Archive for Gardening Green

Pollinator Friendly Garden Makeover in NE Portland

NE Portland Yard Gets a Pollinator Friendly Makeover

pollinator friendly garden makeover in Portland

I’m Hilary Hutler and I am thrilled to be joining Carol and Landscape Design in a Day! Carol asked me to introduce myself and share one of my pollinator friendly landscape designs here on our blog.

About me:  While this is my fifth year working full-time as a landscape designer, I’ve been interested in horticulture and plants for many years. My first job was working with edible gardening on an organic produce farm, next I trained as a Portland Master Gardener which gave me a solid foundation for understanding all things plant-related in the Pacific Northwest. I continued taking landscape design courses while working at Pomarius Nursery, one of Portland’s most unique retail plant nurseries.

Pollinator friendly Rock Rose used in Portland garden makeover

Helianthemum nummularium ‘Ben Hope’ (Rock Rose Ground Cover) in NE Portland Pollinator Garden Design for front yard. May photo.

They specialize in growing and selling a much wider range of plants than a garden center.  Working at a plant nursery is an incredible way to broaden your plant palette so within just a few years I learned the existence of more ornamental plants (and how to use them) than I could have ever dreamed of.  I worked as a landscape designer on the Oregon Coast for several years and while I loved it and learned so much I live in NE Portland – that’s a long commute.

 

NE Portland yard in need of a residential landscape makeover

Before Photo – North Portland landscape needs a landscape design to give the new homeowner  pollinator friendly plantings, lots of color and friendly curb appeal. Photo by Hilary Hutler

How I met Carol founder of Landscape Design in a Day, a Portland Oregon company.

While Carol and I had met a handful of times over the years, we decided to consider working together in 2022. Carol was a fabulous business mentor to my friend and fellow designer Alana Chau, and had a unique approach to landscape design services, so when she invited me to meet up for coffee to discuss working together I said yes.   I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to learn from her.  We collaborated on a few designs in the fall of 2022, and I gladly accepted her offer to join Landscape Design in a Day.

 

Hilary’s Favorite Front Yard Landscape Design in N.E Portland

One of my most cherished projects is a landscape design opportunity I fell into by luck. I was walking my regular neighborhood route in the University Park neighborhood when I stopped to chat with a woman who was placing boulders out in her driveway to give away.

Pollinator friendly Hens and Chicks used with some existing boulders in garden makeover.

The boulders are planted with lots of Hens and Chicks filling in nicely between boulders with a mound of dark burgundy leafed Sedum above. (Sempervivums and Sedum hylotelphium ‘Matrona’.)

Her front yard was devoid of beauty – it was over planted with  numerous (as in over ten) Japanese Maples placed too close together and no understory plantings to speak of. The previous owner had attempted to build a large pond, but the project had fallen into disrepair and there were way too many boulders. She wanted to change the existing landscape from bleak to wonderful.  On a whim, I gave her my telephone number.

Well, our meeting up that day turned out to be one of those wonderful gifts from serendipity, because not only did I create a total landscape redesign of her front yard, we’re also now good friends.  She loved making the focus of the planting plan about feeding pollinators and colorful plants.  I loved being part of such an amazing new front yard.

Pollinator bee friendly garden plantings used in Portland yard makeover.

These pollinator friendly plantings are also low water. Purple Salvia, Cistus – Rock Rose and in the back the very dark purple is a spanish lavander named ‘Otto Quast’.  Spanish lavander blooms earlier than most lavander and that helps feed bees and bumblebees. May photo.

Front Yard Pollinator Paradise Landscape Design

I love this no lawn front garden design for colorful plants, fragrance, interesting textures and a perfect pollinator paradise.  Here are just a few of the plants I used in our very collaborative design process.

(These are all super duper pollinator friendly)

Pollinator friendly plantings of English lavender and Elfin Pink Thyme used in garden makeover.

English lavander in bud underplanted with “Elfin Pink’ thyme is a study in textures in May but by mid June their flowers will come on strong and feed many kinds of bees.

