Archive for Low Maintenance Landscape Examples – Page 14

Landscaping A Steep Backyard Hardscape in WA

Posted by Carol

· September 21, 2016

Sango Kaku Japanese Maple

Washington Hardscape Landscaping

My new clients were from southern California and now lived in Ridgefield, Washington. They were new to the Northwest. They loved their new home and neighborhood and believed all their difficult small back yard needed was the right designer.

Their lot was challenging.

The Bodes wanted to make Ridgefield feel like home. Their list was extensive and precise – their lot was tiny and challenging. It was one of those small and steep up hill lots. The builder gave them a slice of level land by building a high utilitarian block wall. This divided the yard into half and neither half was big enough to do much with. It’s great that people understand that a good designer can work miracles. I was flattered they chose me to bring their new outdoor home to life. It was not going to be easy.

Side yard transformed to easy access edibles garden

Lauren and Kathryn’s wish list went like this:

•Large covered outdoor area for year round entertaining

•Covered hot tub room

•Dwarf fruit trees and raised beds for edibles – this was a serious hobby for them

•Convenient access to smoker and BBQ

•Water feature to see from inside the great room for year round enjoyment

•A Sangu Kaku Japanese maple-because they loved it so

They hired me after looking at several designers and we met early one fall morning. As soon as I saw their lot I knew I’d recommend D & J Landscape Contractors for the installation. We had teamed up for a similarly difficult site. Although I am a Portland landscape designer I have several Ridgefield Washington landscape design clients. See Mastersons swamp to paradise blog.

The Bodes and I worked together to create their plan using my landscape design in a day process.

The basic grading was completed so the back porch addition could be built.

The big items were first. For seamless outdoor living the thing to do was extend the roof of the house for the cover. Not inexpensive but an important priority. We made the ceiling high in this addition so it would add light to the great room and make it feel bigger. Adding onto the existing small back porch rather than adding a new covered area elsewhere in the landscape kept it simple. With all the items we needed to add, it would be easy to turn this tiny yard into a hodgepodge.

Important hardscape back porch addition.

After back porch addition

Next the harsh straight wall dividing the landscape in half had to go. The design broke the steep slope into three levels. Using naturalistic boulders artfully placed changed this landscape completely. This is where I have to stop bragging about my spatial skills and brag about the landscape contractor. It isn’t financially practical or practical in any manner to draw a design that precisely places every boulder. Sometimes I am on site during construction and I work closely with the excavator to place the boulders but even then it is a very collaborative effort. Donna Burdick and Brian Woodruff of D & J Landscape Contractors took the design and brought it to life. It was such a tough site that we were planning to have me on site to help with the artistic efforts but the fall weather was threatening and if they had waited for me, they would have lost an opportunity to install until the next year. We met on site once and they ran with it……beautifully.

The perfect spot for the smoker.

A place was made for the smoker just on the edge of the covered back porch. Nestled among the boulders it sits at a height that makes it an easy reach.

Now that we had created usable space it was easy to nestle the gazebo and tot tub into a curve of the boulder walls. The hot tub feels private and there is good access. It is planted beautifully.

The gazebo nestled into the boulder walls to create it’s own private hot tub room.

Lauren and Kathryn are get it done people. Lauren built the hot tub gazebo using a kit, designed and built a potting table and storage cabinet for the back porch. It was such a pleasure to visit them and hear how much they love their new outdoor heaven.

Their easy access raised beds are a delight to use and to behold.

The water feature, a drilled rock with the hidden echo chamber under it is beloved by their young nieces, they love to play in it. The sound calls them outdoors.

They are home.

Sometimes I feel a little like Santa Claus – All the boys and girls deserve a wonderful outdoor heaven to play in. If you need help with your outdoor haven, contact me to learn more about my landscaping services.

