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Montavilla Bungalow Landscape Design for Entry

Posted by Carol

· January 10, 2018

Montavilla Bungalow Landscape Design for Entry

This NE Portland bungalow landscape design project was a joy. My charming client had a new home that was beautifully updated on the inside but the landscape was a blank canvas and a bit rough. It needed a landscape design to address new walks, driveway and create strong presence. The large houses on either side dwarfed this sweet house. Look at the great lines of the porch!! I loved this house at first sight.

Client wish list

New driveway, low maintenance plantings, no lawn front yard, low water plantings and lots of colorful long season plants.

Landscape designer view

Everything, including front walk and driveway, needed to be carefully designed to enhance function and curb appeal. The proportions of the driveway and front walk required updating because life has changed a lot since 1940. Middle class homes in the Montavilla neighborhood had cramped narrow walkways and no pedestrian access to the front door from the driveway. People parked their one car in the driveway and entered their home through a side door. Usually the man of the house came in and hung his coat and hat on a peg on the basement wall and came in to the house via the kitchen. We are talking “Father Knows Best” era here. NE Portland Montavilla neighborhood after Landscape Design in a Day

Portland Residential Landscape Design in Montavilla Neighborhood

Erysimum – wallflower stands above rockery wall and flowers for 2 months

I felt the house needed to be integrated into its land, that it was cut off and floating. We needed multiple planting levels supported by an informal rockery style wall. The levels are softened by the plantings which keeps the whole landscape integrated and inviting. Here is a designers’ trick, planting the area in front of the wall is inviting and keeps the wall from feeling like a barrier.

Wall plantings

Erysinium – Wallflower ‘Wenlock Beauty’ on the right, Sedum ‘Purple Emperor‘ on the left and Thymus Praecox – Red Creeping Thyme in foreground.

Driveways

I’m very picky about driveways. They need the right proportions to be a functionally usable space but still fit into the landscape not dominate it. I want to make it comfortable to get in and out of the car with groceries, kids and pets without stepping into mulch or plantings. I hate having to negotiate through awkward uncomfortable spaces.

Client Comments

“I hired Carol to create a design for my front yard and driveway replacement and to check in and work with the contractors during the installation process. Carol recommended Donna Burdick’s company D & J Landscape Contracting to implement the plan and I’m glad I chose them as well. Donna and Carol have worked together for years and speak a common language which made for a seamless experience. Carol is very flexible and can work with wishes of any level of detail. I had mostly vague, general ideas and preferences. She was able to take those and come up with something that I loved as soon as I saw the first rough layout.” Denise L.

Plants for Montavilla Bungalow Landscape Design for Entry

Daphne transatlantica ‘Summer Ice’

Spring Heather – Erica carnea ‘Adrianne Duncan’

Summer Heather with Daphne behind

Summer Heather – Calluna vulgaris ‘Mrs Ron Green’

Erysimum ‘Wenlocks Beauty’ – Wallflower

Echinacea – Cone Flower

Bergenia ‘Baby Doll’

Hebe albicans ‘Sussex Carpet’-cannot rave enough about this evergreen plant!

Heuchera ‘Sugar Berry’

Sedum ‘Voo Doo’

Hen and Chicks in Portland landscape design

Hens and Chicks in winter

Sempervivum-Hens and Chicks ‘Royal Ruby’ and ‘Carmen’

Salvia officinalis ‘May Night’

Vaccinium ‘Sunshine Blue’ Blueberry

Carex morrowii – Sedge Grass ‘Ice Dance’

Designers favorite Hebe a. 'Sussex Carpet' for Portland landscape designs

Designers favorite Hebe for Portland landscape designs

The parking strip tree is Parrotia persica – Persian Ironwood and the Gingko trees are ‘Jade Butterfly’. I selected a dwarf tree so the colorful sun loving plants under the trees will thrive.

Here is another no lawn entry landscape design for a N.E. Portland bungalow.

In need of a new and inviting look for your front yard that you can maintain on your own? I’d love to create the perfect design for you and your Portland Bungalow or new modern infill home. Take a look at our contact page to learn more.