Hellianthemum n. ‘Ben Hope’ – Sunrose

Sedum h. ‘Autumn Joy’ and also ‘Matrona’

Lavandula s. ‘Otto Quast’

Salvia n. ‘May Night’

Cistus Purpurea –  Rock Rose

Helictotrichon sempervirens – Blue Oat Grass

Senecio greyi (Brachyglottis) – Evergreen Daisy Bush

Sempervivum – Hen and Chicks

 

Contact Us for a Collaborative Design Experience

We prefer collaborating with our clients at their kitchen table to get a perfect fit landscape design.  Are you looking for a designer who wants to help you find your style?  Would you like to support bees and other pollinators?  We love city landscapes and bringing the color and vibrancy of nature to our clients.  Contact us today! 

 

 

 

 

Northeast Portland Test Garden for Drought Tolerant & Pollinator Friendly Plants

Tips for Tricky Native Plants in NE Portland Garden Design

Northeast Portland Landscape Designer Hilary Hutler with pollinator friendly Fox Tail Lilly Flowers Bouquet.

Hilary Hutler North Portland Landscape Designer with Fox Tail Lilly  (Eremurus) an excellent pollinator plant

Welcome to part 2 of my blog series on drought tolerant pollinator friendly plants for North Portland home landscapes.

My disclaimer: This is my experimental and play garden so while some of the plants listed here are easy to grow and meant for a typical homeowner , others are a bit tricky or cause skin irritation, are a bit toxic or are especially thorny.  They are very interesting and plant-nerd cool plants that are also pollinator friendly and drought tolerant. I love foliage but obviously flowers feed bees and who doesn’t love flowers?

Mixing PNW Natives with Mediterranean Plants

Northeast Portland drought tolerant Canary Clover

Dorycnium hirsutum or Canary Clover is drought tolerant in St Johns Front Yard Portland Oregon

First up is Dorycnium hirsutum*. This plant loves it dry and handles the heat beautifully. It has such a soft sea foam green foliage that the wonderful flowers and colorful small fruit capsules (captivating on their own merits) are just the dessert to my mind. Be aware that this plant can seed around a bit. If you are not the person who can pull out a plant that has seeded in the wrong place…walk on by. The web still says it’s evergreen but here in Portland it often dies back and +comes back strong once the heat of summer hits. Common name is Hairy Clover Canary or Canary Clover, but it does not look anything like typical clover…hmmm. It lasts for perhaps as long as ten years but will cast a few seeds so you have a new plant to take its place.

Drought tolerant pairing of Lewisia & Artemesia Northeast Portland plants.

Lewisia thrives in north portland front yard also called Cliff Maid or Siskiyou Lewisia. Background silver plant is Artemesia ‘Valerie Finnis’.

I’m surprised with how big and healthy my Lewisia (our southern Oregon native plant Lewisia cotyledon.) I didn’t expect it to do well because it is planted in compacted heavy soil, (it prefers loose open dry soils) but it has really taken off.  It’s twice the size I typically see in Portland gardens.  As you can see by the picture,  I’ve planted it in front of the Artemisia ‘Valerie Finnis’.

Some Aggressive Plants Can Be Tamed by Planting in My Worst Soil Area

‘Valerie Finnis’ Artemisia is a beautiful mounding silver green shrub. It can be an aggressive plant so use it’s tendencies to your favor by planting it in a heavier clay soil area, as it can take over in loose open soil.  In my garden it is planted in my worst soil and totally handles the heat and dry conditions once established. You can let the flowers come on for a few weeks and then cut the whole plant back. The flowers are a pale yellow, that will feed pollinators and are not unattractive. I prefer to cut my plant back in May to prevent flowers because I love the silvery green leaves but also to keep the plant full.  If you don’t cut it back it gets leggy.   Note this plant dies back to bare stems in the winter.

Pruning tip for Artemisia:  I employ The Chelsea Chop, a pruning technique which is usually done in May and involves removing 2/3rds of a summer or fall flowering perennial.  This term was coined by Tracy DiSabiato in her excellent book “The Well Tended Perennial Garden” I happen to have sitting right next to my computer.  It’s an older book so you can get a good deal on this book at our Powells Books in Portland.

Drought tolerant & pollinator friendly plants for northeast Portland.

Drought tolerant planting combination is a thriller, colorful and great for pollinators too.

