A Low-Water Landscape Design for Two Creative Portland Gardeners

Could we magically transform a small water-hog backyard to low-water plants with modern style and beauty galore?

Here’s a story about one of my favorite recent backyard remodels — a small North Portland garden that turned into a low-water landscape design success.

My Grant Park clients were both enthusiastic gardeners who had spent years curating a charming backyard full of unusual plants. They had a mature espaliered apple tree, carefully pruned and shaped over many seasons, and a specialty dwarf ginkgo I absolutely admired. These were not new gardeners — they had skill, passion, and a long history of tending their garden with care.

But life brings change. As they started planning for more travel, the garden that once brought joy began to feel like a chore. Their lawn wasn’t thriving, and when a neighboring tree came down, opening the yard to full sun, they realized it was time to reimagine their outdoor space — less maintenance, more relaxation, and still full of beauty.

Designing Between Two Visions

One of the most rewarding (and challenging) parts of this design was that each person had a different vision. He loved modern, clean lines. She wanted warmth and softness — something that wouldn’t feel cold or sterile. I’ve worked with many couples like this over the years, and I know that successful design isn’t about compromise so much as synthesis. Both clients had created drawings to illustrate the design style and layout they had in mind.  This was a first for me.

In this case, while she trusted his strong design sense she worried she might lose her own vision in the process. That’s where I came in. My role was to be both designer and translator — to help her express her ideas, and to discover how both of their aesthetics could work together.  I love the discovery part.

After our first meeting, I found a magazine photo that perfectly captured what she wanted, and to her surprise, he also liked the style the photo presented.  Finding this photo took quite some time and often I don’t find a photo that is what I have in mind so I don’t rely on Pinterest or other media sites for that reason. For these clients, searching for an image was a great choice. I found it in an actual paper magazine about low-water landscape design.  I immediately saw the bridge between their two styles. Both wanted bold shapes and paths to walk through drought-tolerant plantings — it was the feeling they were after, not the exact form.

Using their drawings as inspiration, I refined the shapes of the planting beds — large, curved forms nested into the rectangular footprint of the yard. The structure came from modern hardscapes: steel edging framing the beds, stone and gravel paths, and existing brick that we selectively modified to blend old and new.  We kept the plantings low in the center which also created a feeling of spaciousness.

The planting palette was simple and water-wise: a mix of grasses and textured foliage plants that could thrive with little attention. The result was a small, modern, low-water landscape design that feels spacious and alive — a low-maintenance garden that reflects both of their personalities.

When I checked in this summer, my clients were off traveling, and their low-water landscape design was thriving just as planned. They sent me these photos: the curved bed with a dramatic large boulder and minimal plantings in the new beds.  Lush mature plantings surround the modern center. There is plenty of interest with the contrasting stone in the path and inside the planting beds and the steel edging catching the light, and not a blade of lawn in sight.

This project was a true collaboration — a wonderful example of how thoughtful design can honor two creative visions, adapt to changing lifestyles, and bring warmth and a sense of time to a modern landscape design style.

Anything worth doing, is worth doing well

After nearly 30 years of working with clients to shape their gardens, I still love how each project brings its own challenges and rewards. Anything worth doing is worth doing well — and when bold design meets practical solutions, beautiful things happen.