meadowsweet.

Are you starting to get the picture? Because what you are really doing is creating a picture for yourself using what nature has to offer.

Designing landscapes like this is a mix of aesthetics and psychology, with a hefty dose of native plants that encourage wildlife to our landscapes.

With some careful thought and some good advice, you can create your own Highlands savanna.
I’d love to explore that.