by Carol | Oct 20, 2026 | Fall Gardening, Garden Pests, Garden Tips, Gardening Green, Native Plants, Plants I Recommend, PNW Garden Maintenance, pollinator plants, Spring Gardening, Winter Gardening
Leave the Leaves—but Not on Every Plant! Oak leaves in early winter cover the grass at local Portland park. Used with permission Photo by Shelly Orndorff How to support birds and beneficial insects without sacrificing your Portland perennial garden I just...
by Landscape Design in a Day | Dec 27, 2024 | Garden Tips, Low Maintenance Landscape Examples, No lawn back yard, No Lawn Front Yards, Winter Gardening
Wood Chips including Cedar Chips are a great way to have healthy plants. For many of our non-lawn garden designs, we opt for cedar chips instead of the traditional dark brown bark dust as a top dress. While some prefer the more conventional look of bark dust, cedar...
by Landscape Design in a Day | Dec 23, 2024 | Garden Tips, PNW Garden Maintenance, Seasonal Event, Winter Gardening
Be careful: dryness under your house overhang can kill your new plants over their first winter. If you have an overhang on the house, your new shrubs will need watering on the back side this first winter to make it. It will be stone dry back under the overhang. This...
by Carol | Dec 6, 2022 | Design Basics, Drought Tolerant Garden, Garden Tips, Landscape Styles, Low Maintenance Landscape Examples, No lawn back yard, Winter Gardening
Best Hardscape Landscaping Materials for Portland Backyards Here are some of my favorite backyard paths and patios from landscape designs here in Portland! Paths are a key element in any landscape design. How we walk and move in a landscape is what shapes the...
by Carol | Jun 13, 2018 | Garden Tips, Low Maintenance Landscape Examples, New Improved Plants, Parking Strips, Plants I Recommend, Winter Gardening
How to Help Your Manzanita Thrive In St. Johns Portland Manzanita (called Arctostaplylos – Arc toe staff eye loss) is the new cool darling plant here in Portland. The reasons why are numerous, unique “new” plant, drought tolerance, attractive in winter and all year,...
by Carol | May 30, 2018 | Garden Tips, Low Maintenance Landscape Examples, Plants I Recommend, Winter Gardening
Colorful plants for Portland Winter Landscapes-New Zealand Pepper Plant I enjoy a good hit of colorful plants year-round but especially in winter. The rest of the year has so many plant choices here in Portland it’s almost too easy for a garden designer....
