Barbara Bush gives us a tour of her enchanting Brooklyn pollinator garden

As the daughter and granddaughter of two former US presidents, Barbara Bush grew up around some of America’s most treasured landscapes, from the manicured lawns of the White House to the blooming grasslands of her native Texas.

That changed when, after college, Bush moved to New York, a city where green space can be as hard to come by as a dollar slice of pizza these days. ‘I lived in New York for 15-plus years, never with a yard,’ she tells Wallpaper*.

During the pandemic, though, Bush – then pregnant with her first child – and her husband, the actor Craig Coyn, bought their dream family home in Brooklyn. In addition to classic brownstone character, the property had a coveted fenced-in backyard.

It was clear, though, that the space was going to require some work; The previous occupants had used the space as an en plein air artist’s studio, so, save for a few scraggly plantings and a smattering of ‘found objects’, it was bare – ‘in a cool way,’ Bush says, ‘but not safe for children.’

Bush envisioned transforming the plot into an urban pollinator garden, a wild oasis of native plants and flowers where visiting birds and insects could stop for a sip of nectar. She was inspired, in part, by her mom, First Lady Laura Bush, who has long advocated for rewilding landscapes, and is the founder of the conservation nonprofit Texan by Nature.

‘My mom is a naturalist,’ Bush explains. ‘She has a sign in her yard that says “Monarch Wrangler,” since Texas is in the pathway of the monarch butterfly migration. There was so much intentionality around what was in our yard.’

‘My sister [Jenna Bush Hager] and I thought it was hilarious and made fun of her for that when we were younger,’ Bush adds.

Still, Bush was ready to evolve into her own, urban version of a monarch wrangler. For help, she turned to landscape designer Nathalie Danilovich, founder of the New York firm Nathalie Pierrepoint Design, who happened to be married to a college acquaintance. ‘She heard through the grapevine that I could help her with her new house in Brooklyn,’ Danilovich says. ‘She wanted a wild, naturalistic garden – one that’s established, layered, romantic – we referenced, partly in jest, the beautiful overgrowth in Grey Gardens.’

The yard also needed to be easy to maintain. In addition to being the mother of two busy children, ages 4 and 2, Bush is the vice president of social impact for the NBA. ‘I love having a backyard and I love having a garden, and also I'm not a gardener,’ Bush confessed.

Danilovich worked with Bush to devise a low-maintenance design that would prioritise kid-friendly gathering spaces, privacy and a naturalist’s ethos. ‘I wanted it to be full and overgrown and wild and beautiful. I didn’t want manicured, and luckily, because I don't have that much time, I wasn't going to be able to manicure it that much myself anyway,’ Bush says.

Danilovich created a broad, winding patio through the center of the backyard from woodland granite pavers, a stone that features tones of cool gray and warm buff. She then lined the perimeter of the space with lush beds of perennials, layering hardier species like fluffy Gold Dew Tufted Hair Grass and lacy Slender Mountain Mint, with more colourful varieties like Purple Meadow Rue, Eastern Bee Balm and the thistle-like Rattlesnake Master.

‘While we talked a lot about plant diversity and pollinators, it was important to keep the plant palette relatively tight for this size space,’ Danilovich explains.

The patio’s most whimsical feature is a woven willow sun canopy at the yard’s far end. Danilovich partnered with farmer and multidisciplinary artist Howard Peller (who popped by the Bush-Coyne residence while working on an installation in Central Park’s Shakespeare garden) to weave together the structure using live boughs. ‘It’s a living sculpture,’ Bush says. An outdoor sofa sits beneath, which Bush spray-painted grey to match the paving stones.

Two summers since it was first planted, the garden is reaching full maturity – both the plantings themselves and the experience of living alongside it. The children enjoy playing games of soccer on the terrace and plucking mini purple-and-white bouquets from the beds, and name each squirrel that passes through. As soon as the weather warms, the family will have al fresco meals together. ‘Every night after dinner we eat an ice pop in the backyard,’ Bush says. ‘It really does feel like another room of our house.’

As expected, the garden has attracted local bees, fireflies and, yes, monarch butterflies. While her mother hasn’t paid a visit just yet, Bush sends her photos. ‘She really loves the “before” and “after” because it's very satisfying – It's very dramatic,’ Bush says.

‘It's just a fun, special place to hang,’ she adds.