Providing landscape design and guidance for people who want to make their property more beautiful, more functional and more fun!


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"When we decided to make a major investment into our yard two years ago, Lori was instrumental in transforming this sad outdoor patch into a sanctuary that was perfectly customized to our wants and needs and expressed who we are and how we feel. We thought: Okay, we can handle it now without Lori going forward. Right? Wrong!  Gardens are like relationships: They change and they grow. New ideas came up and we turned to Lori who picked up where we left. With a few keen strokes, she tweaked things around creating an outdoor living room for us and our guests.
What we also appreciate about working with Lori is her fine network of professionals who carried out her ideas in a timely, committed, reliable and dependable and affordable way. thanks, Lori

  -Susanne Domhan and Greg Hartman

Peaceful Retreat:

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).

 

Problem Solving on a Slope:

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!

 

Art, Design, and Craftsmanship intersect

  My clients hated their snout garage, wanted the lawn to disappear, and had a clear vision of their aesthetic-- artistic, hand-made, environmentally friendly, welcoming, and definitely not ostentatious. Marta liked  irregular elements that disrupt the expected.

 

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!

Early Landscape Planning Maximizes Space:

Alpine front yard with stone "creek"

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.

Lushly planted diagonal stone patio 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.

 

Family Changes:

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

 


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Lori Scott Landscape Design
by phone: 503-297-5263
or email:
dlscottpdx@comcast.net

Last updated July 15, 2010
Copyright © 2009 Lori Scott Landscape Design. All rights reserved.