Blog
How To Select The Right Landscape Maintenance Partner For Your HOA
Homeowners associations (HOAs) are tasked with protecting property values by ensuring certain aesthetics are upheld, and common spaces and amenities are well maintained. Whether the HOA serves a neighborhood, condominium complex, or other planned community, landscape maintenance is a critical component to success. It also tends to be the largest budget item and HOA boards looking to cut costs may be tempted to go with the lowest bidder. While price is a valid consideration, there are other equally, if not more, important factors. (more…)
5 Landscape Transformations: From Dreams to Reality
January in the Pacific Northwest is a time when even the staunchest of rain lovers can find themselves pining for sunnier days. And though we landscapers don’t mind the rain so much, we’ll admit, things do tend to get a bit soggy this time of year and, well, yards don’t always look their best. Which is one reason we think winter is the best time to plan a yard makeover. That and the fact that spring will actually be here sooner than you think and contractor schedules fill up fast. (more…)
Six Ways To Add Cheer To Your Winter Landscape
While the warm glow of holiday lights brightens the December landscape, Pacific Northwest yards tend to fade into a gray-green mono-scape once the lights come down and winter settles in. As landscapers, we embrace all the seasons–even winter–and we design yards with four seasons in mind. This goes beyond plantings. Yes, evergreen plants, shrubs, and trees are a mainstay, but there are many ways to add year-round interest and cheer to your yard. Here are some of our favorites. (more…)
Simple Solutions to Soggy Lawns & Muddy Paws
We love our dogs and doting on our furry companions is a favorite pastime. But come the rainy season, aka the muddy season, maintaining a beautiful landscape and keeping the outdoors, well, outdoors, can be a bit challenging with a dog of any size. Is it even possible to keep a beautiful landscape with a dog?
We get this question often and the answer is always yes! (more…)
Trends In Landscape Design: Great Ideas and Must Haves for Your Yard
We’ve been watching the landscape trends and have some ideas to help you build the yard of your dreams. Lives are busy, and your yard should provide a sanctuary so we’re seeing more automation, easy-care, and an overall simplification of gardens and hardscapes. Who has the time to put into creating and maintaining a formal English garden anymore? (more…)
Outdoor Kitchen Design Ideas and Essentials
Dining al fresco is hard to beat. There’s just something extra special about enjoying a meal with family or friends outside in the fresh air. Here in the Pacific Northwest, where we are blessed with a relatively temperate climate, outdoor dining is possible nearly year-round. It’s no wonder outdoor kitchens are hugely popular. And with today’s all-weather appliances and other amenities available the design possibilities are endless! (more…)
Top Tips for A Water-Wise Landscape
Here in the Willamette Valley, we are blessed with streams, rivers, and lakes aplenty and water is seemingly everywhere. Yet in spite of all this water and our rain-soaked reputation, summers in the Pacific Northwest can be on the dry side. In times of drought—like the drought we are currently in—water conservation becomes a real concern. (more…)
Water Features to Fall in Love With
Landscape design trends come and go, but water features are an ever-popular element that stands the test of time—and with good reason! Water features add a soothing and relaxing ambiance, amp up the luxury factor, and can create that “get-away” feeling right in your own backyard. There are also a plethora of options that will fit pretty much any setting from deck-top or small yard to expansive landscape and everything in between.
The Entertaining Yard
You have a yard, maybe a deck or patio, family, and friends. And summer is coming. Time to pull out the BBQ and plan some long-awaited outdoor gatherings! Hold on a sec. Is your yard ready for family and friends? Here is a better question… Have you considered the possibilities of what an entertaining yard could look like?
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