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This is the latest job I am working on which in Portland Oregon - a lovely blank slate to work with! These are clearly the "before" shots. It's very much a collaborative effort between me and the owner, which I love! She is installing the plants herself and has a lot of knowledge of the plants she likes. The idea for this design is to create an easy-care, low-growing planting scheme that will allow views of their newly remodeled house (they previously had huge, overgrown mugo pines that blocked everything) from the street. These pines also blocked views from their windows to the area across the street which I've suggested we plants with pops of color placed in logical spots in and amongst the existing rhodies and forest plants. This area will have light green colored foliage with white, light pink, pink and blue flowered plants. I'm specifying plants that like dry shade for this area (anemones, piggy-back plants, acanthus & red-flowering currants). The front yard of the house will have blue/green-foliaged plants such as manzanitas, lavenders and rosa glaucas with punches of lime (choisya, lemon lonicera) and some purples (loropetelum, euphorbia). We have also put in some blueberries and lingonberries along with fig, pineapple guava and saffron crocus because the owner is very fond of harvesting from plants. The plan I've posted here is the preliminary rough and the shots are of the front yard viewed from the house just after the irrigation and top soil were finished.

End of August Garden Shots

July Portland Garden

What can I say? The cherries are almost ready to pick and there is color everywhere in the garden!

Urban Gem finished!

I went up to Seattle to finish a design that was started last October. We sheet-mulched the yard back then so it was ready for planting and putting in the hardscape this month. Here it is with before and after shots. I did this in a week with the help from North Creek Gardens in installing pavers, concrete block low wall, and the gravel and brick path and seating areas North Creek Gardens also provided some of the native plants. This was a particularly hard yard to install as the house is 12 steps up from the street. All the gravel was put in buckets and handed up one at a time...very time consuming. I think it was all worth it, though. It will be a wonderful respite for the owner and will be low-care and private once it establishes itself.

Poppies, Peonies & Peas

Things are really starting to grow around here! My veggies are in and flowers are appearing! We have finally had a few warm - even hot - days! The poppies are Pattie's Purple, a lovely dusty shade of pink. My peas are so happy - I have more than I can eat. And, a truly lovely peony bloomed in the side garden, an old plant from years ago, I think.

April/May Updates

It's spring in the garden and despite all the rain we've had here in Portland, things are starting to grow. If only it would get warm now! I've put peas in my garden hoping they will do OK in this cool weather - hopefully the warmth from my house and my neighbor's will get them going. The north side of my house where I am creating a NW native walkway is doing well, although I still need to fill in the wandering trench that takes the drain water from my gutters with more pebbles. It will be an ongoing job. My hydrangea and clematis are already blooming, though so it's a start!