Categories : Before and Afters, Easy Edibles, Low Maintenance Landscape Examples, Tree Selection

Tags : Aging in place in the garden, backyard landscape design, boulder wall, covered deck, gazebo, Hot Tub, no lawn backyard, outdoor living, paver patio, raised beds, retaining walls, rockery boulder wall

Portland Landscape Design Remodel

Posted by Carol

· September 7, 2016

A Garden Redesign for Family & Dog

Echo Chamber water feature in NE Portland designed by Landscape Design in a Day and D and J Landscape Contracting for people and family dog.

Freshly installed echo chamber water feature will reduce traffic sound from nearby NE 33rd.

Lynda and Michael live in a sweet old Northeast Portland Grant Neighborhood House. It’s a classic with a big front porch and several mature large trees including an amazing 40′ tall Japanese Maple. They raised their kids and more than one wonderful dog in this house. Their landscape adventure began with the loss of their old plum tree – okay kind of sad but it was so big it ate the backyard space. It also blocked most of the morning light. Their dining area was crammed up against the hot tub. Once the plum was gone they realized a golden opportunity had landed in their laps. They wanted a good designer to look at the possibilities and create a landscape design that would utilize every square inch of their small backyard.

Clients Enjoy Gardening

They didn’t want a “perfect” garden. Lynda and Michael have some gardening chops so the plants didn’t need to be extreme low maintenance but it did need to be simple. The existing landscape was overgrown after 20 plus years. They were happy to let a lot of the plantings go so they could have a new look. They selected NW Natural and low water landscapes from my list. A touch of cottage style fit the old house nicely so that was included.

Their Wish List:

Before landscape design in Grant Park: Dining took place next to hot tub. Without dog garden space.

Before: Dining took place next to hot tub.

◊Privacy for dining

◊A separate room for the hot tub, their current landscape had the dining table next to the hot tub.

◊Plenty of patio space for entertaining

◊ A bit of lawn for their sweet dog Mira.

◊Michael especially wanted a water feature for the sound. The traffic sounds from NE 33^rd interrupted conversations and the ability to relax in the back yard.

Installing the patio Grant Park N. E. Portland Landscape Design in a Day in this dog friendly garden.

Sam of D & J Landscape Contractors installing the new plantings.

Water Features: Over the years I’ve noticed people have very different experiences with traffic noise and other urban background sounds. My own family is a good example; my husband can tune out background noise and carry on a conversation but I often can’t. Some people can have their TV or radio going on in the background and carry on with language based activities. Some people have filters and some people don’t.

The Benefits of Echo Chambers:

My favorite design element, a water feature solves this problem and adds an elegant visual focal point. An echo chamber water feature triples the water noise but is safe for kids because there is no need for a pond, not even a tiny one. Standing water is dangerous for kids, birds and provides an environment for mosquitoes. Birds can drown in ponds that they can’t get out of. The echo chamber is a buried steel box, it is easy to clean and you can control the volume of water. My sister turns her water volume up so the water leaps from the pot. This is attractive but results in quite a bit of splash and the evaporation that results uses a lot of water. Other clients keep the water volume turned down so it slowly spills from the drilled rock or plumbed pot. It still makes that wonderful water sound because first the water noise is produced when water drops onto the rocks around the pot or rock. Then the water goes through the surface rocks, through the steel grid and into the chamber. As it hits the rocks that line the chamber the sound is amplified inside the box. It is so simple.

Landscape Design in a Day creates a garden echo chamber water feature or is it a water bowl for family dog?

Jack Hofmann and his new water bowl

Placing Water Features:

The echo chamber was designed by Lew Smith of Smith Rock on Johnson Creek Blvd. It creates more sound out of the water available so it’s also environmental. For perfection itself another small plug-in water feature, something you might pick up at Portland Nursery or Cornell Farms, as a second water sound creates the effect of a water based duet. We typically locate the 2^nd small water feature in another part of the landscape. The sound of water helps people attune to their immediate environment and filter out the background noise. For the best sound I placed the water feature on the side of the garage wall to add more amplification. By design it can easily be heard from most areas.