Landscape Design: Carol Lindsay, Landscape Design in a Day

Landscape Installation: D and J Landscape Contractors

Concrete Contractor: Kerry Becker Concrete Company

Categories : Before and Afters, Customer Testimonials, Dramatic Flowers, Low Maintenance Landscape Examples, No Lawn Front Yards

Tags : boulders, color in the garden, curb appeal, dramatic flowers, driveway, drought tolerant plantings, garden design with stone, Hardscape Design, long blooming flowers, low maintenance plantings, low water plantings, No Lawn, plants to attract birds

Colorful Four Season Plant for Portland Residential Landscape Designs

Posted by Carol

· December 13, 2017

Colorful Four Season Plant for Portland Residential Landscape Designs

I like to use Nandina as a colorful four season plant for my Portland landscape designs.

Advantages

The foliage is colorful year around.

Very low maintenance plants if you know the cool pruning tip.

They are easy to prune successfully so you can keep them for years.

Nandina varieties fit multiple diverse needs in the landscape because they can be small (18″ to 24” tall) or up to 8 feet tall.

They thrive in half or full day sun. Deer don’t typically eat them.

Disadvantages

People prune it wrong and then it’s so ugly they remove them – this is so easy to avoid.

Many varieties require a lot of sun and will look leggy and sparse in the shade. They will look so bad they will be removed. Some varieties will take more shade so you have to know which is which. Best practice is to plant in at least 4 hours of strong sun.

People think Nandina is drought tolerant and they don’t water it in the summer……….this ends badly.

Nandina (from China) doesn’t feed our native insects; therefore, overusing it limits food for our native bird population. I like to select at least a few native plants for companions.

Is this plant overused? Some garden designers snub the Nandina plant because it is used in commercial landscapes. Nandina is useful to my Portland residential landscape design clients who want low maintenance landscapes. With the right plant partners Nandina can sparkle in a home landscape.

How I Use Nandina in Garden Designs

Nandina domestica – Heavenly Bamboo (not related to Bamboo)

There is a variety of Nandina to fit every landscape:

6 to 8 foot tall ‘Moyers Red’ or 4 to 6 foot tall ‘Plum Passion’ dress and soften an expanse of fence, hide the hot tub or garbage area nicely
2 to 4 foot tall ‘Sienna Sunrise’, ‘Moon Bay’ or ‘Firepower’ work well in foundation plantings and entry areas.

Use a tape measure on planting day, assume the size info on the plant tag is being modest and give your plant more room to grow. Some varieties of Nandina will grow 3 to 4 feet wide. To keep your Nandina from getting too wide, I suggest pruning out entire canes at the base of the plant once a year. For varieties that are listed as 3 to 4 feet wide, plant it at least 30 inches off your path.

A new variety called ‘Blush’ is typically 24 inches tall and 18 inches wide. The evergreen leaves turn an intense claret red and hold their color for months, longer and redder than other Nandina. ‘Blush’ was designed for the southern United States where it is fully drought tolerant. In Portland, all varieties of Nandina including ‘Blush’, requires irrigation in summer. Multiple articles on the net enthusiastically state ‘Blush’ is drought tolerant but they do not mean here in the NW. In the high humidity of an Alabama summer I too am probably drought tolerant…..Mint Julep anyone?

Plant Partners

I love to combine Nandina with textured or needled plants that contrast with the narrow Nandina leaves. Dwarf conifers, (Pinus mugo ‘Sherwoods Compact’), heather Erica carnea ‘Adrienne Duncan’ or ornamental grasses like Opiopogon (black mondo grass) work well. NW native plants, like salal, sword fern and huckleberry give contrast and good looks. They also provide food for native insects and for our birds who must eat native insects for food. Pairing Nandina with typical cottage garden plants disappoints my aesthetic; there isn’t enough leaf contrast.

How to prune Nandina

The key to success with Nandina is learning how to prune it which is all about thinning the multiple canes (or stems) of the shrub. Read more in my next blog or check out this u tube video I found to get you started.

Categories : Garden Tips, Low Maintenance Landscape Examples, Plants I Recommend, Winter Gardening

Tags : curb appeal, dramatic winter plants, drought tolerant plantings, fall color, garden tips, low maintenance landscape, low maintenance plants, Winter Color in the garden

Modern Landscape Design Plants for Portland

Posted by Carol

· November 15, 2017

Modern Landscape Design Plants for Portland

As a Portland landscape designer I enjoy helping clients who want modern landscape design plants.

While well crafted hardscape is the key element to a successful modern style landscape, plant selection and how they are used is critical.

