Landscape Design Articles
Small Trees for Fall Color
What trees are small enough to mature in the typical yard space, have low water needs and have full season beauty? Our Native Vine Maple is Tried and True Select a new variety of native vine maple, Acer circinatum, like Pacific Fire with scarlet red winter twigs. It...
Euphorbia – Full Season Color Shrub
Euphorbia a Perfect Plant or "She Devil"? Growers clearly think euphorbia (spurge) is a perfect plant – Blooming Nursery, a local grower, shows over 50 varieties in their on line catalog. Many varieties have come along in the last ten years. What is Euphorbia? It is...
Dog Friendly Shade Trees for Landscaping Small Yards
Small Shade Trees for Your Dog Friendly Landscaping It's hot and dogs are smart. They want shade and we can provide it or be warned, they may figure out something on their own. A lot of dogs left to their own devices in a treeless yard will dig a hole under your...
Hot Time in my Summer Garden
Wow, having a garden of any kind has been challenging in this unusually warm year. For some plants it’s been touch and go as a result of the heat. In my veggie garden I have learned a lot this year. My tomatoes would not set fruit if the evening temperature was too...
Summer Watering Tips for Portland Area Landscapes
Summer Watering Tips for Portland Area Landscapes First Rule...Do No Harm. If you are watering every day, this is harmful and as far as you can get from the ideal watering practice for your plants' health and for growing in your design. Plus you will be accidentally...
Planters Are a Designer’s Best Friend
Hardscape Is A Great Addition To Your Landscaping I use large built in planters to solve a variety of landscape problems and here are some of my favorites. This front yard planter is about creating privacy for the living room window. Their Willamette Heights house is...
10 Things to know about landscaping your new home
Ah, the glory of a new home. Everything is, well, so new. So fresh. And there's not a chip, dent or scratch anywhere (yet). Outside, however, it's another matter altogether. With most new homes, there simply isn't anything but dirt. So what to do? Well, here are...
Hardscape Design Transforms A Gardeners Landscape
Hardscapes Support Lake Oswego Garden Landscaping Garden Consultation - Margaret hired me as a garden coach. We worked together for several years. Her property in Lake Oswego has typical problems; clay soil, greedy tree roots, soggy lawn with moss and drainage...
Top 5 Stepable Path Plants For Portland Landscapes
Selecting Stepable Path Plants for Portland Landscapes Maybe it's not fair that most people don't know the finer points of selecting stepable path plants. The truth is planting between pavers successfully without insider knowledge rarely ever results in a thriving...
Designer Places Studio Garage for Perfect Property Flow
My clients had a large property that had been a historic dairy. They already had the fabulous old craftsman house that they had lovingly restored. I was hired to create a landscape design. They needed a detached garage for cars, extra parking and a studio for...
Garlic Mustard
What is garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata)? This cool-season biennial's leaves and stems emit the smell of garlic or onion when crushed. Plants are 12 to 48 inches in height, and in their second year, produce numerous white flowers with four separate petals....
Lace Bug Update
Last year I wrote a blog about a serious new insect problem for landscapes in the Pacific Northwest. It was serious because rhododendrons and azaleas make up a large percentage of the plants in most gardeners landscape. The easy way to control the insect was with a...
Portland Rain Garden with Year Round Color
Portland Rain Garden Plants with Year Round Color As a Portland landscape designer I like my rain garden designs to have year round color. Many Portlanders have rain gardens in the front yard so it's important to have year round color. Without careful plant...
Hydrangea Pruning Made Simple
Spring Hydrangea Pruning A lot of my clients have asked me to help them with pruning their hydrangeas. This blog addresses mophead hydrangea pruning. Hydrangea pruning is simple and easy once you know the rules. There is a link to a pruning video at the end of this...
Hidden Craftsman Gem
Before: Hidden Craftsman Gem I think before and after photos are fun to look at. Here is a home on SW 52nd in Portland that went on the market and needed some serious curb appeal to attract buyers. Their interior designer, Mary Tongue, from HOMEmakers of Oregon...
Winter Flowers Feed Bees
Winter flowers feed bees. It’s easier to provide flowers for bees in our cool early springs than you might think. What we are learning about saving bees can be made very simple. Feed them! Use a diverse plant palette with flowers from early spring until...
Unusual Flowers to Attract Hummingbirds
Unusual Flowers to Attract Hummingbirds Today I want to share "Hummer" plants with hot colors for summer that are unique. I will also list a few very colorful plants that feed the overwintering hummingbirds in winter. Hardy Fuchsia may be considered common for...
Inspiring landscape shows for 2015
It's easy to organize getting inspired and waking up your inner greenie by going to the spring home and garden shows. There are many summer garden tours but only one where every garden is professionally designed. The biggest show in Seattle is the Northwest Flower and...
Hummingbirds in Your Winter Garden
During our recent cold spell I was reminded that our overwintering hummingbirds need support to survive. It's so much fun to see them feeding on the bright red flowers of Camellia Sasanqua 'Yultide'. I got an e-mail and photo from my client Lois showing me the...
Quick Fix for Front Entry Patio
Kris Jones is a professional graphics designer of Red Door Designs. She hired me to help her with what seemed an impossible task. Kris wanted a private outdoor dining lounge in her tiny front landscape that was next to a public sidewalk. She told me on the phone...
Planning for a Cheery Winter Landscape
Let’s start with art. An art object does not need pruning, watering or fertilizing. Art, particularly large art, is a way to get a powerful all season effect in the landscape. Place it so you see it from the most used room of the house. Add a little night lighting...
Giving Thanks
I've been writing this blog for about 2 years now and I've stuck to topics that are in some way about landscape, but today I am going to pause and thank some people that help me create landscape designs that help me fulfill my clients' dreams. My husband Bob Lindsay,...
Winters come early, protect your plants
Tips for Winter Care of Drought Tolerant & Other Plants I recently was a guest on a radio talk show, Real Estate Today, with Gloria Hahn of the Hahn Group. Once again it was fun, I was only a little nervous and it went well. We talked about protecting...
Garden Restoration Tips
The only thing that grows as much as a landscape in 10 years are the neighborhood kids. The design (if you had one) and the plants have matured. Now you have tree creatures with stout trunks. Your "shrublet" is now a 5'x5' blob that eats the front sidewalk. You...
