Archive for Deck Design

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.

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.

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.

 

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.

NE Portland Gardens with Outdoor Living Landscape Design

Concordia outdoor living landscape design.

Carol Lindsay and client Michael in Concordia Back Yard Outdoor Living Landscape.

Portland Landscape Designers Visit Portland Back Yards

We will see installed back yard landscape designs focused on outdoor living in  N. E. Portland neighborhoods Concordia, Cully, Roseway, Rose City Park neighborhoods.

Outdoor Living Patio Needs Privacy in Concordia Neighborhood

This small city back yard had 3 designers, myself and my talented clients.  It had the usual small city back yard issues and needed privacy, enough entertaining area and room for happy dogs to tear around.  The previous owners had planted Aspen trees (scary choice due to potential suckering) and they provided summer privacy for part of the back yard.  We especially needed year round privacy for the new hot tub and we needed it now so I went with my trusty clumping bamboo called Fargesia Robusta.  The design was installed in 2020 so 2 years ago and here the clumping bamboo is already giving my clients the privacy they wanted and more.  “We loved our experience and would recommended you to all our friends! We are very excited to see our finished project, and will surely enjoy it for years to come.”

Concordia planter designed by landscape client.

Check out this planter my client Michael in Concordia neighborhood designed and built.

Front Garden Charm for Ranch Style Home in  North Portland Neighborhood

Cully landscape client's prickly pear in their outdoor living backyard.

Prickly Pear in Cully neighborhood landscape design

North Portland landscape for outdoor living includes shade plants.

Hydrangea, Autumn Fern and Crocosmia make a great composition in N Portland neighborhood landscape.

My client is from New Mexico and wanted prickly pear for both nostalgia and jam.  Here is her plant going on it’s 3rd year in her new landscape installed in 2019.  It was only about 8” tall when she planted the single leaf (paddle). Her neighbor also worked with Landscape Design in a Day, Alana Chau and we stopped by and found this wonderful summer plant combination.

Roseway Neighborhood Front and Back Landscape Design

Roseway landscape for outdoor living including stones & statuary.

Stone and art contrast with the hundreds of tiny billowing flowers in Roseway Neighborhood.

Roseway landscape including lavender for outdoor living.

Carol Lindsay giving client pruning tips on her lavender in Roseway Neighborhood front yard.

We see our client Doreen in N.E. Portland and enjoy how her landscape is maturing.  I designed the front and Alana the back yard a few years ago. Look at this artful vignette from the back yard….a mound of tough Coreopsis ‘Zagreb’ contrasts with boulders and sculpture.

Pruning Lavender 

Doreen wanted tips on pruning lavender as her plants were 2 and 1/2 years in without much pruning.  She will start pruning them once in late summer and again in February so the plants will last for years without getting leggy and overgrown.  Here is a video that shows you how to do summer pruning on your lavander.   It’s best to start this pruning the very first year you plant your lavender.

 

 

 

Rose City Park Back Yard – Covered Outdoor Living and Privacy in the City

Rose City private book nook in backyard landscape for outdoor living.

Carol Lindsay relaxes in a private outdoor covered patio in Rose City Neighborhood back yard landscape.

Rose City outdoor living landscape includes multiple levels of hardscape.

Natural stone step makes easy access from BBQ to the outdoor dining patio in Rose City neighborhood.

Here’s my first peek at a back yard landscape in Rose City Park.  This was a tough design because of several different grade changes right next  to the back door.  The grading and hardscape solutions were in many ways the star of the design.

The Book Nook

Today I am sitting in her new covered outdoor reading room which we called “The Book Nook”.  The cover protects her from rain, sun and also the hailing of walnuts.  Getting bonked on the head with a walnut will make you lose your place in your book for sure.  The “Book Nook” is a very private retreat.

Hardscape was installed by an old pro, Pete Wilson of Pete Wilson Stoneworks.  It was wonderful to see his work again.

Instant Shade for Laurelhurst Back Yard Porch

Shade solution for Outdoor Living in Laurelhurst neighborhood.

