Blog
Water Wisely with a Smart Irrigation System
It isn’t time to turn on your yard’s irrigation system yet, but March is the perfect time to consider upgrading your existing irrigation to a smart system. If you think back to last summer, did you have times when your sprinklers were on while it was raining, or did plants shrivel and die in some sections of your yard? Were you frustrated by constantly adjusting sprinkler heads and watering times, or were you stunned by your water bill? Landscape East & West can help.
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Time to Design Your Spring Landscape
When you look out your windows this month, it may seem hard to believe that spring will eventually be here. But it arrives every year, and as the days get longer and warmer, thoughts turn to spending time in the great outdoors. If the view from inside your home is less than enticing, start planning now to design the landscape of your dreams and be ready for sunny days and star-filled nights enjoyed right in your own yard.
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Landscape Trends for 2025
January is a special time for us at Landscape East & West. We’re always excited to start a fresh new year, and winter is prime time for designing a new yard that’s ready for you to enjoy when the first warm weather day hits. As we look ahead, we’re taking note of what’s trending in landscape designs and how we can help our clients create innovative solutions.
A primary focus for many busy households is to reduce the time and effort needed to keep yards looking good. We’re seeing projects that require minimal maintenance. We’re happy to offer suggestions that leave you lounging or playing, not mowing and pruning. (more…)
Outdoor Fire Features for Year-Round Enjoyment
Sitting around a campfire, roasting marshmallows, and enjoying the company of friends and family is one of life’s pleasures. But when winter hits, the thoughts of pitching a tent or sleeping under the vast open sky make campfires lose their luster. However, you can capture the magic of time by the fire right in your backyard. When the fire goes out, head inside to enjoy the warmth and coziness of your own home.
Firepits and outdoor fireplaces took off in popularity several years ago, and it’s no wonder. In a digital world, finding a chance to escape outside, unwind, and stare into the dancing flames is appealing. The other reason fire features started popping up in homes is that you can fit one into any space. From the front porch of a condo to the back acre of a sprawling estate, fire features can be a welcome addition.
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Dry Streambeds for Nature-Inspired Landscapes
The Pacific Northwest is known for its natural beauty with soaring trees, green farmland, sprawling streams, and cascading waterfalls. It’s no surprise that our residents often want to capture that nature-inspired awe right in their own backyard. While we can’t mimic exactly what you see on a trip through the Columbia River Gorge, the team at Landscape East & West can bring a year-round natural feel to your own backyard through a well-placed dry streambed.
As the name implies, a dry streambed is meant to look like just that: a natural stream that has dried up. It typically consists of a shallow, winding trench filled with stones. The stones, gravel, and boulders used, along with natural plants along the borders, are meant to mimic the flow of water. In some cases, they even capture and direct rainwater that flows through a property. They can serve both a strictly aesthetic purpose and a solution for practical drainage problems.
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Prepare Your Yard for Winter
We’re in the countdown to winter. At Landscape East & West, that means we’re busy prepping yards around the region before the first rains fall and the temperatures drop below freezing. Our decades of experience have taught us that the rain tends to start full force around the second week of October, so it’s time to clear out dead plants, plant winter gardens, prune, and winterize your irrigation system. You can tackle many of the fall maintenance items for your landscape, or you can contact us to do the hard work for you. Then, you can spend your weekend watching the Ducks and Beavers or just watching the leaves fall.
Here’s what we address when protecting your landscape from winter weather and preparing it for a beautiful spring:
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New Home, New Landscape
A new house provides the opportunity to start fresh on your home design. Each room is a clean slate waiting for your personal touch. The same is true for what sits outside the windows. A new home deserves a new landscape, whether it’s replacing the builder’s special square of grass and cement patio or transforming a chaotic wildlife habitat into something more useful. Planning your outdoor living space should be exciting. The consultants at Landscape East & West are ready to help you create your design and get to work installing the yard of your dreams. (more…)
Rescue For A Brown Lawn
This may be the time of year when your landscape turns from lush lawn to scorched earth. After months of no rain and high temperatures, all living things are beginning to crave a little moisture. If your grass has gone brown, there’s not much you can do about it now, but wait for those first rainy days to bring it back to life. However, with some strategic planning, you can keep that landscape green throughout next year’s dry season. Contact Landscape East & West’s experts when you need some help to return to green.
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Plant Selection Tips for Year-Round Beauty
Our part of the Pacific Northwest is officially designated as zone 8 or 9 for plant growth and hardiness. That zone designation considers the average temperatures and rainfall over several years but as we well know, there is no such thing as an average year anymore. Those extreme heat spells, ice storms, and extended dry periods are anything but normal making it challenging to select the right plants for your Oregon yard. However, at Landscape East & West we have some tricks of the trade to ensure whatever you put in the ground has the best chance of survival.
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Enjoy Summer in Your Outdoor Living Space
The official season of outdoor living is here! After enduring the cold, damp winter, it's time to reward ourselves by soaking up the sun and enjoying the great outdoors. Having an outdoor living space right outside your home is perfection, but if your landscape is less than perfect, it may be time to refresh. If you’re ready to explore the many options for creating an outdoor living space, contact Landscape East & West to start the transformation.
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