Create a Drought Tolerant Planting Combination for Year Round Interest

I’ve also had success with a combination planting of Echium*, Phormium, a small blue leafed Agave and Sedum rupestre ‘Angeliana’. This plant quartet has something going on all year round. The Phormium gives us year round structure, while the Agave gives both foliage color, contrast and texture. The mass of low semi-evergreen Sedum rupestre ‘Angelina’ adds a soft textured low foliage element and the Echium is the total drama queen with a 30” flower spike. Although Echium is somewhat toxic to people, the bees love it! And be aware the Sedum ‘Angelina’ is no angel and will spread, so best to use it in heavy soils and rarely water it to keep it polite.  Summer flowering Echium  must be pruned down at the end of the season to keep it from seeding about too much.  It can cause skin irritation so wear heavy gloves when handling this plant.  Echium will seed so I typically cut the spent flower stalk and put it in the garbage rather than my compost.

More Summer Flowers for Bees in North Portland

California Fuchsia, drought tolerant plant for Northeast Portland gardens.

Flowering for four months straight in hot full sun with no irrigation is my idea of a drought tolerant plant for my north Portland garden.

Epilobium ‘Catalina’ – California Fuchsia loves the hot dry Mediterranean summers we have and flowers from August through November. I see the hummingbirds flock to this plant for months.  Once it was well established it has never been watered since. This plant gets trimmed back a few times a year to keep it looking great but it’s worth it.

It also looks great adjacent to this public sidewalk in northeast Portland planted in this boulder wall.

Pollinator, bee friendly northeast Portland Eryngium.

Eryngium ‘Big Blue’ pulls our native bumble bees in by the droves. Like the Sedum ‘Matrona’ the flower itself is made  of many tiny flowers so lots of food for pollinators in a single flower.

Here’s a perfect plant that is both pollinator friendly and drought tolerant.  Eryngium ‘Big Blue’ –  Sea Holly in addition to attracting and feeding lots of pollinators, it adds dramatic beauty through the summer landscape and well into fall. The seed heads dry and remain a part of the garden view long after the silvery blue flowers have faded. Unlike many plants that claim to have blue flowers only to disappoint, this flower is absolutely blue.  And don’t forget our native bumble bees-they adore feeding from my Eryngium Sea Holly.

Purple Flowers Pollinator Plant Combination

Monardia Bradburiana – Eastern Beebalm is best in heavy soil and some shade to slow it down.  It is an excellent pollinator food plant and is native to the Midwest.  It is planted with a poppy called ‘Lauren’s Grape’ and the deep purple of this poppy is simply amazing.

Honey bees are busy feeding and collecting pollen from this dark purple poppy flower.

Papaver somniferum ‘Lauren’s Grape’ is fully drought tolerant in Hilary Hutler garden north Portland

You can grow it from seed and here is a source, Renees Garden   For great contrast with the poppy flower and foliage, I used Sedum ‘Matrona’ for its large succulent leaf.  The big flat umbel flower head is made up of a host of tiny flowers and has hundreds of nectar sites for pollinators.  It’s mauve purple foliage is a dazzler with this planting combo.

Pollinator & bee friendly northeast Portland garden plants; Eastern Bee Balm, Dark Grape Poppy and Sedum Matrona.

Eastern Bee Balm on the left, amazing poppy (Lauren’s Dark Grape) in the very back and Sedum ‘Matrona’ on the right.

My landscape in north Portland is a perfect place to experiment with plants for a drought tolerant and pollinator friendly garden in the Pacific Northwest.  With a thoughtful selection of plants, I’ve created beautiful and relatively low maintenance plantings that provide for pollinators, and is very drought tolerant.

Contact us to work with experienced landscape designers who love to use plants that conserve water, feed bees without sacrificing beauty and color in our home landscape.  We can make a difference in global warming by conserving water and protecting bees by the plantings we use in our Portland residential landscapes.

Drought Tolerant Plantings for St Johns North Portland Landscape Designs

Photo from St Johns North Portland of Cedar Wax Wings in a Mahonia 'Charity' large shrub.