Shade solution for Outdoor Living in Laurelhurst neighborhood is a retractable awning and vertical shade screen and privacy maker.

Laurelhurst backyard landscape designed for outdoor living.

Year 2 of a colorful garden design for Laurelhurst neighborhood back yard.

Our last garden to visit today is in historic Laurelhurst neighborhood.  It’s wonderful  to see the garden maturing and the plants filling in.

And we get to learn how different materials we selected for the design are holding up.  We used an expensive sustainable wood product called Kebony for the privacy fence, and back porch/deck we designed.  Kebony ages gracefully to a pale taupe silver and lasts for decades.  Today we see areas that are a darker shade or show mottled patterns where the wood gets wetter, such as a small panel next to the garage compared to the perfect silver taupe of the gate that it is next to.  Hmmm…..

Our client is very happy with the Kebony but as she stated, some clients would not like it being darker is some areas than others.  See more about the deck and the installation of this design by D and J Landscape Contractors in this previous blog.

Retractable Awning Shade Maker

Adding to the delightful outdoor living porch is this fabulous retractable awning.  It keeps her house and her dining deck cool in the summer and retracts at the touch of a button when she wants sun to provide warmth and light.  There is also a drop down shade to shade out the the west sun in the afternoon; a vital addition to making the dining porch fully shaded for summer outdoor living. And if that isn’t “cool” enough, it also has a wind indicator and will retract itself if it gets too windy.

Contact Us for a Collaborative Design Experience

We love solving the multiple problems of the city back yard with integrated solutions.  Sometimes my privacy solution is also a shade solution and just happens to creates a back drop for a dramatic planting.  Contact us and let’s get started creating your ideal outdoor living room.

Mid Century Modern Landscape Design Starts With the Right Fence

Woodstock Mid Century Modern Landscape Design Remodel Starts with the Right Fence

 

Mid century modern landscape in Woodstock neighborhood

I got a phone call from Larry and Jan.  I could tell we were a great match from the first phone call.

Before photo of modern home with poor hardscape fence choice.

Before photo shows amazing windows and view of existing white fence and landscape.

This 1955 home sits on the corner. The white vinyl fence was on my goodbye list before I finished parking. It dominated the house and made some of the landscape problems 500% worse. It was new and expensive. I hoped they would not be appalled to learn I wanted it gone.

I walked into their house and I swear it felt like the house gave me a hello hug. There is a sense of a cape cod beach house owned for generations hidden in this modern mid-century. I could almost smell the pie.

Jan is a fabric artist and Larry has a keen appreciation of design and how things work together. This was going to be fun!

After landscape design mid century modern woodstock neighborhood includes new hardscape fence.

After design and installation of just right fence

The great room is all windows and makes the landscape outside of the home an intimate part of the inside of the home. The basement was beautifully finished with significant day light windows. They loved the light. My landscape plan would need to protect the light coming in from those windows.

My clients are neighborhood oriented. They like being across from the grade school and seeing kids come and go with their families. Yes, people could see them through some of those wonderful windows and no it didn’t bother them.

Clients Wish List

Before landscape design the fence accentuates the long line of the house with a poor hardscape choice.

Before our Landscape Design in a Day

Maximize view from inside the home by adding year round colorful plants

Summer flowers and hydrangeas and hostas for Jan

Create a more inviting entry

Expand the back porch for BBQ and access to a new covered deck or patio

Use a coral bark maple given to them as a housewarming gift

Covered outdoor dining area for 8

There was some thought to having no fence at all or keeping the fence that came with the house

Designers Take

The right fence would be the hero for this design. A fence connects to the architecture of a house more than any arrangement of plants. Even a tree, unless it’s huge does not have the trans-formative power of a fence. Get it wrong and it will bring the entire landscape and home down to its level. The right fence needs to be subordinate to the house and work with the style of the home not detract from it or cheapen it.

Getting It Right

New hardscape fence showcases the house and the new landscaping.

