BY
MIKE BUTLER
PHOTOS
KRITSADA
PRODUCED BY
HELEN YOEST
AN EXUBERANT COTTAGE
GARDEN BUILTON A
BUDGET PROVESTHAT
LESS CAN BE MORE.
Path
Finders
Looking back
1 5
years ago,
when their yard was
a blank canvas of North Carolina red clay,
Madonna Phillips and Greg Hallam are glad
they didn’t have a budget for expensive paving
materials and nursery plants.
“We might have thrown money at concrete,”
says Greg. “The gravel and dry-stacked stone
we used are softer and more appropriate for
our Arts and Crafts-style house and our
historic neighborhood.”
Greg, a city planner for Raleigh, took charge
of building the stone steps that lead to the front
porch and laying out the meandering blue-
slate gravel paths. Greg likes how easily gravel
BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS MARCH 2009 1 3 9