Cedar Way Wings feast on fruit from Mahonia ‘Charity’ Photo by Hilary Hutler

Testing Xera Plants for Wildlife in North Portland

Welcome to Part 1 of a 2 part blog series on drought tolerant plants for North Portland front yards. As a Portland landscape designer, I understand how important it is to choose drought tolerant plants to help conserve water and beautify your landscape.

Record breaking plant sales for both Xera Plants in Portland and Cistus Designs,  a nursery on Sauvie Island, are just one indicator of the way Portlanders are embracing low water plants. 90% of prospective clients who contact me for Portland Landscape Designs ask for plantings plans that take into account our climate change and are planning for a much lower water usage in their landscape.

Test Landscape for Drought Tolerant Plants in St Johns Portland

Portland associate garden designer.

Hilary Hutler Landscape Designer in North Portland St. Johns Neighborhood

Our  associate garden designer, Hilary Hutler, uses her hot, west facing front yard in St. Johns neighborhood to test and explore the new wave of low water plants. She has a personal interest going back many years and has become well versed with drought tolerant plantings to include Pacific Northwest Native Plants and cold hardy Mediterranean plantings.

Today I’m sharing five of her current favorite low water plants that are drought tolerant, pollinator and bird food and have year-round interest.

 5 of Hilary’s Favorite Drought Tolerant Plants

Oregon Grape in Flower at Cistus Designs Nursery. North Portland

Oregon Grape, Mahonia ‘Charity’

Oregon Grape, Mahonia ‘Charity’- Hummingbird show and food source puts on a dramatic show in early winter.

Mahonia Gracilipes an evergreen shrub sports red stems from spent flowers and berries for birds. North Portland.

Mahonia Gracilipes sports red stems from spent flowers and berries for birds. Photo Hilary Hutler

Mahonia Gracilipes- This evergreen shrub has leathery, glossy dark green foliage and clusters of fragrant, yellow flowers in late winter or early spring.

Flower close up of Arctostaphylos 'John Dourley a compact and smaller shrub than most Manzanita (Arctostaphylos). North Portland

Arctostaphylos ‘John Dourley’ flower close up. Photo by Hilary Hutler

Manzanita ‘John Dourley’- is a great smaller shrub and is favored for it’s more manageable size and overall good looks and yes the flowers.

Griffiths Arctostaphylos (Manzanita) in Spring North Portland.

My photo of Hilary’s Austin Griffiths Arctostaphylos (Manzanita) just prior to flowering.

Griffith Manzanita flowers in St Johns neighborhood of North Portland

Hilary’s Austin Griffith Manzanita flowers in St Johns neighborhood of North Portland and is a fully drought tolerant plant. Photo by Hilary Hutler

Manzanita ‘Austin Griffiths’- for it’s beautiful and sinuous multi stem shape, attractive bark and late winter flowers.

Drought Tolerant Grevillea shrub in North Portland

Drought Tolerant Grevillea shrub flowering in Hilary’s garden in St. Johns neighborhood of North Portland

Grevillea- This small tree/shrub is best known for the hummingbird show it puts on along with bright tropical looking flowers.

These are just a few of the many drought tolerant plants that can help you create an attractive and visually exciting, low-water landscape.

Special Care for Drought Tolerant Plantings in Portland, Oregon

Most drought tolerant plants must be planted in soil that is well draining.  You can still plant them in our native clay soils but not in a low spot.  Some of the drought tolerant evergreens like Arctostaphylos (Manzanita) and Grevillea need special neglect in order to thrive.  Never fertilize these plants even when you are planting them.  Add no composts or mulches to the soil at planting.  Plant them in the native soil whenever possible. To read more about how to care for Arctostaphylos and Grevillea at the Xera Website.

In Part 2 of this blog series, I will share more of our favorite drought tolerant plants and give you tips on how to properly care for them. Stay tuned for more!

Contact us

Do you want to have a landscape that uses less water and embraces plantings that support pollinators and gives your landscape a new up to date style?  We are uber practical but also will release our plant nerd side when that is a benefit to our clients who enjoy plants and want to have an interesting and successful drought tolerant landscape.

Contact us.  We would love to work with your landscape wish list and give you a landscape to enjoy throughout the upcoming years which are probably going to be hotter and dryer than we would all prefer.