The right fence would be the hero for this landscape design

We all loved the design layout drawing that broke the straight lines of the fence and made space for plantings along the sidewalk. I worked through several versions of this design and my clients selected their favorite. They loved the fence I found on the Houzz site. It was a happy day when I saw the existing white vinyl fence being hauled off for donation to Habitat for Humanity Restore.

Covered Dining Area and Deck

We enlarged the back porch and brought a large covered dining area around the back corner of the house. The deck and cover stops before we get to the array of windows. I didn’t want to see deck furniture or lose light. The deck cover is a louvered roof system from Cardinal Motorized Pergolas. Larry and Jan were very pleased with their representative Kathy Hammer.

Jan preferred a flagstone entry path. It would look best with the original concrete porch side yard walk and brick planters. The flagstone would add contrast and create visual softening.

Synthetic Lawn, Planters and a Bench

Mid century modern landscape design with a flagstone path and bench are great hardscape updates.Raised planters answered Jan’s desire for herbs and a few edibles. The proportions of the planter, and an attractive construction, integrate nicely with the overall design.

Synthetic lawn is easy care and got their grandchild’s stamp of approval.

Installation

We moved into the installation phase without completing a planting plan because we knew we wanted to tweak the fence and path placements on site. I would never do this unless I have a long term working relationship with the contractor. I’ve seen many fantastic designs go down in sad smoke because a contractor redesigned and installed what he wanted.

I introduced my favorite landscape contractor, Donna Burdick of D & J Landscape Contractors and Victor Vincell, a building contractor with a most excellent eye and know how. The five of us, clients, designer and contractors worked together and a happy installation followed. The planting plan was completed and installed including a large Coral Bark Maple.

Finishing Touches Add Entry Appeal

Mid Century modern landscape style is simple and colorful to accent new hardscape fence.

Colorful sidewalk plantings with a balance of evergreens and deciduous shrubs and perennials created full season interest.

We went with a flagstone path (over modern slab pavers) for the entry and kept the original concrete porch and path. Keeping these elements worked well with the original brick planters which were painted a charcoal to go with the new colors of the house. The flagstone added a natural effect.

The clients replaced the skinny gutters (which didn’t handle the volume of winter rain water properly anyway) with nice big fat ones. It was amazing to me how this change amplified the modern style. The house body, trim and brick planters were painted, and the fence carefully stained to work well with the new colors.

The clients selected a bench to give the north side path a destination and provided me with a list of street tree options for their parking strips.  I selected Nyssa Sylvatica -Black Tupelo, two ‘After Burner’ for red leaves and one ‘Tupelo Tower’ for orange gold leaves. They were planted just in time to see their beautiful fall color.

Client Comments

Here is what Jan and Larry had to say about their experience.

“We loved our experience with Carol Lindsay of Landscape Design in a Day.  She understood us and our house and exceeded our expectations. The difference in the welcoming appeal of the house and the usability of the landscape is night and day. Her unique collaborative design process worked well for us. She suggested Donna Burdick of D & J Landscape Contractors to install and our experience with Donna was also over the top excellent.”

I love to work with landscapes in city neighborhoods.  Finding the right balance of privacy and adding value to the home and the neighborhood is a joy.  I’ve visited Jan and Larry and the friendly house several times since then.  It always feels warm and cozy.

To have your yard match your home, contact me for information on landscaping with hardscapes for your own personal style.

Landscape Remodel for Woodlawn Neighborhood Back Yard

Affordable Landscape Remodel for Woodlawn Neighborhood Back Yard

My new clients have a corner lot in the Woodlawn neighborhood of Portland, Oregon. They were referred by their friend Julia whose Rose City neighborhood landscape I had designed. The flow of this back yard just didn’t work.  They didn’t have anywhere to enjoy sitting outside. They tried to imagine a new design but the house and property would not cooperate. I have felt this sort of surliness from a house in the past. The house crosses its arms and says I will not let you change me. Okay that’s a little weird but this was one of those times.

