![]() ![]() “Your garden changes, too,” says Johnsen, who also lives in Croton. “You’ll be out here in the early morning and then later in the evening.” “When people put in a pool, their entire use of their property changes,” says landscape designer Jan Johnsen, the designer who transformed this rocky ledge into an oasis for a Croton family of four. The shadow of the great oak that stands between you and the Hudson begins to stretch out across the hillside and the gauzy morning haze over the river seems to be lifting, bringing with it the promise of another great day poolside. The ornamental grasses behind you sway gently as a river breeze catches the seed heads, sending them bobbing in the brightening morning light. “People say pools are only for four months of the year in this climate, but what a great four months it is.” – Jan JohnsenĪs you make your way down along the grassy path from the 1930s hilltop house on Lounsbury Road in Croton-on-Hudson to the secluded pool area that sits just below the apple orchard, a hint of sun warms the back of your neck just before you settle into one of the large wooden chairs at the edge of the pool. “I bought a used computer from the PennySaver and started out in a one-room office I rented from a tree company.” I just intuitively knew there was a connection.” Since then, scientists have learned that the high-frequency vibrations of birdsong open up the pores on plant leaves so that they absorb more air and nutrients.Īfter 15 years of working for other firms, Johnsen opened her own landscape company in 1986 with just $3,000. ![]() “My teacher thought it was a stupid idea,” she says, “and that made me want to do it more. At 16, she won first prize in the Manhattan borough-wide science fair with an experiment on how sound affects the growth of plants. She soon branched out to the fire escape, where pots of flowers and vegetables thrived. When she was in the third grade, Jan Johnsen planted corn seeds on the windowsill of her family’s New York apartment. Westchester County’s Most Accomplished Women Entrepreneurs Not only did she transform it into herbaceous heaven, but she harnessed the uppermost areas to turn them into viewing platforms and utilized all the acreage in between. That’s exactly what she’s been doing for 18 years, working for a family in Chappaqua who came to her with the hill from hell. ![]() Show Johnsen a property with a breakneck hill that would give Jack and Jill the jitters, and she’ll see a way to utilize every square foot of space without worrying about taking a tumble. But the fact that Johnsen focuses on steps also implies that she’s dedicated to bringing every space in a yard into the dialogue. It says something about a landscape architect who strives to soften every element of a garden-cushioning access to the upwardly mobile aspects of a landscape. The fact that grass steps are Jan Johnsen’s signature is telling. Most people see a slope and assume that it’s downhill all the way. “I strive to create the feeling of calm.”Ī perilous slope left this Chappaqua property virtually inaccessible before a savvy landscape designer turned dysfunctional into dramatic. Working in concert with the site means that the finished layout will be more serene, she says. For instance, if the site has tall mature trees, you don’t clear cut you blend them into the design. “I look at the view, the native trees and shrubs, the geology, the orientation, the sun/ shade patterns and more,” she says. Of course, Johnsen’s plans also take into account the owner’s vision and personal tastes, but the site’s personality traits have to be considered. “My approach is to marry the site to the design so it makes sense on a visceral level.” ![]() “There is an innate personality to each site – something I call, ‘the power of place.’ It refers to the overall appearance and feeling of a place,” she says. Landscape designer Jan Johnsen, who studied and worked in Japan and Hawaii, has designed many over the last 40 years, and she believes every one of them has its own persona. Just like people, pools, too, have personality – if they’re lucky. ![]()
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