Archive for difficult small gardens – Page 5

Cedar Mills Woodland Low Maintenance Garden Design

 

DIYers Low Maintenance No Lawn Landscape

Cedar Mills Woodland Landscape Design

Dave and Noelle love the dyed concrete used for the lower patio entertaining area.

I drove out to Cedar Mills in NW Portland to meet prospective landscape design clients Dave and Noelle.  They were sitting out in their large front yard on a semi private patio.  It was surrounded by large trees and was an idyllic setting.  It was early evening in late summer.  Dave opened a bottle of wine and we talked about their new home and goals for their landscape.  They were newlyweds.

Dave and Noelle are the ultimate DIYers and fearlessly tackled many aspects of remodeling their “new to them” contemporary home.  The landscape was a different story.  We all must balance the demands of work and our lives with the time it can take to DIY.

Sloped back yard before design

The clients found their sloped back yard intimidating.

Dave had installed an irrigation system in the past. They knew they could probably plant and do some of the landscaping work. The design however was beyond them.  Their sloped property was intimidating.

Wish List:

  • Privacy for entertaining areas and the hot tub
  • Entertaining space
  • No lawn
  • Blueberries
  • A parking area for Dave’s beloved truck
  • Paths that created access and flow around the entire property
  • Create plantings that will fit with the existing rustic woods
  • Make the best use of the space in the sloped smaller back yard
  • Create year round color in the landscape plantings
  • Planting style NW Natural
  • A weeping Japanese maple somewhere prominent for Dave.
Hills after Daves truck

Finally, a place for Dave to park his truck.

The contemporary house backs up to a natural woods and a steep canyon.  The front yard was much larger than the back and although they had a great place to hang out in their front yard, they wanted to enjoy the views of nature in the back yard.  It was a blank slate.

As you can see from the before photos, the doors to the back yard were 2 and 1/2′ above the landscape.  The landscape then sloped down to a canyon that drops off quite steeply.   We didn’t have a nice big back yard with lots of depth.   They wanted to be able to step out of their great room with food and easily settle into a large outdoor entertaining and dining area. Noelle wanted no steps down to the new outdoor dining area.  This meant we would need to work hard for privacy from the neighbors.

Northwest Natural stone path

Rustic stone path integrates the garden rooms.

What I love about this design:

I created 3 rooms at different levels.  We added grade to create privacy and used our new raised outdoor dining area to provide screening for the lower dyed concrete patio and the lower still hot tub room.  I created a boulder rockery that surrounds the raised dining area and created lots of planting pockets.  We planted this boulder rockery to soften the effect of the large boulders.  Raising the planting beds allowed us the opportunity to improve the heavy clay soil.

As a Portland landscape designer I never miss a chance to improve our local clay soil.  Soil preparation is such a good investment.

To create privacy for the hot tub room, I placed it on the lowest level – same level as the woods and planted in front of it.  This created a view of plants from the master bedroom, not the view of the hot tub.  I’ve yet to have clients who think the hot tub itself is a thing of beauty.

Boulders create softening with planting pockets.

Boulders create softening with planting pockets.

Materials that were used in this landscape included large boulders from Gales Creek Quarry.  The patio was a dyed and textured concrete.  The new dining area surface is 24″ x 24″ concrete slabs installed onto deck framing.  The planter adjacent to the dining area is made of concrete board and planted with full season color plants such as heather and dwarf evergreen shrubs.

Other plants we used for this design:  Acer Palamatum Shaina – Japanese Maple, Vaccineum Tophat – Dwarf Blueberry, Cryptomeria Sekkan Sugi – Japanese Cedar, Pieris Japonica Little Heath  – Dwarf Lilly of the Valley shrub, specialty heather varieties, many varieties of evergreen succulents and low water ornamental grasses.

I was on site for grading and boulder work and worked closely with longtime contractor and excavator Joe Hurd.  It was a pleasure to be able to sculpt the grade into a design that made such great use of the space.  Each room was spacious and functional and flowed into the next.

Porch stone work DIY

Here’s an example of one of Noelle’s many DIY projects. She did the stone work for her front porch.

Dave and Noelle loved their new landscape.  They watched the concrete contractor create their dyed concrete patio very closely.  Our next project was a planting plan for the front yard and more grading and boulder work.  A few years later Dave and Noelle replaced the old front yard paver patio and path with new dyed concrete all by themselves.  Natch.  Fearless DIYers.

I love working with DIY clients, if you have a project on your list contact me for more information.

 

 

Big Ideas, Small Backyard

Mr. Kim likes his grass and didn't want to see it disappear from the landscape.

Mr. Kim likes his grass and didn’t want to see it disappear from the landscape.

