RGR designed the landscape to accompany a new motherhouse for the Mallinckrodt Convent in Mendham, New Jersey. The convent, founded in the 1930’s, occupies an extraordinary 125-acre site with expansive lawns, open meadows, an orchard, and extensive woodlands with numerous specimen trees. In addition to providing safe, comfortable, and accessible outdoor environments for the sisters, an important goal was the preservation of the historic landscape. Three outdoor courtyards allow the sisters to engage with nature and the landscape design features ornamental plantings for seasonal color and interest, water features, sitting areas, and shade structures. One of the courtyards, designed as a Memory Garden, includes diverse plantings of soothing colors and textures in a natural setting, which are known to be stress-relieving for memory-care residents and often stimulate memories through familiar sounds, scents, or activities in a garden environment.
