“Hyejin drew the whole back garden before anything was ordered, so there were no surprises. The crew left the site clean every evening.”
Geeta N.Chevy Chase
Garden design and build · Bethesda, Maryland
The garden is drawn before it is dug
Fernwood designs and builds private gardens in Bethesda, Chevy Chase and the neighborhoods around them. Every project starts as a measured plan, and the crew builds to that drawing, season by season.
Project sheets
Each project, written as a spec sheet
Season, timeline and scope on one page, the way the client and the crew both receive it.
- Spring build
Stone terrace and fire court
A walled terrace off the kitchen, stepped down to the lawn, with a wood-burning fire pit and planted borders.
Read the sheetSeason: built March to June, planted in May
Timeline: four months from signed plan to final walk
Scope: terrace of about 600 square feet, steps, fire pit, borders
- Fall build
Brick path and walled front garden
The brick path reset on a new base, a raised bed along the wall, and roses and shrubs chosen for the front of a narrow lot.
Read the sheetSeason: built September to November, planted in October
Timeline: ten weeks from first dig to planting
Scope: reset path, raised brick bed, gate, shrubs and roses
- Two seasons
Woodland slope with stone steps
A steep side yard cut into a stair of flat stone, with a low wall to hold the bank and planting that suits the shade.
Read the sheetSeason: stone in April and May, planting the following October
Timeline: six months, in two planting windows
Scope: stone stair, low retaining wall, shade planting
Sample projects, to be replaced with the firm's own work.
The plan
A drawing the whole crew builds from
Before a stone is ordered we survey the site and draw it. You approve the drawing, then the crew builds to it.
On every plan
Levels and drainage, so water has somewhere to go
Walls, steps and paving, drawn to size
A planting schedule by bed and by season
Lighting and water runs, marked before the digging
The order of work, so you know who is on site and when
Services
Design, stone, planting and care
One team from the first sketch to the first year of the garden.
Garden design
Survey, plan and planting schedule, drawn before the work is priced.
About garden designTerraces and walls
Stone and brick terraces, steps, retaining walls, paths and gates.
About stoneworkPlanting
Trees, shrubs, borders and perennials, chosen for the site and set out in the right season.
About plantingOutdoor rooms
Patios, pergolas, fire features and water, built into the garden and not set down on it.
About outdoor roomsGarden care
Watering, pruning and seasonal visits that carry a new garden through its first years.
About garden care
The garden year
What we do in each season, around Bethesda
Frost and heat set the calendar, so each job has its own window.
Winter
Design and permits. The ground is closed, so this is when plans are drawn and approvals are filed.
Site surveys and measured plans
Permit and association applications
Stone and plant orders for spring
Spring
Stone and structure. Excavation, drainage and base work start once the soil can be worked.
Walls, steps and terraces
Carpentry and pergolas
First planting window, from April
Summer
Finishing and water. Heat is hard on new plants, so we finish what is built and plan the watering.
Lighting and irrigation
Containers and tender planting
Watering schedules for new beds
Fall
Planting. Warm soil and cool nights give trees, shrubs and perennials time to root before winter.
Trees and shrubs
Perennials and bulbs
Bed edges and mulch
Who you will work with
Hyejin Yoo draws every plan
Fernwood is a team of about twenty-five: designers, a horticulturist, stone masons, carpenters and planting crews. Hyejin walks each site with you before the first dig and stays on the project through the final walk.
Hyejin Yoo
Founder and principal designer
After the work
What clients wrote
“The terrace was built in the order we were told it would be. A few weeks after planting, someone came back to check the watering.”
Wilma P.Kenwood
“We asked for fewer plants, not more, and they listened. The border looks planned and not crowded.”
Sasan A.Potomac
Sample reviews.
On file
Licensed and insured, in writing
Our contractor license and certificate of insurance come with every proposal.
- License
- Home improvement contractor · MD Lic. 000000 · Maryland Home Improvement CommissionContractor license for residential improvement work
- Insurance
- General liability and workers' compensationCertificate available on request
Service area
Bethesda and the neighborhoods around it
Montgomery County and the northwest corner of Washington, with a few streets past each edge.
Montgomery County
- Bethesda
- Chevy Chase
- Potomac
- Somerset
- Garrett Park
- Cabin John
- Glen Echo
- North Bethesda
- Rockville
- Silver Spring
- Takoma Park
Northwest Washington
- Chevy Chase DC
- Cleveland Park
- Spring Valley
- Palisades
We don't take jobs in Virginia, or north of Olney and Gaithersburg.
ZIP codes: 20812, 20814, 20815, 20816, 20817, 20818, 20850, 20852, 20854, 20896, 20901, 20910, 20912, 20008, 20015, 20016
Questions
Before the first visit
How is a project priced?
Cost follows the size of the site, how much grading and stone it needs, the plants and the season. We don't publish a price list. After the site visit we write a proposal for the design, and when the plan is approved we write a build price from the drawing. Nothing is built without both in writing.
How long from the first call to the first dig?
The calendar decides. Designs are drawn through the winter, stonework starts when the ground thaws, and planting runs in spring and in fall. The proposal gives you the start window for your site.
Do you build from another designer's plan?
Yes. We walk the site with the drawing first, and tell you in writing what we would change and what we would build as drawn.
Who handles permits and association approvals?
Some walls, grading changes and work in districts or planned communities that have their own design review need approval. We tell you at the site visit which apply, prepare the drawings for them, and check the current rules with your county or association.
What happens when it rains or freezes?
Stone and base work wait for dry ground, and planting waits for workable soil. We reschedule around the weather and tell you the new order of work, so no day is lost to guessing.
Book a site visit
Tell us where the garden is and what you want from it. We write back to set a day for the visit.
Phone(301) 555-0100
Hours
- Monday – FridayToday
- 7:30 a.m. – 5 p.m.
- SaturdayToday
- By appointment
- SundayToday
- Closed