 

 

Native Plants In An Ecological Garden

Sustainable Native Garden Design

Front Yard Meadow Garden

Dawson approached us at wanting a garden that is as good for the land as it is for him. He was on the cusp of retirement and had never tended a garden before, so part of our project plan included follow-up visits to teach plants, pests and maintenance. I just enjoyed one such visit at this truly sustainable garden.

An ecological native meadow garden in Portland

Spring in a Pollinator Paradise

An ecological garden is full of pollinators and little critters. It has only been 6 months since the garden was installed by Autumn Leaf Landscaping and even I am astounded by the ecosystem that has already developed in the garden. Today, the California Lilac, Ceanothus ‘Victoria’, and Lewisia cotyledon are delighting the bees. Last month it was Lupine and Western Azalea. Next month it will be Echinacea and Milkweed. In fact, this garden has pollinator plants for every month of the year. I wouldn’t design it any other way.

Native California lilac for a Portland ecological garden.

California Lilac, Ceanothus ‘Victoria’ with busy bees.

Lewisia Cotyledon native garden plant in Portland.

Lewisia cotyledon in the boulder garden.

Maintenance in a Native Plant Garden

Maintenance is different in a garden with wild native plants. The Bigleaf Lupine, Lupinus polyphyllus, is past it’s bloom when we visit in June. Last month the butterflies and hummingbirds enjoyed this robust plant. Now the blue racemes have faded to beige seedpods. A traditional landscaper would have cut the plant back to make a tidy mound. But here in this ecological garden, we want the seeds. Not only do they have a beauty all their own, we actually want to encourage a bit of seeding in this wildlife garden. The more the merrier. The entire planting plan allows for light self-seeding.

Plant diversity in Portland native garden.

When you let native plants go to seed, you actually create plant diversity within your garden. This native iris, Iris douglasiana, is seedling-grown and therefore blooms in a variety of colors.

Seedling grown Portland native iris. Portland iris is seedling grown for this native garden.

Not only that, but seedling-grown plants have great resilience. In a winter-wet, summer-dry garden like we have in Portland, only the seedlings that can handle these specific conditions (sun, soil, water) will survive. Over time the plants in this garden will be better adapted to this site than a plant from a nursery.

Pest Control in a Natural Garden

Many of the questions from a new gardener revolve around pest control. In an ecological garden, we avoid pesticides at all cost. Instead, we employ what is called Integrated Pest Management.  The most important difference between this method and traditional pest control is that the first step is to observe the “pest”.  What is it? Is it causing harm? Take this California Coffeeberry, Fragula californica ‘Eve Case’. Dawson asked how to get rid of the aphids.

Native California Coffeeberry in native ecological Portland garden.

California Coffeeberry, Fragula californica ‘Eve Case’ with minor aphid population.

Natural pest control in Portland native garden.

Same California Coffeeberry, Fragula californica ‘Eve Case’ with Ladybug feasting on aphid population.

Aphids can be a real problem, no doubt. If your situation has gotten out of control, check out this great article. In this garden, as we are standing there observing the number of aphids and noticing that the plant is otherwise healthy, we see a ladybug – the natural aphid enemy. Too good to be true? Not at all, it’s more common than you think in a diverse landscape. The most difficult part about gardening naturally is gaining the knowledge about when to intervene and when to let nature find her own equilibrium. Today, we don’t need to intervene.

There was also some root weevil damage, but we’ve already covered that one on this blog post.

Natural Materials

In a truly eco garden, the materials used should be natural as well. Here we use cedar chips for paths, wood risers for steps, and natural stone.

Cedar chips for Portland native garden design.

Cedar chips are a great path material. When applied 4″ thick, it is very good at suppressing weeds.

Natural river rock in Portland native rain garden.

Rain Garden using some on-site boulders plus natural river rock of various sizes. The native wetland grasses here are Carex obnupta and Juncus patens ‘Elk Blue’.

Wood risers used in Portland native garden design.

Wood risers used for steps in a natural garden. Two evergreen native plants flank the stairs: Sword Fern, Polystichum munitum, and Salal, Gaultheria shallon.

Stepping stones through Flowering meadow eco-turf in this Portland native garden design.

