OUTDOORS

Summer is short at 45th parallel north. It makes the business of landscaping interesting, and Bob Drost, of Drost Landscape, has been adapting to April blizzards and early fall frosts for 30 years. He loves the challenge and the satisfaction that comes from a project completed with equal doses of creativity and teamwork. Just as important is a client who shares his goal of creating a harmonious extension of a home into this beautiful landscape, and then enjoying it as long as the weather allows.

Drost found such a client on the west side of Traverse City, with a gracious Craftsman-influenced house and a beautiful, yet underutilized, forested lot. Open space was minimal, and it became a soggy mess every time it rained. The kids wanted a place to play outside, and the parents wanted to cook and relax outdoors.

When Drost met with the clients, he says, “The ideas just flowed. I could see a lot of potential in this site.”

So did the clients, and they were ready to invest in a plan filled with features to maximize their enjoyment of the outdoors: stone steps hugging the house, native plantings to blend with the woods, a flowing stream and waterfall, a natural stone hot tub, a massive stone hearth and a full kitchen. It’s all mingled within a generous stone-paved entertaining space, both open and covered, and a small grassy area overlooking a wooded ravine. Now the backyard is where everyone wants to gather.

“My clients were phenomenal,” says Drost of the shared vision he had with the homeowners. They put a lot of thought into the details, and Drost’s team made their ideas real, from excavation to hand-chiseling the capstone on the hearth. The homeowner tells