Rain Gardens - Finally!

I'm super excited about 2 design projects I am working on now. One is the backyard for the residence in Lake Oswego where I designed and installed the front yard in December. The other is for a mid-century ranch house in NE Portland that needs a huge makeover while bringing forth that great mid-century style. I'll keep ya posted on both of these projects.

There has been a ton of change and work going on at Casa de Cardinal also. A few weeks ago, we lost our lovely cherry tree in a short but powerful Spring storm. We were truly devastated to lose such a beauty.

After the arborist chopped it up and removed it, it left this gaping hole in the yard. We are doing our best to deal with the lack of shade and privacy it gave us, and I am constantly thinking of what tree will replace it. Currently it is an Acer palmatum, katsura. (Katsura Japanese Maple). But, the mimosa tree is still in the running.


I am really liking this little corner of the backyard right now. I see it out of the french doors from the kitchen and it makes me very happy. The Agave is from Life + Limb and I just put it outside for the summer. It is getting a little sun burnt, but I hope it adjusts to the move.

And, I finally, after 3 and half years of living in the house replaced the gutters! Last year when I landscaped the front yard, I built 2 small rain gardens in front of the downspouts for stormwater retention. They never were used to their full potential because the gutters were such a mess and the downspouts weren't even connected properly. So, you can see that the downspout is now connected to a flexible pipe that goes under the walkway and empties into the depressed area which is filled with sedges and strawberries that have made their way over the raised vegetable bed and into the garden. They should do fine with wet feet in the winter anyway. I can't wait for a rainy day to watch the rain gardens fill up.