Here are a few things I keep in mind. Balanced plant repetition, contrasting textures and overall shapes of plants, full season interest plantings, and low maintenance plants. Keep in mind that the typical plants for modern style are not great for wildlife because they lack diversity. My designs consider the clients many unique interests. A modern style design can have wildlife friendly plants included.

Here are 10 plants that work well for modern landscape design and are fairly easy to find.

Narrow Vertical Plants

Japanese Holly ‘Sky Pencil’ – Ilex crenata (pictured)

Italian Cypress ‘Tiny Towers’ – Cupressus semptervirens

Italian Cypress ‘Swane’s Golden’ – Cupressus sempervirens

Low Edger Plants

Black Mondo grass – Ophiopogon planiscapus ‘Nigrescens’

Green Japanese Mondo grass – Ophiopogon japonicus

Cushion Bolax – Azorella trifurcata ‘Nana’ (Stepable Groundcover)

Hens and Chicks – Sempervivum

Other Grasses and Shrubs

Grama Grass ‘ Blonde Ambition‘ – Boutelous gracilis

American Switch Grass ‘ Shenendoah’ – Panicum virgatum

Nandina D. ‘Firepower’ – Nandina domestica (dwarf form)

Hebe (prostrate form) – Hebe Albicans ‘Sussex Carpet’

If you are looking to update your design for a modern landscape, contact Carol and start your perfect outdoor space.

Categories : Landscape Styles, Low Maintenance Landscape Examples, Plants I Recommend

Tags : curb appeal, flagstone in the garden, low maintenance landscape, low water plantings, modern minimalist landscape, modern style landscape, No Lawn

Violet Blue Flowers in Your Summer Garden

Posted by Carol

· October 18, 2017

Baptista 'Purple Smoke' great plant for Portland Landscape Designs

Baptista Australis ‘Purple Smoke’

Violet blue flowers in your summer garden

There is something magical about violet blue flowers in a summer garden. A mass of long flowering intense violet, purple or blue flowers to see from your summer chaise is a joy. Here is a plant that I use in my garden designs that is easy care and long flowering.

Blue False Indigo – Baptista Australis ‘Purple Smoke’ is a long lived perennial so it will live for decades in your landscape. I use it in my landscape designs because it is colorful, low maintenance, fully drought tolerant, and long blooming. It has attractive foliage and interesting seed pods for fall. Clients who want color and easy care would line up for this plant if they knew about it. It looks great with ornamental grasses and has a more naturalistic look since it is related to lupine, a classic native wildflower.

Planting combinations for Portland Landscape Designs

I’ve used it in a low water parking strip in NE Portland with true dwarf pine, succulents like Sedum spurium ‘Green Mantle’, heather and black mondo grass. In a SW Portland Landscape design I placed it to tower over a low boulder with plant companion ‘Kim’s Knee Hi’ Echinacea to the side.

'Purple Smoke ' Baptista - perfect for Portland Landscape Designs

Baptista ‘Purple Smoke’

Over time the plant will increase to a nice thick stand of charcoal green stems (which add to the beauty) and violet blue flower stalks. ‘Purple Smoke’ is grown locally, other varieties and flower colors are only available by mail order. I only use the variety of Baptista Australis called ‘Purple Smoke’. Don’t use the parent plant of ‘Purple Smoke’, it is called just plain old Baptista Australis and gets too tall for most city gardens.

Plant uses

The primary use is ornamental and wildlife friendly. It’s not edible although it is a legume but it is not toxic. It’s a true native American plant. North American Indians had many uses for this plant. The Cherokee made a blue dye for fabric from the flowers. The Osage made some kind of eye wash. Others used the roots as an antiseptic for wounds. It is not considered edible and was once thought to be highly toxic. Modern research has changed this perception. Read more about the plants chemistry.

How to kill Baptista: Water it every day in the summer and fertilize it heavily. Plant it in a low spot where winter rain water will puddle or sit.

Best practice: Water deeply once a week the first summer. The second summer water deeply but infrequently or put a plug in the drip emitter because it won’t need any water by the third summer. I always place it with low water plants so it is easy to provide it with low water to no water. Don’t divide it. It has a tap root so dividing will kill the plant. If the clump gets too wide, take off new plants at the edge of the clump.

After the foliage yellows in the fall cut it down to the ground. Mulch twice a year with garden compost.

Check out my Summer Watering Tips. Learning how to water properly can be a great stress reducer for you and protect your landscape investment.