Flowering Tree with plantings underneath

Japanese Snowbell Tree flowering in North Portland residential landscape

Plantings: So much of the landscape was overgrown, after all it had served for over 20 years. We kept the mature Japanese Snowbell Tree, a December blooming Chinese camellia which serves as Lynda’s view from her office. The overwintering Anna hummingbirds love this simple 7 petaled deep red camellia flower and together they put on a show for 3 months. We planted easy care Beesia Deltoides near the bird bath because it will appreciate the splashes of water and has glossy heart shaped leaves that will reflect the light. Saxifraga ‘London Pride’, Hosta ‘Sum and Substance’ and a mass of Wood Fern will add year round color under the Snowbell Tree. A sterile variety of Russian Olive, Eleagnus ‘Gilt Edge’ will be trained into a small evergreen tree, giving more privacy to the hot tub room and fragrance in the fall.

We will show off this garden in a blog next year when the plantings have filled in. The client, Michael Shay, is a professional photographer and has promised photos for us. For more information on how I can help you with your garden remodel, contact me for more information on dog friendly and other landscaping.

Categories : Before and Afters, Dog and Cat Friendly Gardens, Low Maintenance Landscape Examples, Plants I Recommend, Shade Plants

Tags : Echo Chamber Water Feature, flagstone, food for hummingbirds, Grant Park Neighborhood, Hardscape, Hot Tub, Portland Traffic Noise, Stone Patio

Lawn Do Over for Portland Landscapes

Posted by Carol

· August 10, 2016

Drought Tolerant, Synthetic & No Lawns Landscaping

Landscape Design in a Day's newly installed drought tolerant RTF grass.

Landscape Design in a Day’s newly installed RTF grass with dry stream bed.

This is the year for rethinking the lawn. As a Portland landscape designer many of my new clients want to make big changes in their landscapes. I am recommending clients replace their old lawns with new and improved grass varieties.

My Lake Oswego clients, George and Marcia, contacted me completely discouraged about their front yard. I met them in the fall after our particularly hot and horrid summer of 2015. They had spent their entire summer watering and watering their lawn. It wasn’t dead on the October day that I came to their home but as you can see it was quite unattractive.

Uplands Neighborhood of Lake Oswego before drought tolerant lawn.

Damaged Lake Oswego lawn

They decided it was time to hire a designer and start over with their landscape. It is a typical Lake Oswego landscape with heavy clay soil, fir trees nearby with thirsty roots, and drainage problems.

Before we even started the landscape design process, I was able to share information about a new lawn grass that uses less water and is more durable than the grass (perennial rye grass blends) we have been using for the last 30 years. Working closely with Kevin Schindler of Autumn Leaf Landscaping Inc. we replaced their old lawn with Rhizomatous Tall Fescue (RTF) grass and designed a naturalistic dry stream bed that also solves the drainage problems. Solving the drainage problems also enhances the health of the grass. Even RTF grass doesn’t do well in a boggy winter soil. George and Marcia are very pleased with the appearance and performance of the new grass. They love their new dry stream bed and how it has pulled together the entire front yard, giving it a dramatic focal point.

They are no longer slaves to watering with drought tolerant lawn.

Installation day at George and Marcia’s Lake Oswego home.

This year several of my clients have taken out their old grass and installed RTF. From a distance it looks like any lawn, in fact it looks more uniform because it grows so thickly that it tends to crowd out weed grasses much better than our perennial rye grass does. My Lake Oswego clients especially appreciate the fact that RTF tolerates more sun and heat and if they did decide to let it go dormant, it will come back beautifully. RTF can even handle a south facing lawn with reflected heat from a sidewalk. This is the most difficult place to successfully grow grass so Portland landscape professionals are embracing this new product.

It is available as a roll out turf product (sod) and as seed. Kuenzi Turf & Nursery

After front lawn of drought tolerant landscaping in Rose City Park.