Woodlawn neighborhood before photo of landscape design project

 

Designers Site Assessment

The yard area between the driveway and kitchen door on the west side is small and well past its maximum uses. It has the back porch, a planting area with a fig tree, a basement door, a garage door and a door to the mud room and kitchen. Each door requires transportation space to access it. They were trying to use the small back porch to BBQ and sit out on but in addition to being way too small, it was hot as Hades in the summer. The sunny south side yard was narrow but had no easy access to the kitchen. The door you see above leads to the basement, not the house, so they did not use the side yard.

Landscape designers know that a great design is all about how you move through a space and this yard needed someone to treat it like the Rubik cube it was and explore what was possible.

Client Want List

split level deck maximizes space in small NE Portland back yardThey wanted a place to BBQ and sit outside in cool shade.  Their small porch radiated heat and baked in the summer. They wanted shade and plantings that would bring birds and life into the landscape, plants for low water and oh did I mention SHADE? They wanted to use their south side yard for something but it had no easy access to the kitchen and had an extensive french drain to work around. They wanted absolutely no lawn and any new plantings to be low maintenance.

Design Solutions

We created many different layouts for the property searching for the best use of space. We all liked the design that replaced the tiny existing porch with a multi-level deck/porch. We  took out the

A year later and the affordable landscaping of this Portland home is filling in nicely.

One year later, plants are filling in so nicely. Japanese Forest Grass in the foreground. Hot Lips Salvia, Geranium, and a Manzanita in the background.

planting bed with the fig tree. This allowed us to add a new lower level “dining” deck all the way to the fence and put the BBQ function on the upper level. Dan could not believe how much wasted space they had in the old layout and how much room they gained in the new one. But how would we provide shade to this baking area?

Getting great shade exactly where my clients wanted it was challenging. Designing overhead cover options for the new expanded 2 level porch was going to add another 8 to 15 grand. Our obvious choices were:

an arbor with canvas shade cloth – expensive

a large retractable awning – expensive

a very large tree (price tag installed at 8 to 10 grand)

After landscape design brings life to narrow side yard

Progress photo from D & J Landscape Contractors shows our two young shade trees and the partially completed new deck

The answer came from an unexpected place.

South Side Yard to the Rescue

After Alana and I flipped several layout drawings every which way, we discovered there was a perfect spot just around the house corner begging to be a small patio. We could plant a tree between this small patio sitting area and the SW sun to provide shade the very first summer. Our clients could use their new dining deck the first year on cooler days and use the new side yard patio for hot days. This small stone patio will have shade quickly. Which left us free to purchase our primary shade tree (to shade the porch) at an affordable size. We planted a 3″ caliper tree at about 12′ feet tall.

It will be 5 years before this tree provides much cooling. They will have to use an umbrella now and in ten years they will have the shade they want.

(Alana Chau was my apprentice for this Landscape Design in a Day and is now my design associate.)

Drainage

Side yard has grown from the starter plantings in this Portland home.

Flagstone patio in the side yard.

The dry well and french drains were a little tricky for us. By law, landscape designers cannot make changes to drainage or make recommendations. We had to create solutions that would not disturb the drains. We knew our favorite licensed landscape contractor, Donna Burdick, would be able to simplify some of the restrictions we were given by our clients regarding the existing drain systems. Happily, our clients decided to hire Donna of D & J Landscape Contractors for the install.  She had installed the design for their friend Julia as well. Donna was able to improve the grade situation and lessen the volume of water to the dry well which gave us more freedom within the design and more room for our plantings.

New side yard patios create faster shade for clientsThe Side Yard Comes to Life

By adding a small stone patio along the side of the house and making a raised garden bed for the plants, we gave our clients a reason to enjoy their side yard which previously had been a dead zone. Dan says, “it’s so much better being back here because it is so much more alive. Now there are birds and bees in the garden.”  This planting area includes pollinator friendly cone flower, lavender and nearby native plants such as vine maple, ocean spray, salal and sword fern. We included a manzanita for hummingbirds and winter flowers.

