Nightingale Residence

This project was a new construction with some significant slopes to deal with. The front and back yards were flat, but the back yard was a good 10' below the front yard, and then there was a large slope down from the back yard to the rear property line. The theme of the front yard was mostly "cottage garden" with lots of perennials and flowering shrubs.



The North Side (the North Slope) was going to be the least used portion of the yard, so we kept it simple, low maintenance, with some drough tolerant plants.


The South Side was more visible so we put in more perennials and shrubs.


I usually abhor junipers, but sometimes they really are the best option. This back slope was steep, and with a small shrub border along the top, it was not going to be visible from anywhere else in the yard (and barely noticeable from the house). Junipers were a cheap, easy, no maintenance solution. They would be able to survive from the run-off that the sprinklers on the lawn above gave.

Time: 18 hours

Wingers in Moscow

I have no pictures, but I designed the landscaping for the new Wingers in Moscow a few years back when I was working through Crossroads Nursery just west of Moscow. As is typical with businesses, they wanted something virtually maintenance free and with low water requirements. I used lots of rock, grasses, roses, evergreen boxwoods, and virginia creeper to soften the architecture and bring some color and interest to the little island in the middle of the fifteen acre parking lot. I cannot, however, take credit for the lollipop trees to the right of the entrance.

McDonald Landscape

This project was a bit unique in that the clients wanted mostly ideas, rather than specific measured plans. There was a lot of property to work with (it's a dairy farm) and a lot of new issues to tackle. For this client, I put together a book of my sketches and suggestions. It's a bit difficult to show online, but what I did was print pages with the picture of the problem area, and then I printed an overlay on transparent vellum that included my suggestions and the sketches of how I envisioned the area after the improvements. Here are three of the fifteen areas I put together suggestions for, with the picture page on the left, and the transparency on the right (you'll just have to imagine the right pages laid over the left ones).




At the end of the book was a list of recommended plants for the clients to use divided by type (perennials, small shrubs, large shrubs.)

Time: 12 hours

K. Johnson Front Planter

This client had a house with mature landscaping that needed a bit of revamping. The big trouble spot was a planter in the front of the house. Here's a photo of what was there, and the sketch of my suggestions.

Vaux Landscape

This project was a new home so I had a clean slate to start with. The first priority for the homeowner was a plant screen across the back fence to block the view of the houses that were going to be built behind them. Here's a photo of what I was to screen...


This is the sketch of my ideas that I presented to the homeowner...


They liked the design, and so I went ahead and drew up a plan for the entire yard. Here is what the plan for the backyard looked like...

(click on the picture for a larger image)

Morrin Border

This project was a border designed to block out the view of a new subdivision while preserving the view of Moscow Mountain from the back porch of the residence. Most plants had to be about 10' tall, and they all had to be narrow as there was an existing garden only a few feet away along most of the property line. The border was highly visible from the house, so a lot of seasonal plants were used to provide interest year-round.


Time: 4.5 hours