Posts Tagged ‘fall’
Flowers & Foliage – My Favorite, Easy-Care Shrubs
Here in the Pacific Northwest the ubiquitous rhododendron are doing their thing with oversized, luscious blooms in every shade from purest white to deepest purple. They are positively seductive – until suddenly they're not. The sad reality is that a garden filled with these has only a limited season of interest, after which there's just…
Read MoreGarden Renovation; a Phased Approach
Some projects take on a life of their own, and what began as a simple request for a consultation to brainstorm privacy ideas for a back garden quickly evolved into a discussion about much bigger problems: crumbling retaining walls, lack of a sitting area, waterlogged grass better suited to ducks than children and the most…
Read MoreDreary Rental to Secluded Retreat: Front Garden Transformation
Renovating a neglected rental property into a functional and comfortable home was a significant challenge, but one that that these young homeowners, Katie and Evan were up to. Both trained as architects, they knew what to look for, what they were getting into, and understood that this was going to be a long term project.…
Read MoreColor-Changing Evergreens
Funnily enough, no-one has ever asked me to design a high maintenance garden, yet there is a common misconception that low maintenance translates to an endless row of boxwood or a border entirely devoted to rhododendrons. While these may be easy care they certainly won’t win any design awards. Yet evergreen trees and shrubs are…
Read MoreDesign Evolution: doing it your way
As an independent designer I'm in the fortunate position of being able to design gardens that will be professionally installed by my recommended contractors*, by the homeowners themselves, or even by another preferred and local-to-the-site contractor. (*I never accept a referral fee so my recommendation is based on the fact that they always do outstanding…
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