Stepping stones create a distinct path among the wild backyard eco-turf. Portland company PT Lawn Seed sells this Flowering Meadow mix under the name PT710.

Of course, I love creating a garden that is good to the land. But for me, the reason this garden is a home run is because the homeowner is absolutely loving it. The year-round blooms. The hummingbirds and ladybugs.

Are you interested in a sustainable garden that is good for the land and good for the soul? Contact us and get the process started!

Time Travel a Willamette Heights NW Plant Lovers Garden

Residential landscape design for Portland gardeners.

After design installation for NW Native Garden Design Style.  When they said they were gardeners they were not kidding around!

Decades Designing a NW Natural Garden Landscape Design

Creating a NW Natural Native Garden Design for a hillside home in Portland, Oregon?  Why say time travel?  I met D and R and we created their first native garden design in 1997 and they are still enjoying their property and home now in 2022.

In the beginning they purchased a newly constructed home in Willamette Heights neighborhood of Portland.  They found me through their builder.  We connected at our first meeting and they saw I was a collaborative garden designer  rather than a person who finishes up a generic landscape for a builder.  Over the years we made a great team.  I’m grateful they picked me and this garden has meant much to me personally and professionally.

Design Phase-Getting to Know My Clients

They introduced themselves as people who like to garden. At my first glance, looking at their sloped back yard covered in English ivy and invasive blackberries, I figured we would not be doing much with the back yard.  The front yard and the side yard would be easier for them to care for so that would probably be where they would play with plants and garden.   I had no idea that over the next ten years we would transform the entire property into a lusciously planted NW style and native garden with  stone paths and steps to access multiple patios terraced into the hillside. Lush colorful plantings would knit the entire garden into a whole.  And so we began a garden transformation journey that would cover the next decade and a friendship that has gone on much longer.

We would collaborate to create the design, I had lots of experience with plants to know what plants would work for their non typical back yard and I was a designer who cared about their trees, (had worked for a tree service while in school) and the environment.  I would introduce them to my favorite arborist who helped them with their trees for over a decade. We would talk about drip irrigation and selecting low water plants that would work well with their trees and their sloped property.  Collaboration, spatial design eye, plant experience and environmental know how were all needed for this design as well as relationships with experienced landscape installers.

My Site Assessment

Portland hillside covered in ivy and blackberry before landscape design.

Before landscape design, back yard is covered in invasive ivy and blackberry

Blackberry and invasive ivy removed for Portland residential landscape design.

Blackberry and invasive ivy cover back yard before design process

Access to the Back yard – House Design and the Doors

Given the extreme site conditions who knew people who love plants and gardens would buy this property?

Here are the kinds of things a designer thinks about to create a Native Garden Design.  Initially the back yard was covered in ivy, blackberries and had 4 mature large native trees, 35’ (plus) feet tall. The smallest trunk was 30” through and another was closer to 42”. It sloped up steeply on the south side and at the very top you could easily see Mt. St. Helens over their multi story house roof.  Understanding the site conditions and how to move around on this property was the key to the right design.

Doors and their Locations Dictate the Layout of the Native Garden Design

Doors and their locations are one of the most important influences on a landscape design. I know it seems odd, not plants, doors. There were two doors. We had a well placed side door (located off the great room) that opened into a very narrow side yard. We planned to take full advantage of the existing rock walls in this area by planting them with dwarf ferns and other crevice filling plants. From the great room we see these evergreen plantings year round. The stone patio side yard was the only level area on the property and it became the first patio for outdoor living but would not be the last.

NW rockery with Himalayan Maidenhair Fern for residential landscape design.

Himalayan Maidenhair Fern – Adiantum Venustum creeps through rockery and is seen from the great room windows and door.

The only door that led directly to the back yard was off the master bedroom. There was very little level area there and way too small for a sitting area. The grade immediately pitched up the slope which was too steep for paths without significant grading and retaining work.

Site Conditions-Working with Existing Plantings

The back slope had mature native big leaf maple – Acer Macrophylla trees towering over the property and one Western Red Cedar.  Any other native plants had been taken over by the bank of ivy. A hedge of variegated Acuba ran all along the south property line and created needed privacy between neighbors.  Acuba is one tough plant and since it is so well established it doesn’t need much water and only needs annual pruning. It’s a great fit with low water native plants and would be compatible with the new plantings I would select to grow under the old trees.

