Blog
A Challenging Pacific Northwest Outdoor Living Space Project
It’s easy for Pacific Northwest residents to love where we live. We’re surrounded by beauty and never let a little rain keep us from enjoying the outdoors. Outdoor living spaces, like covered patio structures, can provide protection from the rain in the fall as well as summer shade.
Like many Portlanders, our clients in SW Portland wanted to create an outdoor space they could use throughout the year. Since Landscape East & West experts specialize in designs that add function to exterior spaces, we transformed their patio and deck into a seamless all-weather outdoor living space.
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How to Plan Water Features and Lighting for Your Backyard Landscape
Water features and lighting can significantly increase the aesthetic appeal of your backyard landscape, adding tranquility and comfort. During the spring and summer months in Portland, water features and surrounding patio space offer a calming, cooling respite from the heat.
Outdoor living can serve multiple purposes for a backyard landscape, including ambiance, functionality, and security. Many of the lighting installations completed by the skilled professionals of Landscape East & West are designed to enhance safety and deter trespassers.
If you’re thinking about adding water features and lighting to your next backyard project, here are the key steps and details to consider.
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How to Plant and Maintain an Edible Produce Garden In Your Backyard
The Pacific Northwest presents ample opportunity for homeowners to customize their backyard edible produce gardens. In fact, Oregon is known as the ideal climate for fruits like tomatoes and apples, and vegetables like squash, zucchini, green beans, and peas.
We love the ingenuity and creativity in landscape and garden design we see from yard to yard throughout the communities we serve. Over the years our crews and designers at Landscape East & West have seen trends come and go, but one trend we are always happy to see is foodscaping. Below are some tips for foodscaping, including sustainable garden practices in Oregon, organic gardening, and how to care for your edible plants.
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How Professional Landscapers Repair Winter Weather Damage in Your Yard
The Pacific Northwest has been experiencing more severe winter weather year over year, and, as a result, homeowners are seeing more damage to their yards. Requests to Landscape East & West to replace or rebuild retaining walls, replace irrigation pipes, and repair soggy lawns are on the rise.
As the spring equinox has finally arrived, now is the time to hire professionals for winter weather recovery and repairs in your yard. Here are some tips for clean-up of winter damage, but we also strongly advise you to give us a call if there are areas of your yard that are suffering from more severe damage, such as retaining walls, lawns, covered structures, etc.
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Landscape East & West’s Backyard Hardscape Project Wins Contractor of the Year from the NARI
Landscape East & West received the regional 2023 Contractor of the Year Award from the Pacific Northwest chapter of the National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI). Our hardscape re-design of a private backyard won in the category of Residential Landscape Design/Outdoor Living Under $100,000.
Overall, the project presented several unique challenges but also had an element of collaboration between the Landscape East & West team and the homeowner. These are the types of projects we love, and we are beyond honored to be recognized by the NARI Pacific Northwest chapter for our efforts! Here are the details of the project, including before and after images.
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Year-Round Yard Maintenance – All Seasons Yard Care
Ever walk through your neighborhood and notice how some yards look good no matter the season? Whatever the style, from finely manicured landscapes to less formal gardens, some yards always seem to be well-dressed – even in the dead of winter. Does a master gardener live in each of these homes? Probably not, but one thing they do all have in common: regular, year-round maintenance.
Whether you’re the DIY type or prefer to let someone else do the heavy lifting, following a seasonal schedule of care – and doing the right things at the right time – is the secret sauce to healthy lawns and thriving landscapes. So, here’s our seasonal guide to help you get through the year.
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Transforming an Outdoor Living Space into the Perfect Wedding Venue
Hillsboro Outdoor Wedding Venue Makeover: Form, Function, Elegance - Success
As far as outdoor wedding venues are concerned- the decorations, the reception areas, and of course the perfect place for the ceremony- are the biggest factors in your decision-making process. Landscape East & West took all of these factors into account during a 2018 project in Hillsboro where the clients were preparing to host their grandchild’s wedding. Long before guests were searching for what to wear to an outdoor wedding (cocktail and black tie are the most common for the summer), Landscape East & West was tasked with converting the client’s outdoor space into an elegant and functional venue for the big event. (more…)Planning Your Spring Landscaping Project
If you are looking through your window and the pouring rain at your yard, dreaming of lounging in an Adirondack chair by your fountain under the shining spring sun, now is the time to start planning to have all of those things! A landscaping project is the perfect solution, transforming your yard into an oasis complete with retaining walls, pavers and paved walkways, water features, a covered space for entertaining guests, and so much more.
The most important thing to understand at this very moment is that if you have an idea for a landscaping project, it’s best to start the searching and hiring process now to lock in your landscaper and plan because the project will likely start in the spring. To better understand the process of going from idea to consultation to project and project completion, here are some things to consider. (more…)
Preparing Your Yard for Winter: How to Winterize Irrigation
Sprinkler and irrigation systems can be extremely valuable when you need to water plants and crops over large spaces that would otherwise take hours to tackle with a basic hose and spray nozzle. However, in the Pacific Northwest, winter temperatures frequently drop below freezing, leaving those irrigation pipes and other components vulnerable to freeze damage. Expansion of residual water left in your system can lead to cracks and leaks in the system, including underground pipes, pumps, sprinkler heads, valves, and other parts.
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Landscaping Project Management: What to Expect After Signing on the Dotted Line
Landscape East & West project managers (PMs) are efficient point people, with a deep understanding of how to take a project from concept, to design, to build. After the design phase and consultation with the customer are complete, the salesperson transfers the vision of the project in document form over to a project manager. This doesn’t mean that the customer’s involvement in the project is done, it just means the project is now in the hands of the certified, skilled professional that will be communicating with the customer frequently in the coming days.
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