The Design & Build Process

The design process begins with a consultation to determine your needs and desires. We work with you to create a design that offers year round color and interest, low maintenance, and sustainable design elements. By sustainable design, we mean that every feature we help you to create should serve several functions, and do so in an environmentally friendly way. Some examples:

We use “right plant, right place” design, planting for the long term (perennials vs. annuals, longer-lived vs. shorter), group plants with similar water needs, integrate edible plants into the landscape, use deciduous trees to help cooling in summer while allowing light in the winter.

Natural stone and paver walks provide access to and through your garden. They are also a good way to channel rainwater and store it in the soil to help your garden become more ‘self-watering’.

Rock and paver patios are a great way to create outdoor eating and entertaining areas. By building them with ‘dry-lay’ pavers or patio stone, we also reduce water run- off.

Stone and block walls create definition in your yard and provide retaining where needed. A terraced slope provides ideal conditions for fruit bearing trees and shrubs to be mixed into ornamental landscapes.

Whether you want a simple “bubbler rock” or a more elaborate water feature, we will work with you to create a feature that offers you the soothing benefits of water in the landscape. While water features tend to be more energy intensive, they can also serve as rainwater catchments, and elements that increase beneficial wildlife in your garden.

Irrigation systems can be necessary for the dry summers and falls in the Pacific Northwest. We will help you to choose a system that uses the least amount of water possible, and provides it in a way that makes your plants drought- resilient rather than water-dependent.

With landscape lighting you can use the dark night corners of your yard to create dramatic effects. New LED low-voltage systems can use a fraction of the energy that a traditional system requires.

We understand that the basis of any fine landscape project is the design process, and that the customer is at the core of this work. We also know that it is far better to make your mistakes on paper, than in the field. This is why we are happy to provide our landscape design service, either as a stand-alone design, a consultation, or as part of a built project.