Archive for Shade tree

What I am working on Now: Deck Patio & NW Natural Style Landscape in NE Portland

Hardscape Landscaping & Updated Deck in Roseway Neighborhood

NE Portland hardscape landscape design for client with small deck before photo

Before Landscape Design -This existing deck in the Roseway neighborhood of NE Portland is only 8′ wide and 26′ long.

My clients Michael and Bruce purchased a home in NE Portland Roseway neighborhood. Their new home and neighborhood is perfect for them and this will be a long term home. Here’s the wish list:

Think Like a Designer

When I design a landscape,  first I think about all the ways a person will walk from the house and through the yard.  I find out what activities my clients want to do in their back yard and note those on my drawing.  Next I create concept drawings that show the hardscape and layout in different configurations.  Let’s start with the deck.

Poorly designed deck in the Roseway neighborhood of NE Portland.

The dining table is crammed into a corner and the chairs are in the access to stairs area.

The Deck Design Must Have Room for Walking and Activities

A lot of decks are flawed from the beginning because no one thought about how much of the space would be monopolized by how you need to walk through it. Often people settle on the shape and size of the deck  going for a simple rectangle without thinking about the different activities that will take place on the deck and if there is enough room for those activities.  It’s also important to remember that the deck is often the gateway to the back yard.

The existing deck was only 8’ deep, 26’ long.  It had too many interruptions of that space to be useful.  First the stairs leading to the yard (which were placed in the middle of the long deck) ate up too much of what could have been a nice outdoor dining table area for 4 outside the kitchen.  The stairs encroached on the potential area for a dining table for 4.    Another space stealer was the door to the basement also placed right in the middle of the back wall of the house and so right across from the deck steps and so the middle section of the deck was also not useful.

2/3rds of This Deck Was Used for Walking

The last 1/3rd of the deck was useful sitting space, about an 8’ x 8’ area out of this entire 26′ long deck.  My clients knew it didn’t work, (it is my job to know why it didn’t work).  They just knew they wanted something better.  Also, currently all activity on the deck was on stage for the neighbors and so along with  creating functional deck space. I will address privacy and screening solutions as well.

Hardscape landscape drawing for updated deck.

Concept drawing creates a bigger dining area by moving the steps, enlarging the deck to match the new angle. This gives us two larger useful outdoor rooms on the deck.

Deck Concept Drawings

We created a few layout drawings with the clients that showed different ways to use the space.  Here’s an example of one of the concept layouts I created.  While we didn’t go with this one it paved the way for the final concept we loved.

We added more dining space with an easy to access patio at the base of the deck.  It integrates the two outdoor living areas and now with 2 seating areas we can use the middle section of the deck for grilling.  My clients love their green egg BBQ by the way.

Outdoor Living oriented Landscape Design Drawing for Roseway neighborhood back yard in Portland Oregon

The winner concept drawing is incorporated into the overall landscape design.

Using various concept drawings I drew for them at their dining table, we worked through them together pro and con style to arrive at the favorite configuration.

Planning for a Cool and Shady Outdoor Living Area

In this next blog we will show how we worked with their existing shade tree and how we created a more lush and verdant landscape garden for this NE Portland Home.

Updating deck for better use in Roseway neighborhood.

The existing shade tree was nick named ‘Queenie’ and it’s location on the SW corner was perfect to cool down the deck and back yard of this Roseway neighborhood home. (Before Design of New Deck)

Client Comments

One of the things my clients told me they loved and were both surprised and excited by was my moving the stairs.  They couldn’t believe how much more functional space was added.  By moving the stairs we were able to add the new lower patio surrounded by lush plantings that could also be seen from inside the house year round.

They also appreciated my bringing in an arborist to determine whether their large shade tree could stay  and how they should take care of it.  This was something that would not have occurred to them.  They worked with Issac from Honl Tree Care.

I needed to know if I was going to be adding another shade tree or whether their existing tree had staying power.  If Queenie needed to go, replacing her with a small tree means no decent shade for 15 or 20 years.  Queenie is a very large Norway Maple and soo she does not have a good reputation or pedigree.  Norway maple trees are on the city’s nuisance list.

Contact Me

Before hardscape landscaping for Roseway neighborhood Portland.

Before landscape design this Roseway back yard has so much potential.

 

We love working with our clients to create practical spaces to enjoy outdoor living.  Contact us if you would like to have sitting and dining areas that are big enough to use and have good flow, have privacy and ultimately a back yard you will love to be in.

Trees for Portland Residential Landscape Design in Woodstock neighborhood

Portland residential landscape design in Woodstock

Young Japanese elm in Woodstock neighborhood

Trees for Portland Residential Landscape Design in Woodstock neighborhood

One September afternoon while in Portland’s Woodstock neighborhood I  drove by a former client’s home. My clients had moved, and I was curious to see how the design (installed a dozen years ago) had held up. Once clients move I rarely have continuance with the landscape.  

This drive by is a mixed bag.

Shade Tree for the backyard

Affordable Landscaping Portland design in residential Woodstock.

The shade tree for the back yard is absolutely perfect, and exactly what I had envisioned. This is the part of drive bys I like the best. I used a Japanese Elm – Zelkova serrata variety called ‘Wireless’ because it’s one of the few shade trees that is compatible with lawn and ‘Wireless’ is the perfect shape and size to provide shade for city landscapes.

Their leaves are smaller than most shade trees and allow dapples of sunlight through the canopy to the lawn while filtering out the heat. The exaggerated vase shape of the tree also allows light to come in under the tree in the morning and late afternoon.  This tree provides shade to the south facing deck and the back of the house. It will get over 30’ wide at the top. It matures at 25’ tall so it is a tree that will be wider than it is tall.

If you are a discerning shade aficionado you will say hmmm…… the shade tree doesn’t have low branches so how can you sit on the back deck and have dinner without being blinded by the south sun? We kept a mature mixed hedge at the back of the property and it will block those dinner hour sun rays. The shade tree will filter the hottest sun of the day.

Privacy Screen Planting for side yard

Residential Garden Design Portland, Oregon Woodstock neighborhood.Less successful is the privacy screen planting for the side yard.  I used a narrow variety of Hornbeam (Carpinus betulus ‘Franz Fontaine’) to block the view of the neighbor’s driveway and their vehicles and also to create an attractive view from the bedroom Affordable Landscaping Portland residential trees.windows. For the design to be functional, the Hornbeam would need to be pruned once or twice a year to become a 10’ narrow wall of thick leaves. The maintenance did not happen since my clients moved.  Now the side yard privacy screen is wildly out of scale and the charm is gone.

Make an appointment to start your Portland residential landscaping with designer Carol.