Class of 2025

The Plan for Plants

Dana Hall School worked with Shoplick Landscape Architecture and founder Jane Shoplick to create the landscape plans that will complete the Upper School Building project. Shoplick made selections based on the amount of sun, the soil and slope conditions, and the height of the building windows. After these practical considerations were met, she chose plants that will provide a sequence of bloom from spring to fall/winter. In addition to flowers, which may only bloom for a week or two, she considered the size, texture and color of the foliage, the fall color of a plant’s leaves, whether it has fall/winter berries, and its winter branching structure. She focused on balancing the number of deciduous, broadleaf evergreen, and evergreen plants.

• Azaleas and catmint along the sidewalk announce the drop-off area and welcome guests. The azaleas bloom a peach/coral flower in the spring to match the building’s brick, followed by the catmint, whose light purple flowers are long blooming and hardy, tolerating open, sunny, low maintenance conditions. 
• Low planting in front of the building hides the infiltration trench that runs along the facade while not blocking the light from entering the basement level classroom windows. 
• All of the chosen plantings are shade tolerant: native Christmas ferns, smooth hydrangea, broadleaf evergreen leucothoe, needled low evergreen yews, native herbaceous ground cover called Foam Flower.
• To differentiate between the two entrances to the building, two Paperbark Maple trees underplanted with groundcover straddle the walk into the primary entry to the building. The cinnamon peeling bark of the maple matches the brick veneer of the building’s entry while offering visual interest during the winter.

Sustainable Solutions

All efforts were made to use native species and native cultivars. However, the Upper School Building site presented some very challenging  physical conditions (the slopes, the underground drainage system, the considerable shade, and the low windows) where using a native plant was not the best choice for a particular place or set of conditions.

• Native cultivars were often selected instead of the straight native species because a cultivar offered a more reliable plant quality, such as mature size, overall plant shape, or flower color. 
• A cultivar with a reliable mature size requires less pruning and overall maintenance. 

Campus Continuity

Shoplick’s plan and its emphasis on native plants introduces diversity, supports wildlife, and offers a subtler aesthetic that complements the traditional plantings currently used on campus.