Shade or Sun Plants?

Our light conditions for new plantings are also challenging because the back yard gets morning shade, and the intense mid day sun. By late afternoon the plants are getting dappled shade at best. Plant selection is tricky because sun lovers don’t get enough sun and shade plants get too much. Designers know from trial and error what plants will thrive in this ‘caught between the rules’ planting area. The internet, with the exception of Great Plant Picks, doesn’t address the many kinds of shade and to most people, it’s either a shade plant or a sun plant. Happily there is a world between the two.

More Site Condition Issues – Tree Roots don’t like to Share Water

The large leaves of the Oregon Big Leaf Maple create afternoon shade and their thirsty roots surely encompass the entire lot. Their roots would take water from anything we planted so new plants would need to be able to stand up to the competition.  For this native garden design I would select low water plants near the big trees for two reasons: They need to thrive on leftover water from the thirsty big trees.  And we can’t have plants that need a lot of water under the big native trees because overwatering them could cause them health problems.  Rain garden for NW residential landscape design.

 

Mysterious Water Sounds

Water problems in NW garden calls for new landscape design.There was a mysterious wet area part way up the slope. We could not see the water in the summer but we could hear it. In the winter it was much louder, a dull roar although oddly we did not see much water.  Even in the summer I could always hear the sound of water trickling somewhere underground.  A professional solution was needed and I wanted that solution to be part of the beauty.

Native Garden Design Phase

My first design concept drawings focused on the side patio garden and terracing along the back foundation of the house. I did not address the back yard hillside. My clients loved the design but kindly told me to think bigger with regard to the back yard. They wanted to get rid of all the ivy, not a common ideal in 1997, and design for access to the whole hillside, to result in a beautiful naturalistic style hillside garden. They had a view of Mt. St. Helens from the top south corner of their property and they wanted easy access to get there, and space to sit and enjoy that view. I went back to the drawing board. The next design added another terraced patio, the dry stream bed, paths and plantings. And in a few years there would be another phase of design that added more but you will have to wait until I write about it.

It’s All About How You Move-Paths

Design can be so simple. When I was still a student, Barbara Fealey, (Oregon famous and first female landscape architect) told me, ‘Design, it’s all about how you move’. It loses in the telling but it is a profound statement. The paths take us to where we want to be doing an activity (even if that activity is relaxing and doing nothing). I wanted taking the path to feel like an adventure while it simultaneously integrated the various terraces and planting areas into one whole. Paths are also designed to be practical and allow for easier maintenance of the plants and property.

Landscape design patio for mountain viewing in Portland.

Sneak peek into the last stone terrace patio added in 2009 at the upper north corner of the property. Clumping bamboo – Fargesia ‘Campbells’ is planted for privacy above the wall.

Path Tips

Hillside paths need to break up the steep slopes and lead us into spaces we can be in.

Think about the activities the paths would serve: access to sitting areas for outdoor living and plant maintenance.

Traversing across a slope is often the best way to go and in our case, it minimized the number of stairs.

The path that cuts across the slope creates beautifully shaped planting beds.

Having enough paths allows access to planting beds for maintenance.

NW Portland Landscape Design rock wall plantings Omphalodes c. 'Cherry Ingram'

Navel wort or Blue eyed Mary captivates us with blue spring flowers. This is a variety so not our true native omphalodes.

Walls and Terraces

The walls for the stone terraces showcase beautiful plants as well as carving out and retaining hillside to create a level place for the sitting area.

Uncommon Plants

Here is a list of fun plants that I do not typically use but that were perfect for this property.  Euphorbia amygdaloides  ‘Mrs. Robb’s Spurge’ for a dry tolerant groundcover under the maple trees.  It spreads by runner so we trapped it behind the stone paths and it was not watered much which helped it stay in bounds.  Luzula sylvatica ‘Marginata’ – Variegated Wood Rush; if you look up this evergreen grass on line, it will often say it has to be divided frequently so people shy away from it.  This is not true and it is a very low water plant and will become fully drought tolerant once it is well established.  This was used under the maple trees and picks up the gold from the variegated dogwood leaf nicely. It was a strong enough plant to hold its own with the ‘Mrs. Robbs Spurge’.