I met this happy couple at the Yard Garden & Patio show.  They had the best little puzzle for me to work on.  They had a small landscape and a small back porch.  They needed it to expand somehow to add a hot tub, a dining entertaining area and keep their cozy covered family coffee hang out a great place….hmm.  They had areas of grass that didn’t do well due to lack of sun.  Betsy liked to garden and had a successful edibles garden but it took up a lot of room.  Their dog, Mr. Kim the pug, was happy and liked grass because he loves to poop, well he does, it’s his big thing in life…… so while we could take away some grass to meet our goals, we had to leave enough to keep him happy.  We needed privacy plantings for using the hot tub that looked and felt friendly to the neighbors.  It needed to be tall to block the neighbors’ second story bedroom view but the planting space was too narrow for a hedge.

Lastly, a fine ironwork of art made by Betsy’s brother needed a place of prominence in the landscape.

The perfect place for the special art work. The iron art work looks great on the wall.

They called me after the show and I remembered them instantly.  I was so pleased to work with them.  I didn’t actually know of course, how I would help them, it was very small and there were a lot of “built ins” we couldn’t move such as a long rock wall and large trees whose roots were underneath the entire back yard so there would not be much changing of grade.  It was going to be tricky!

Like most Landscape Design in a Days, I could not do this without my clients.  Together we tried various layouts and narrowed it down to THE ONE that would work.  Usually I have two layouts that clients like that would work.  This one was so tough that I could only come up with one that I liked and which happily they loved.

An easy way to get some privacy.

An easy way to get some privacy.

Their carpenter was very helpful and did a great job of following our plans.  Their price tag was under 20 grand, not including the hot tub.  They ended up with two dining areas, one up in the lawn area.  We put it where the grass always died.  They love this new room.  They felt cut off from their yard and garden before the design.   Now it feels very open and gave us a great space for ornamental plantings.  The path that leads to the shed got a well placed zag in it.  The shape of the path adds interest and gave us the perfect place for a large pot.

 

Now the family has 2 places to sit and eat or enjoy a cup of coffee.

Now the family has 2 places to sit and eat or enjoy a cup of coffee.

What they got was an integrated landscape with lots of useful areas and great flow.  Their tiny yard feels spacious now.

Quick Fix for Front Entry Patio

Kris Jones is a professional graphics designer of Red Door Designs.  She hired me to help her with what seemed an impossible task. Kris wanted a private outdoor dining lounge in her tiny front landscape that was next to a public sidewalk.  She told me on the phone that the property was so tiny there was no additional outdoor space.

modern front patio fits with old house

Modern clean lines and simple plantings of boxwood fit the space perfectly

Before the Design in a Day

Before the Design in a Day

While I was hired to create a design for the front,  on the day I arrived the back porch was being torn down.  I immediately realized we had the perfect opportunity to  design a covered private dining room.  The front dining patio idea had problems: too far from the kitchen, too public, and we couldn’t do tall screening plants without removing natural light from her living room. The end result is a semi public sitting area in a front courtyard patio that looks like a million bucks and a small, but highly functional, private dining room directly off her kitchen.  I could see she had room for an 8′ x 8′ area,  Kris needed a second pair of eyes to see the possibilities.

“Carol is not only fun to work with, but she is a creative out of the box thinker who is thoughtful, and has a deep knowledge of her subject. She is incredibly talented and helpful. She helped me put together a plan for my front patio area and my back covered porch. Now both areas feels like shangri la.  I don’t have a green thumb and Carol was able to break things down in a way that really made it easy for me to achieve my exterior planting goals.

I really look forward to working with Carol again in the future.”

 

Do Experienced Gardeners Need a Professional Garden Designer?

"I hired Carol to help me make the most of every inch of my new property."  Photo by Kelly Uchytil

“I hired Carol to help me make the most of every inch of my new property.” Photo by Kelly Uchytil

Yes! But you may think being an expert gardener and having a life long passion for plants would mean you don’t need a landscape designer.

Sherry Uchytil had to sell her multi-level garden and home due to family health problems. She and her husband Kelly put on a brave face and found a new single level home they liked. The landscape was so important to them that she hired me before the new house had even closed.  This design did not include a planting plan because being a passionate and experienced gardener meant Sherry wanted to pick her own plants.

Kelly and Sherry had a round iron wheel they wanted to incorporate into the entry gate of the garden.

Kelly and Sherry had a round iron wheel they wanted to incorporate into the entry gate of the garden.

Our design process would focus on creating the perfect layout.  We had some typical issues, privacy, dog friendly, curb appeal but we also had wonderful art from the previous garden to place and the new planting beds needed to showcase her existing plants waiting patiently in pots from her former home.

There were so many functions that were needed for this landscape. How the shed was placed was critical since Sherry would be in and out of the shed constantly while playing with and caring for her plants.

