Landscaping Projects in Eugene and Springfield, Oregon
Amidst a backdrop forest planting of Sequoia gigantea ‘Pendula’ Serbian spruce’ and native mountain hemlock the foreground became a sea of purple Heather in which this boat we built floats. The client wanted a ‘Flying Dutchmen’ in which he could dream after a long day in his office. A joyful Folly can bring a whimsical feel into a classic setting. This like many projects took time to build the photo shows a soil enriching cover crop of Fava beans prior to the following spring till in and completion of the heather 'sea'.
Sometimes for small gardens more is less. With the help of local basalt mountains ranges can be formed, and an island chain of stepping stones invite one in to sit and meditate among a dwarf ‘bamboo forest'. The mountain range 'mondo grass forest’ and fields of scotch moss can be viewed through the sliding glass door on a snowy winter day.
This project was a vibrant example of a naturalistic style using native grasses as a lawn replacement matrix with flowering native bulbs, iris, and a multitude of non - native flowering perennials and shrubs. This project involved concrete work allowing roof water runoff to cascade into a rain garden. An elegant way of working with an abrupt change of grade in the back yard.
We removed a moribund lawn and concrete path to the front door by adding an outdoor terrace which doubles as a formal entry over which a trellis was constructed off the porch to provide entry lighting at night and support for a honeysuckle vine for summer shade. Again native strawberry ground cover as well as grasses and flowering plants provided a meadow that changes over the seasons.
An oversize lawn was reduced and an easier approach to an ivy encrusted bank became a decomposed granite path to a terrace for outdoor sitting away from the house. The plantings around the terrace were of summer flowering perennials and grasses with a long border of smaller growing trees Cryptomeria ‘Elegans’ and Cornus kousa cultivars to screen the fence and neighboring rooftops.