Not All Native Plants

Adding diversity to the landscape is a good thing and having lots of natives is a good thing.  If someone wants every plant to be a native plant to Willamette Valley I’m happy to create for this specification. It’s exciting. But most of us don’t have the proper soil or site conditions for just any native plant and many people want more summer and winter color than we can get with natives alone. I’m big on using native and non native plants for my clients who care about the environment but are not ready for the rough winter appearance of the fully native plant landscape. There are lots of ways to create an environmentally conscious garden design including using local native plants.

NW landscaping a dry creek bed for residential portland property.

Dry creek bed is a focal point but also has a drain to collect and move excess water on the property.

Native Plants List

We used quite a few natives to include tough and low water Sword Fern, Blue-Eyed Mary – Omphalodes verna (a cultivated variety of it called ‘Cherry Ingram’), a variety of our native red twig dogwood called Cornus S. ‘Hedgerows Golden’ with its variegated leaf in spring and summer, fall color and then red twigs in the winter. This is a plant that can be planted on the edges of wet and boggy locations or once established be drought tolerant.   We used a lot of different ferns. I’m sure we had over 20 different varieties and many of them crossed over the years and made variants (which I call frondlings).  These “frondlings” picked their spot to germinate, often in the crevices of the rock walls.  Ferns have so much fun texture and are very low maintenance when sited correctly. And many of our workhorse native shrubs like Vaccineum, Nine Bark and Ribes.

Pseudo Rain Garden/Dry Stream Bed

Another unique area for plants was the dry stream bed. We used large varieties of maiden hair fern tucked behind the logs so they didn’t get too much water in the winter when the dry stream bed was not dry…and lots of gold acorus grass which loved the winter water. The contrast of clean gold blades with the spring green of the maidenhair fronds was arresting. The contractor installed a drain at the bottom so the stream bed itself did not have hardly any plants in it like a typical rain garden would. Maidenhair fern – Adiantum and Toad Lilly – Tricyrtis are two plants that thrive planted up higher at the edge of the rocks; they would die from root rot planted into the middle. They don’t tolerant constantly wet soil in winter.

Plant Shopping

Since my clients D and R are gardeners, we experimented with many plants over the next decade. The front and side yards were also designed and so the entire property became a garden. Yes we used a lot of my trusty tried and true plants and native plants, but gardeners love plants. Some fun shopping happened at small plant nurseries like Fancy Fronds, Robins Nest and Joy Creek Nursery, (most of these are retired except Fancy Fronds who is going onto a 2nd generation).  If you are a plant geek or a wanna-be the Hardy Plant Society of Oregon can be counted on to provide great plants at their twice yearly sales. R and I had a lot of fun with blue flowering plants like Corydalis f. ‘China Blue’  and also used common groundcover Speedwell- Veronica u. Georgia Blue’ neither of these are drought tolerant btw. These days only a few clients are enthused plant geek shoppers so most clients have native plants and others delivered by my plant broker, a garden nursery or the installer.

Collaboration with Your Designer

If you want a naturalistic garden design or a full on native plants garden design, first select someone like me who is serious about connecting and collaborating with you. I believe in the power of no. In fact I will prompt you to say something when you see or feel something isn’t right when we are looking at a design concept together. I’ve already learned about what you like and I have the yes list.  Still without exception, learning about your ‘no’ allows me to make the design even better for you.

We want to help you make your new landscape a place that is not only safe for nature, but provides for and allows other life to be sustained besides your own. These days lots of Portlanders are right there with me wanting practical ways to make their landscape an asset to our environment.

Look at our reviews-they often go on a bit about how the space in some tiny or difficult yard was magically utilized. Spatial know how is a great talent and while it can be learned, Alana and I both seem to have that talent innately. And it’s a toss up as to which is more fun, figuring out the best layout of your back yard or creating the planting plan.

Are you interested in a naturalistic and native garden design style for your back yard?  Are you looking for a collaborative design experience?  Contact us.