Categories : Dramatic Flowers, Garden Tips, Low Maintenance Landscape Examples, Parking Strips, Plants I Recommend, Summer Garden Tips

Tags : curb appeal, dramatic flowers, drought tolerant plantings, long blooming flowers, low water plantings, native plants, street plantings, xeriscape plantings

Portland Landscape Designer loves Purple Flowers

Posted by Carol

· September 20, 2017

Portland Landscape Designer uses Purple Monkshood in Eastmoreland Garden

Monkshood with Japanese Forest Grass and Hardy Fuchsia

Portland Landscape Designer loves purple flowers of Monkshood

Portland landscape designer loves purple flowers of Monkshood. My clients have unique likes and dislikes when it comes to plants. When they love something specific, like purple flowers, one of my favorites is purple flowered Monkshood. Other clients are focused on a purpose such as native plants or the lowest of low maintenance plants and not on specific colors. My job is to find the plant palette that satisfies each client’s needs.

Purple flowers

I love tall columns of purple flowers in my Portland landscape designs. I often use them at the back of planting beds to break up a bare wall or visually soften a fence. It’s an easy care perennial plant with no pest problems. It flowers a long time, provides great contrast with bright green or gold foliage and adds drama to the garden scene.

Aconitum 'Tall Blue' Portland Landscape Designer plant

Aconitum Carmichaelii ‘Tall Blue’ – Monkshood at Joy Creek Nursery

I try to use varieties that don’t flop. This isn’t as easy as it sounds. Selection is important. Shorter varieties are typically less floppy. Don’t overwater. There is no need to stake the plants if you select the right varieties and water correctly. Staking plants is a hassle and not low maintenance so I don’t use plants that require staking in my designs. One last thing to consider. Pay careful attention to sun angles since too much south sun without enough overhead sun will cause any columnar plant to lean. My client Lisa’s monkshood needs staking. It gets 3 hours and of east sun but a neighbors tree blocks too much west sun and “our” tall monkshood leans and must be staked. In another garden the same plant gets no east sun at all and full west sun but does not lean one bit.

Here are the Monkshood varieties I use in my Portland landscape designer practice.

Aconitim x napellus ‘Newry Blue’ -Flowers June and July, 4′ tall and an intense purple blue

Aconitum carmichaelii ‘Tall Blue’ – Flowers late August and September at 6′ to 8′

Portland Landscape Designer loves purple flowers of Monkshood

Aconitum Carmichaelii ‘Late Crop’ – Monkshood at Joy Creek

Aconitim x napellus ‘Newry Blue’ – Monkshood

Aconitum carmichaelii ‘Late Crop’- Flowers into October, is a dark rich purple at 5′ to 6′ tall

Monkshood was used for poisoned arrows

This plant has a checkered past. In medieval times Monkshood was also called Wolfbane and was the source for poisoned arrows. Applied to a cut, Monkshood can be deadly and all parts of the plant are toxic. Yet in modern times it is commonly used by florists and sold by garden centers and nurseries. In 25 years I have no first hand knowledge of anyone being poisoned by monkshood but I don’t use it in my Portland landscape designs for young families or in parking strips.

How to kill this plant:

Plant it in full sun and never water it, (or just as bad) water every day in the summer. Plant in a low place where winter water will soak the roots for days at a time.

Best practice:

Most resources say part shade but I have found they thrive in half day sun to nearly full day sun with a few hours of dappled or light shade. Maybe somewhere they grow in shade but not for me. Deeply irrigate Monkshood in full sun once a week; as years go by this plant with its deep roots will require less frequent watering. In time most Monkshood will become low water needs. In too much shade it will flop and will not have as many flowers. Plant in well-draining soil, water established plants deeply once a week. Don’t fertilize beyond adding a compost or mulch around the crown twice a year. Fertilizer may cause the plant to grow too lushly and make the stems flop. Cut it back to the ground in winter or when the leaves have gone yellow. Learning how to water properly creates confidence and makes maintaining your landscape less stressful.

Categories : Dramatic Flowers, Garden Tips, Plants I Recommend

Tags : curb appeal, cutting flowers, dramatic flowers, long blooming flowers, low water plantings

Archive for curb appeal – Page 7

Montavilla Bungalow Landscape Design for Entry

Montavilla Bungalow Landscape Design for Entry

Client wish list

Landscape designer view

Wall plantings

Driveways

Client Comments

Plants for Montavilla Bungalow Landscape Design for Entry

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