-Susanne Domhan and Greg Hartman

Before The Hartman's inherited a collector's garden, which was sandwiched between houses in a planned community. Their goals were: Peace, Serenity, Privacy and much less work. We retained the mature Japanese Maples, but most of the plants were given away to good homes.

Now, special groundcovers, grasses and dwarf conifers make up the limited plant palette. Carefully designed wood structures provide Pattern and Privacy.

Before The country style arbor did not work with my clients' modern sophisticated vibe. I designed a clear cedar screen as a backdrop to their cleaned-up and re-stained dining set.

This is now the view from inside their newly remodeled home.

Before Out with the vegetable beds (too much shade anyway) and ...

...In with an outdoor shower, Ipe deck, a sleek overhead, and a hot tub (behind the screen).

Before This family considered their front slope unusable and somewhat dangerous. They had actually had a car crash from the upper street into their front bedroom! But since it was the most easily accessed space on their hillside property, I drew them a perspective sketch, which showed what could be done :

Now they have a well-used spot to relax, drink a glass of wine, and enjoy their new lush plantings-- which are  colorful, low-maintenance, and much easier to tend now that the slope has been tamed!

Before Pretty bleak!

After The boulders provide attractive foil for the drought tolerant plants. The flat planting bed, along with the rocks, will prevent future car-sliding catastrophes. Thoughtful landscape design solves problems while creating beauty!

Before Another plant-less bleak slope which was eroding. Notice the uncovered drain pipe.

After. We built a stone waterfall that is usually dry, but is activated by rain flowing down the driveway, into a trench drain and then piped under a path. The water daylights onto the rock waterfall and spills into a planted rain garden. Keeping rainfall out of the storm system is responsible, green, and can be entertaining!

Before Guests were shunted up the driveway, which only emphasized the "Snout" garage of this ranch house. It was time for the old ranch fence and tired junipers to go.

Now, curving dry-stack rock retaining walls point the way to the wide welcoming steps, which lead to a gently curving generous front walk. Shrubs on the left side will eventually block the view of the garage and driveway entirely, but even now the fine craftsmanship of the rock wall, acid-etched concrete, and brick "river" draw attention all the way to the front door.

Before This was the boring view from the front door to the street.

 Ivy, lawn, and Tam junipers, oh my!

Now, the birdbath boulder and the sweeping brick river interrupt the smooth modern surface of the concrete path. New plantings look lush, but are actually drought tolerant-- northwest natives and native-friendly. 

Before The existing redwood dominated the front yard with a carpet of environment-degrading English Ivy under the dead branches.

After The Ivy was removed, the trunk "cleaned" of dead branches and now the tree mulches itself with natural brown needles, allowing a cool protected space for relaxing on a summer day.

After The swirling brick patio has an organic, relaxing and private feel, even with its location in the front yard.

Detail The brick river actually "drips" down the steps, thanks to the superior skills of the concrete and landscape contractors. This kind of craftsmanship is rare and wonderful!

A garden-savvy couple built this gorgeous Tudor style home in a new development with a tiny lot. I was able to design the hardscape before construction, in time for the builder to incorporate better paths and landings, and avoid cheap "builder special" landscaping. The sunny front yard includes a dry stream bed, rare dwarf conifers, a stone bench, and other choice alpine plants.

Although the shady backyard is barely 15' deep, the diagonal design, high quality materials and carefully chosen plants make it "live large." The owners installed the bluestone square-cut pavers themselves, according to my design, and had their builder install a concrete hot tub pad instead of the standard-issue concrete pad off the back door.

BEFORE  When the children were small, they delighted in having a climbing structure, swings, and lots of lawn.

20 YEARS LATER   The play structure became an arbor and the lawn was shrunk to accommodate a grown-up mixed border.

   With the swingset transformed to an arbor, the hidden patio was paved with broken concrete, and a hammock chair was hung where the old swings had been. The borders have been planted with northwest natives (Evergreen Huckleberry, Oceanspray, False Solomon Seal, Maiden Fern and Vancouveria), which thrive under the canopy of Douglas Fir, and emphasize the quiet woodsy feel of this retreat.