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above, left: Cutting back overgrown branches and rebuilding the wall were the first steps in this renovation.
above, right: Lush tropical foliage brings new life to this Charleston courtyard, even as it provides privacy.
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| Buried bricks were recovered to add to the walls and patio, lending a sense of antiquity to the new features. River stones around the base of the fountain reinforce
the idea of water. |
The brown brick garden walls of Charleston have lives of their own, oblivious to the whirling urban world that thrives around them. They have survived years
of high tides, hurricanes, and neglect. When garden designer Tim Daniel was hired to restore a crumbling courtyard, one of those walls immediately sparked his
passion. "That's what I love about this town," he says. "Where else are you going to find a wall like this?"
Despite the garden's charm, Tim was confronted with a timeworn wall that had finally succumbed to a falling tree limb. The courtyard also had a serious
drainage problem, and a neighbor's second-story porch looked directly down on it. The homeowner's instructions were to address these issues while adding a
tropical look.
Nuts and Bolts
With that in mind, Tim crafted unique solutions for each of the problems. He first cut back tree limbs hanging over the courtyard. "We needed to remove some
of the branches because it was just too dark," Tim explains. He cut back an old dogwood and brought down a few palms that had grown unwieldy but still didn't
offer screening.
Next, Tim hired a local stonemason to rebuild the wall. "He did a really great job of matching the brick materials," Tim says. "Because part of the wall was
demolished, he had to start from scratch on some sections. We noticed early on that it needed new mortar. You could stick a pencil between the bricks." The
stonemason matched the new mortar with the original color by combining white sand, portland cement, and lime.
With the wall in place, Tim began to work on the drainage problem. "The courtyard used to have serious flooding, like a large part of downtown Charleston," he
explains. "We dug a trench for a French drain and tied it into an old brick cistern near the
corner of the property. Now it drains like a champ."