Rose City Park Neighborhood

No grass lawn for drought tolerant landscaping.

West Portland Park Neighborhood

Other clients want no lawn designs, thinking it will be lower maintenance. No lawn will mean lower water usage but replacing a lawn with paths and plants does not promise low maintenance. Even the fairly new minimalist style using 90% round river rock and 10% plants isn’t as low maintenance as you think. Someone has to blow dust and debris out of the river rock frequently to prevent weeds from building up. Many clients simply don’t want to mow any lawn and are fine with the first two years of extensive weeding that is needed to get a no lawn front yard established. For a lot of people, however, weeding is the least favorite gardening chore.

Synthetic Lawn Installed in front yard for drought tolerant landscaping.

Newly installed synthetic lawn in Parkrose Heights neighborhood

Other clients are installing synthetic lawn. Before you sneer at the idea of fake grass (which I did when I first heard about it), check out these photos of my Southeast Portland clients Bob and Norma Bleid. They gave themselves a retirement gift, front and back synthetic lawn. No water, no chemicals, no fertilizer; it is the ultimate low maintenance landscape lawn.

Early fall is a particularly good time to install a new lawn or landscape. With a good irrigation system landscapes can be installed any time of the year. As a Portland landscape designer I am not fond of July or August installations, I know my clients will be “nervous nellys” seeing their plants’ leaves droop, scorch and burn in the summer sun. The fall rains typically do a beautiful job of providing the moisture needed to get plants (including grass) well established. This eliminates the stress and worry of summer planting.

If you are interested in having your landscaping updated, redesigned or help with a plan – contact us for more information.

Categories : Before and Afters, Fall Gardening, Garden Tips, Gardening Green, Low Maintenance Landscape Examples, New Improved Plants, No Lawn Front Yards, Summer Garden Tips, Synthetic Lawn and Dogs

Tags : drainage problems, drought tolerant grass, dry stream bed, landscape drainage, low watering, mid century modern style, No Lawn, no lawn front yard, synthetic lawn, xeriscape plantings

Dwarf Mugo Pine – Get the Right Plant for Your Landscape Design!

Posted by Carol

· January 20, 2016

The Right Dwarf Mugo Pine Can Be the Perfect Addition to Your Low Maintenance Landscape

For success in the landscape (which I define as “right plant right place”), it’s important to get the exact plant specified by your designer.

Pinus Mugo 'Sherwoods Compact' a client favorite low maintenance landscape plant.

Textured trio of ‘Sherwoods Compact’ dwarf pine, Sempervivum (hen and chick), Arabis (rock cress)

Early in my career I specified three dwarf Mugo Pine. I wanted a uniform pin cushion shape to contrast with ornamental grasses and succulents. I wanted the pines to stay small, and contrast with the grasses that would be two thirds bigger. This was my vision. What happened instead was three dwarf Mugo Pine ‘Nana’ grew into three different shapes and heights! None of them stayed small. The fact is plants grown from seeds can be as variable as your siblings. My brother and I have blue eyes, my sister has green eyes, I’m a redhead my brother a brunette and my sister’s a blonde.

I learned that seed grown dwarf pines are variable, only plants grown from cuttings of a named cultivar could be trusted. I knew this in theory but the industry was deceptive in labeling. I now knew to avoid any dwarf conifer called ‘Nana’! That was a secret code word for seed propagated.

Pinus Mugo ‘Slowmound’ is another favorite trusted dwarf pine

Then I was told that ‘Pumilo’ was a named variety and it stayed low. I was tricked again. The industry was also using seeds from ‘Pumilo’, not cuttings to produce a more affordable and (profitable) dwarf Mugo Pine. For many years I did not use any Mugo Pine at all, mainly because I was disgusted.

When specific size and shape uniformity are needed always select plants grown from cuttings or tissue culture. People who work at retail nurseries are sometimes ignorant of these finer points.