Trees 

I confess I agonized over the selection. I wanted to use a Kentucky Coffee tree for its fast shade and strong wood but could not find one big enough to start with. I also toyed with an unusual evergreen oak but it grew too slowly. I finally went with a Japanese Elm, Zelkova serrata ‘City Sprite’ because I could find it in the perfect size for planting and it would not get too wide for the space between the garage and the second story of the house. The “surprise patio” tree is a Cornelian Cherry, proper name is Cornus Mas and it is an unusual form of dogwood. It’s a wonderful tree for birds, handles hot sun well or part shade and will be a smaller round headed tree.

The Family Entry

Before driveway leaves little room for entry to the back yard

Before our Landscape Design in a Day process, the driveway space is a little tight.

The driveway didn’t have enough room to get out of the car comfortably because of the location of the fence and gate. I have to comment that my clients were fine with the tight access from the car.

I am the one that felt it was too tight. It was hard for them to believe that giving up 18″ of their precious deck dining area could possibly be smart. However, they were  sure they only needed room for 4 people on the dining deck and that 90% of the time it would be 2. That gave me a stronger reason to gently push my idea about a spacious entry area from the driveway. Christie was the one who parked in the driveway and I think maybe she thought I was nuts at first.

Happily they went for adding the additional space to the driveway area which gave us room to set the new gate at a welcoming 45 degree angle. They still had comfortable access into their new back yard whether carrying groceries or something

After residentail landscape design creates spacious and welcoming entry

Welcome home entry area has room to move an attractive gate and a (white tag) dwarf fig tree.

more complicated. They lost their existing fig tree to the new dining deck –  it was extra sweet to find the perfect spot for a dwarf fig tree in the new driveway entry design.

Materials used in the design

Variegated Lavender Blue stone for the dry set flagstone patio and path

Cedar decking 2 x 6

Deck stain brand is Storm – color is cedar

1/4″ minus compacted crushed rock for the paths

Affordable landscape plants Japanese Forest Grass & geranium in Portland home.

Mossy rock boulders raise this planting bed. Japanese Forest Grass and Geranium pop against the freshly painted garage.

Woodlawn home gets Mossy rock delivery for new landscapeMossy rock for the raised planting bed -It has a rustic feel to it that I like and it will moss up nicely.  It also has the advantage of being lighter than basalt so easier for the contractors to bring in and use.

Check out the beautiful gate!!!

Cable railing for the deck; Dan says the open cable railing makes the whole garden feel like one space including the deck. He loves it.

For more information on how I can help you with affordable landscaping at your home, fill out my contact form.

 

 

Laurelhurst Neighborhood Home Gets a New Backyard

Updated Hardscape With Existing Native Oregon Plants

Laurelhurst home landscape design creates functional space and room for plants.

Beautiful new backyard for this Laurelhurst Home

Clients Wish List

This client is a gardener extraordinaire. She had several beloved existing plants to work into the design, and a list of favorite plants.  The planting plan would be a collaborative design effort that would ensure her garden was colorful and encouraged hummingbirds and pollinators to visit.  The planting plan would be focused on summer and fall with full season interest plants situated for views from important windows.  Everything else would be for enjoying while outdoors.  She wanted her new garden to be a place that she could live in all summer and fall.

Her current backyard was not a friendly place to be in although it had beautiful plantings.  The existing sitting area was a narrow and awkward small deck.  Happily, it was old and rotting, so designing a comfortable sitting area right off the kitchen door didn’t mean removing a deck that still had years of life in it. She also wanted a bit more privacy on that upper deck.

She wanted a patio that could be multi-purpose –  seating or BBQ station or lounging with rooms for colorful plants in pots like Cuphea (Firecracker Plant).  Cuphea attracts hummingbirds like crazy in the summer and she always has a pot or two to enjoy.

Kebony Fence and gate updated teh hardscape for Laurelhurst neighborhood home.

Gate solution – Kebony instead of wood graces this Victor Vencill fence design in Laurelhurst neighborhood.

Laurelhurst home landscape design creates sitting area and room for gardeners plantsplants.

