Name: Jake Cammarota
Email: cammarotaj6119@delval.edu jakeecammarota13@gmail.com
Phone: +1 (215) 285-9941
School: Delaware Valley University
B.S. Landscape Architecture 2026
Minor in Horticulture
Haverford College Arboretum, Summer Intern, May-August 2024
Blue Tree Landscaping, Gardener/Nurseryman, May-August 2023
Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/jake-cammarota-321b56267
The site for this project is on Delaware Valley University’s Campus, where the studio was tasked with individually designing a Welcome Center for the arboretum. The existing conditions were unkept, with a lot of invasive overgrowth in the area, and several buildings that did not contribute to the arboretum. In order to achieve the goal of providing an identity to the struggling arboretum, the site needed to be cleared and replanted, with the vision of a native Pennsylvania woodland ecosystem with many different sections becoming an identifying factor for the campus. The welcome center itself would be nestled into the woods on the shore of the existing Lake Archer, where it could be used by a variety of groups, including wedding parties, high school proms, among other similar functions. These groups would be able to rent out the space, offering a funding opportunity to keep a sustainable budget for the arboretum. In addition to the renting possibilities, this welcome center will be a resource to students and the community, helping to educate both on the importance of ecosystem management practices, as well as general plant education.
Human Experience Sections
Entrance Gate Perspective
The New Hope House design for the yard space was given to the studio by our professor who was currently working on the project. This project was for a property along the main street in New Hope, PA, where an existing house was to be torn down, and a new one to be built. As a studio, we were able to meet with the architect who had designed the new house to get imagery that they had shown the client, helping us to visualize what the final house will look like.
In the backyard, there is an existing water rill that connects to a pond on the adjacent property, and offsite to the west, there is a canal at the top of a rather steep bank. These conditions offered challenges when considering accessibility and garden style. For my design, I went for a New American Garden style, with a wetland meadow where the existing rill is, becoming a more formal distilled meadow as it gets closer to the house. This design helped to keep the house itself formal, and as the areas got further away from the house, it became less formal, offering a visual destination to a more natural area. In the house design, there is a screened porch on the western most portion, which offers the client an area to sit and observe the backyard, while still enjoying the comfort of the house. The outdoor deck area on the south side of the house offers a more outdoor, yet still comfortable experience to the client, and the stone pathway near the house plays off the architectural stone that is being used for the foundation.
For this project, the planting design class was given a stie right outside the studio for us each to design a small educational garden for students. The plants selected were meant to bring about 4 season interest, with the focus on the fall, winter, and spring, as those are the times when students are on campus. There are a variety of heights for the different plants, allowing for both screening and open views. The garden is on a corner of a road, so the plants on that corner need to be tolerant of harsher conditions. The shade trees in the center offer a nice cozy area for students to sit and sketch, observe, or just relax, while the benches on the pathways offer great views of certain plant selections. The native grasses frame the whole garden and offer extended interest with their winter form, and the seed heads from many of the perennial selections will hold through the winter.
ANALYSIS OF VIEWS AND ACCESS POINTS WITHIN DESIGN
During my summer internship at Haverford College, I got the opportunity to design a garden area that is being redone. The area had just gotten new sidewalks put in, and there were plans to redo the area, so I was asked to make a design. I worked with the horticulturalists and curator to come up with a design for the area, and provided a plant schedule. This design is being installed in Fall 2024, and presented challenges with the amount of shade the area receives. Being on the north side of the building, it gets shade from not only the large existing white oak, but the structure itself. This project helped me to research many new species of shade tolerant perennials that I could use to make this garden have multiseasonal interest.
Existing site condition photographs
Recently planted Aesculus parviflora were incorporated into the new design, as they contribute to the native theme throughout this garden. The proposed bench offers an avenue for donors to give to the arboretum, and gives the arboretum an incentive to use this design.
The new sidewalks caused disturbance throughout the area, and the existing plants did not match the palette that existed throughout the campus. The design incorporated more native plants, including a variety of levels, with understory trees, shrubs, and perennials all present throughout the new design.
The existing Quercus alba has been succession planted with a Quercus macrocarpa, allowing this garden to continue to be shade driven after the white oak is removed.