Mugo Pine with Hummingbird Mint, Sedum and Lavender

These days I need dwarf evergreens, particularly pines, for my clients because they are true low maintenance. They are low water, no pruning or candling required, they take hot full sun even next to concrete, and they look great year round. These true dwarf pines won’t get too tall in 10 years. So I had to find sources and growers I could trust.

The varieties I use and where I get them:

Oregon Small Trees is a private wholesale nursery/grower. The owner, Dave Leckey and his daughter, grow all of their plant material from cuttings. It takes many years to grow dwarf plants to a good size for the landscape. I also specify plants grown by Iseli Nursery and another resource is Buchholz & Buchholz Nursery. None of these resources are retail, you have to buy their plants through a plant broker or in the case of Iseli, those plants can be found at Portland Nursery, Cornell Farms and Farmington Gardens.

Notice the fine texture of this needled mugo pine.

Notice the fine texture of this needled pine.

Pinus Mugo ‘Sherwoods Compact’ is a favorite of my clients, they love the texture of the needles. I like Pinus Mugo ‘SlowMound’ a bit better for some designs. It’s a darker green. My favorite miniature Mugo Pine is called ‘Donna’s Mini’ and I’ll spend more money to get a larger tiny plant when I use ‘Donna’s Mini’. It grows less than 1 inch a year in ideal circumstances.

If you are interested in adding this or other low maintenance landscape plants to your property, contact us for more information on our design services.

Pinus mugo ‘Valley Cushion’ with Sedum ‘Xenox’ and Fountain Grass in the Grant Park neighborhood of Portland.

Categories : Design Basics, Garden Tips, Low Maintenance Landscape Examples, New Improved Plants, Plants I Recommend, Winter Gardening

Tags : curb appeal, drought tolerant plantings, low water plantings, texture plant

Low Water Landscape Design for Young Family

Posted by Carol

· December 2, 2015

After photo of colorful low water landscape design for Grant Park neighborhood front yard

After: New design includes drought tolerant plants and street tree.

Low water landscape design for young family: TJ and Lori had a new house in the Beaumont Wilshire neighborhood. They were planning the landscape long term for their son and future siblings. I love to design the landscape where my client’s children will grow up. It’s so satisfying! We are creating the places where important moments, family traditions and their children’s earliest memories will be made. Conserving water for the future was an important family value so a low water landscape design was very important.

Client Wish List

During the interview, I asked about edibles. They laughed and said in unison “Beans”! Green beans were important and there was clearly some family joke about them. Their wish list was extensive but the top 5 were curb appeal, low water use, Rain Garden for disconnected down spouts, no lawn, four season plantings and a screen to define their property from their neighbors without resorting to a fence…….and a special place for green beans.

Before photo shows beautiful Portland home with unattractive front landscape

Before Landscape Design in a Day

Curb Appeal

We solved the curb appeal issue by designing the parking strip as if it were part of the front yard. This added needed depth and gave the large front facade of the house the feel of a much larger front yard. The disconnected downspouts were served with a pseudo rain garden dressed with boulders and interesting plantings for drama to the front foundation scene.

The parking strip was 8′ wide so was treated as an extension of the front yard, and we need that 8′! The house with such a tiny front yard floated. The new design integrated the parking strip into the front yard and “planted” the house visually.

Driveway Doubles as Useful Family Play Space

Typically no designer, well this one anyway, would select the driveway for family quality time. Rules are made to broken. As we worked together it became clear that the deep spacious driveway was the perfect place for the edibles garden and play space. The driveway got a privacy treatment, and a large arbor set within a stone planter. The planter acts as art, adds curb appeal, and visually softens the size of the driveway . It’s also a functional divide between the properties and it can be seen from inside the house, replacing the view of the neighbors side yard and house wall. Guess what they grow on the curved iron trellis? Green Beans!! People tall and short sit on the planter cap to garden and talk or play.