Designers Perspective

We love designing for city proprieties.  One of the challenges of the site is the short distance between the corner of the garage and the corner of the house. This is a classic spatial problem we often encounter with houses in old Portland neighborhoods like Laurelhurst.  It’s tricky for homeowners to figure out how to get a comfortable access path into the back yard without crowding out a useful back porch space.  We needed a ground level gate,  comfortable access to the garage and a big enough upper deck to accommodate a 4-person table.  The solution was a gate that opened out toward the driveway and also relocated the stairs to the house further away from this congested area.

Privacy

To create privacy for the upper deck from the neighbor’s yard, we designed a planter (flush with the deck).  Clumping bamboo will brighten the deck and provide the privacy needed.

Laurelhurst home gets creative and functional backyard landscape design

Before lower deck ate up space for plantings.

The large lower deck was ripped out and we opted for a smaller flagstone patio. The patio is at the same level as the garden and gives more space for plants, which this homeowner is keen on. The two materials also creates visual appeal by providing different colors and textures for different garden “rooms”.

Stairs Matter

Because the sliding glass door is so much higher than the backyard, 6 steps are needed to get down to ground level.  The key to increasing useful space that is more inviting is to stretch out our 6 steps and turn them.

Updated patio hardscape gets creative in Laurelhurst neighborhood, Portland, Oregon

After Design-Flagstone patio and Kebony deck creates functional space for two sitting areas.

While having stairs go straight isn’t wrong, we made a landing to easily access the stone patio on one side and the path for strolling through the lush and colorful hummingbird garden on the other.  Our client liked this simple and unique solution. If you turn right, you get to a lovely stone patio. If you turn left, you get to stroll through the beautiful hummingbird garden.

 

Laurelhurst back yard remodel before new hardscape with patio and fence.

Before – With the old deck removed, it’s easy to see how much space was wasted with the old layout.

Around the corner into the side yard, we opted for a budget friendly  low fence. We selected  Fi Bar cedar chips from Mt Scott Fuel for our path and for around the plants.  A generous helping of cedar chips makes for good weed suppression.  The plantings here will be seen from the dining room.  We used a few larger native shrubs to bring butterflies and other beneficial creatures.

Landscape design creates clients dream garden in Laurelhurst neighborhood with new fence, path and patio hardscape.

After photo-final day of installation. Notice the borrowed view of the neighbors trees.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Plants

Textural combination of lavender with an ornamental purple leaf clover

Purple Four Leaf Clover with Lavander is a happy choice for client who collects 4 leaf clovers.

The client’s must-have plants included an assortment of salvias,  natives and other pollinator plants.

Salvia Guarantica 'Black and Blue' is just one of the plants kept from the original garden in Laurelhurst neighborhood backyard garden.

One of the Homeowner’s Salvia plants – She loves to share clumps with friends and neighbors.

Her favorite salvias include S. guaranitica, S. microphylla, and S. patens.

Big native shrubs included Red-Flowering Current (Ribes sanguineum) and Dwarf Vine Maple (Acer circinatum ‘Pacific Fire’).

Besides the salvias, we added the Yuletide Camellia (Camellia sasanqua ‘Yuletide’), which is like hummingbird candy in winter. It is positioned perfectly so that the clients can see it through their sliding glass door in the winter where it will flower for months.

Installation

Large curve in path will allow room for Adirondack chairs in Laurelhurst neighborhood backyard.

Designer/Contractor Team Alana Chau, Associate Designer LDIAD with Sam from D & J Landscape Contractors.

We referred the installation of the garden to D&J Landscape Contractors .

Materials

The client introduced us to a product called Kebony – a wood that is grown sustainably and treated with a natural preservative. It is made from pine instead of the more commonly used cedar.

Kebony has been used in Europe for many years and is now available in the US. It starts as a warm brown that will take on silver tones as it ages.  The installation of the product might cost about 25% more but according to their website, it requires no maintenance and has a 30 year warranty!

The railing is stainless steel cabling by Precision Rail of Oregon.

The patios were made using irregular bluestone flagstone and compacted crushed rock.

FiBar cedar chips were used for the side yard path.

Contact us

Would you like to create an inviting backyard to watch the hummingbirds and relax?  We would love to work with you.  Call us at 503-223-2426 or use our contact form.