BYE DESIGN: IN HIS OWN WORDS

Commenting on the design of a Massachusetts seacoast project (photograph below), A.E. Bye writes: ``Our objective was two-fold. First, it was to modify the existing meadow landscape by following nature's patterns with such subtlety, that it would be difficult to discern if any new planting had been done. This, even though we had, in fact, planted hundreds of bayberries, inkberries, highbush blueberries, red cedars, downy shadblows, and wildflowers. ``We followed our usual method of directing the placement of these plants from a considerable distance and, often, from multiple vantage points, to avoid a contrived look.

``Secondly, in the zone around the house, where it is important to mow the grass as a fire-preventative measure, it was inevitable that this area would have a more cultivated appearance. Under the artful direction of the designer, Janis Hall, the earth was sculpted by a bulldozer to form soft mounds and valleys, which resemble the seas and the heaving land mass seen across the bay. In the mornings and evenings the sculpted earth catches shadows from carefully placed trees, and causes them to roll up and over the sinuous curves, changing minute by minute in the wind.'' Excerpt and 'Habitat' image from `Art into Landscape, Landscape into Art,' by A. E. Bye