Landscape Design Articles
Growing Greens in Winter
It’s the first week of October and I just planted veggie greens starts in my raised bed. Yup it's not too late. I bought two kinds of collard greens, Bok Choy Rosette (a dwarf variety) and 2 butter leaf lettuce (Rhapsody Butterhead and Little Gem). Adding pounds of...
Mulching to protect our Salmon
Recently, I attended a workshop to learn more about what I can do as both a gardener and a landscape designer to help the salmon survive and to make a difference in our environment. Restoring our watershed means remembering that all water runs downhill, and compacted...
Do Experienced Gardeners Need a Professional Garden Designer?
Yes! But you may think being an expert gardener and having a life long passion for plants would mean you don't need a landscape designer. Sherry Uchytil had to sell her multi-level garden and home due to family health problems. She and her husband Kelly put on a brave...
3 Colorful Shrubs for Fall
Compact Burning Bush The most popular variety of Euonymus alata 'Compacta' because people think it will be small, say 3' x 3'. It is not the least bit small and easily grows into a beautiful small tree. The smallest variety on the market is called 'Rudy Haag' 5' x...
Landscape Design Takes N.E. Portland Concrete Jungle into Graceful Entry
Can She Do it? Design 2 tiny concrete jungle gardens into unique graceful entries The Design Challenge Initially Jeff and Carrie hired me to create a Landscape Design in a Day for their small backyard. They loved the design we created together and installed it...
Salad Table Report
Growing Greens Above Ground Some of you may know from a previous newsletter that I built a "Salad" table from an old metal patio table. My initial planting grew poorly because my soil was compacted from a hard rain right after I put the potting soil into the table....
Carol’s easy raised bed veggie garden
I Finally Have My Own Community Garden Plot! Last year I did some volunteer design work for the SE Portland Brooklyn Community Garden. I saw people working on their gardens, hanging out and eating together under an old plum tree. It looked like good clean fun to me...
Protecting plants from winter cold starts in summer
One More Reason to not over water this August. It will help keep your plants alive this winter. Plants that don't get the message to slow down in late summer and fall, don't go dormant in time for winter cold. Your plant needs dormancy to survive. Start now to...
Hot Summer Color Flowering Plants That Last
Here are three great plants for summer color in the Northwest. These vibrant flowering plants are very easy to care for and come back each year as long as they have good drainage. These won't survive our Northwest winters planted in a low place or puddle. If the...
True Low Maintenance Landscape Uses Synthetic Lawn
Save Time and Money by Installing Synthetic Lawn The synthetic lawn and Landscape Design in a Day was a retirement gift Bob and Norma gave to themselves. They were so sure about synthetic lawn they had already purchased it. From the first phone call, I knew how many...
Satisfy Summer Color Cravings with Easy Care Crocosmia
Crocosmia flowers mean summer has arrived! Having grown up in Oregon I can’t really trust summer is here until I see those intense red, orange or yellow trumpets! In Portland, they typically start to flower in late June into early July. The variety Crocosmia...
Long Lasting Wood for Raised Vegetable Boxes
I have clients who only want to build their raised vegetable planters once. Juniper wood is a great resource for gardeners who want their raised beds to last forever. Juniper wood can last 30 to 50 years in direct contact with moist soil! Why Use Juniper?...
Re-purpose your old patio table into a greens garden
Growing Greens Above Ground I’ve been waiting for years to build my own salad table. One of the cool things is being able to grow lettuce and other greens without needing to even think about slugs, let alone pick them out of my greens. It's also perfect for people...
Backyard Makeover for the Love of the Dog
Landscaping for Your Dog Peanut was the only one using this back yard. My client Susan wanted the back yard to be private, very simple and wanted to solve problems such as where to put her bikes, hide the garbage cans and create a mud room for Peanut to come and go...
Lace Bugs on the Move in Oregon
Azalea lace bug is a new pest that has decided rhododendrons are on the menu as well as azaleas. This seems like a big problem because azalea lace bug has multiple hatchings in a season and can do a lot of damage. The old rhododendron lace bug only hatched once a year...
Full Season Color for a No Lawn Entry Garden
My client Susan is a gardener's gardener. Susan wanted a colorful no-lawn entry garden for her picturesque Craftsman bungalow. Spending time puttering in her yard with her dog Peanut was a joy; full time maintenance, not so much. She turned to Landscape Design in...
Five Important Garden Tips
Five Important Garden Tips You Need Weeds and Garden Mulch Use mulch or even bark dust initially. The first two years in your new landscape are critical for controlling weeds. While installing your new plants, the soil has probably been disturbed and this wakes up...
Landscape Swamp to Garden Paradise
Landscape Swamp to Garden Paradise Vicki Masterson wanted her dream garden. She and her husband Pete were recently retired. She had a beautiful new home and was looking forward to having a yard to play gardener in for the first time in her life. She expressed her deep...
Ultimate Courtyard Garden
Condominium owner Katherine Knight had a tiny disaster back yard. She went on Angie's List and found Carol Lindsay Landscape Design in a Day and on the phone we hit it off instantly. She told me "It all sucks, what I want is a beautiful low maintenance place to...
Exotic Edible Fruits
Boost your nutrition with these exciting small fruit trees I recently attended a lecture by Jim Gilbert, owner and plant designer of One Green World. They grow and sell edibles tested for NW gardens. My favorite fruit out of the entire lecture was the Pawpaw...
Tree Stump Art
I first met Rick Lee and Monique O'Rielly at the Portland Home & Garden Show. They hired me to create a design for their difficult sloped back yard. They had a beautiful large native cedar tree and we designed the landscape to fit around the tree. It was the...
Curb Appeal Before and After
These clients are the ultimate DIYer’s, remodeling their home and not afraid to tackle the landscape. Their home had no curb appeal, no path or front porch and their single story home was dwarfed by a huge conifer with apparent structural problems. The Chambers were...
Mushroom Season Dangerous to Dogs
Mushroom season dangerous to dogs. While walking with a friend and her dog in late November we noticed a miniature forest of mushrooms under a large tree right next to a dog park. My advice is to presume they are toxic even though they may well be harmless. Pick...
Hydrangeas: More Popular Than Ever!
So much it deserves repeating: hydrangeas are more popular than ever! They belong on the list of plants for new gardeners who demand low care plants and also on the lists of seasoned gardeners who live to be working in their garden. They are easy care. Some people do...