This was accomplished with a design in a day on a rainy December day.  We couldn’t get inside the home because she did not yet own it, so we ended up finishing it in the local Starbucks because we got too cold to draw.

Sherry and Kelly got exactly what they wanted and more.

Sherry and Kelly got exactly what they wanted and more. Photo by Sherry Uchytil

It was so much fun and the results of our collaboration are stunning. Sherry’s garden was on a Clackamas County Master Gardeners garden tour this past summer.  Sherry is proud of her garden.

Landscape Design Takes N.E. Portland Concrete Jungle into Graceful Entry

Can She Do it? Design 2 tiny concrete jungle gardens into unique graceful entries

Putsch before front yard best pic

For Jeff and Carrie the biggest problem was the builder had planted two Aspen trees.  2013

After Tiny N.E. Portland Entry Design is installed with boulders and new plantings. (2016)

The Design Challenge    

Initially Jeff and Carrie hired me to create a Landscape Design in a Day for their small backyard. They loved the design we created together and installed it themselves over three years.

Last spring they contacted me to design their tiny front yard in tandem with their next door neighbor.  The front yards were less than 400 square feet and set in a very urban environment.  They wanted their landscapes to flow together.  I thought this was a great idea!

Design Requirements for Difficult Site  

The clients wanted plants with low maintenance water needs that could thrive in hot south sun. There was reflected heat off the ginormous concrete drive.  They wanted plants with year-round color/curb appeal.  There were so many problems to solve but the biggest was the two initial Aspen trees planted in their tiny front yard.

Landscape Concept Sketch for quick landscape design for front yard in NE Portland

Rough sketches helped my clients and I work through to the best idea.

Five 10″+ wide trunks (suckers) erupted from the small Aspen trees.  The roots filled every square inch of the soil in their yard and their neighbors. Their neighbor wanted simplicity and color and no Aspen tree roots.

Before Photo: Tiny landscape is completely engulfed by Aspen trees and needed a new landscape design.

Aspen trees and roots removed and new soil and boulders installed by D and J Landscape Contractors

Remove the Tree Roots and Bring in New Soil

Because the “soil” was tight hard clay fill, I knew my design solution would include bringing in new soil. Attractive boulders would retain the soil and add a naturalistic style.

The Process  I met with all my clients, collected their thoughts and desires and sketched two design options.  Important considerations included:

Tiny Driveways  The driveways were so tiny that there was no place to walk except in the soil side strips.  I used large flagstone so they could step out of their car onto the flagstone.  I repeated the same flagstone for the front walk.  Practicality reigns in all my designs.

Cars were constantly running over existing plants at the end of the drive, so we added a strong turf stone and planted it with Stepables.  This softened the look of the turf stone which is rather industrial.  I also selected plants that would grow to hide a large 4×6 metal plate.

Once planted this turf stone will make a safe place for stepable plantings.

Practical material suggestions from Donna Burdick.  Once planted this turf stone will make a safe place for stepable plantings.

Boulders and Soil  Raised rock wall planting beds were designed for each property. Each bed had its own individual shape so they fit together, but had their own style.

While removing the Aspen roots and grading, the contractors discovered there was more concrete and rubble than fill dirt!  It would have been impossible to grow anything (besides aspen trees or maybe cactus) without the raised and retained new soil.

Trees:  The Focal Point

New tree Lagerstroemia 'Cawtaba' (Crape Myrtle) replaces the evil Aspen trees for this tiny NE Portland front yard.

“We are very happy with the design and install. Thanks for all the great ideas!” – Jeff Putsch

The focal point trees shape and mature sizes were selected with care so they won’t grow into one another as they age.  The new trees, a Crape Myrtle and an improved Bloodgood Japanese Maple, provided each landscape with individuality.  They will need some yearly pruning to achieve my goals.

Teamwork   Since it was such a tricky site, I needed an experienced and creative contractor for the final landscape installation. I met with Donna Burdick of D&J Landscape Contractors and walked through the design and site.  I knew my clients were in good hands.

The Results   Designing both front yards at the same time allowed me to create a landscape that appears larger and cohesive for both homes.  Since I always work collaboratively, the clients helped me make each garden unique.  They loved my design and I got kudos for referring Donna Burdick, since her installation made these gardens come together perfectly.  The clients were very pleased with her work.

Contact Me in 2025

This design was completed and installed almost 20 years ago.  Today I have many Portland landscape design clients with wildly different needs.  Its been wonderful taking on these difficult sites.  They don’t have to be difficult but I love a tricky city landscape property with problems to solve.  I still specialize in custom landscape design because even if the property is simple the clients may have unique and complex wants for their home.  Call me.  I still answer my phone, return voice messages and quickly answer my contact form.