A Nifty Little Makeover

Last week, with the help of some able bodied landscapers, we did a little switcheroo of an old, beat up grass pathway. The owner used the pathway quite alot and usually with a bike in hand, heading out of the basement to the front steps. Mowing, edging, and watering a strip of grass can be tedious and wasteful and we decided to replace the pathway with 1/4 minus gravel, a commonly used material for pathways which compacts better than pea gravel and makes walking on easier. (not to mention rolling bikes on...)



We also replaced the backyard lawn with new sod. The original lawn was a low-mow grass seed blend that gets a lot of hype in the gardening world for it's low water and no mowing needs. I will even admit that I'm the one that installed this seed for the client a little over a year ago. The lawn turned out to be an unsightly patch of clumping grasses, some of which had sent out flower shoots about 2' tall. Although this good-old-fashioned lawn will require mowing, watering and fertilizing, it really is nice to have a patch of grass to sit in and for the dog to play in.

Both the lawn and the gravel paths are edged with a 3 3/4" steel edging.

In Bloom

Here's a new bouquet created with foraged garden cuttings.

Peony, Smokebush, Black Mondo Grass, Japanese Forest Grass, Bleeding Heart (still in bloom in June!)

In Bloom

Here's what's in bloom this week: Roses, Peony, Poppy Pods, Flax Leaves.

Pink Overload? Maybe.

I hope to be back on the regularly scheduled program in the next couple of weeks. I will be working on two installations (well, pointing my finger, smiling, and saying please alot to the crew who will be doing the installations). I will hopefully have some photos of us removing old grass and installing gravel paths with steel edging. And after that, a complete remodel of a landscape that I designed this winter. The homeowners are doing a lot of the work themselves, and it's almost time for the new plants to go in.

Arrangement #3

These posts need better titles. Any suggestions?

This third arrangement from the garden is made with Calla Lily (same ones from a week ago), Icelandic Poppy, Poppy Pods. Cost = $0.00.

Arrangement #2

Here's the newest arrangement of cut flowers from the garden. Bearded Iris, Siberian Iris, Calla Lilly, Columbine.

Side Projects

Since I have put down the shovels and heavy machinery for the year, I have finally had the time and motivation to work on some new stuff that I have had been wanting to do for a couple of years. The first is to build a prototype for a vertical herb garden like the one I saw at the Chicago Botanic Garden. I should have taken photos of the process so you can see how it's built from start to finish, but here is a photo of the one I made recently after it was planted.

I will add some more herbs and maybe more annuals to fill in some more of the holes, and the idea is that as the plants grow, the holes will be filled in to hide the chicken wire. I used 4" pots of herbs and annuals which is a chunk of money, so using flats or growing things from seed would be more cost effective here. But, using herbs makes it more purposeful than say a succulent wall, or selecting plants solely for appearance. I'll post more photos as the plants fill in. It will eventually hang on the garage wall.

The other fun thing I will be doing this summer are the flowers for my lovely friend Heather's wedding. I am really excited about filling my house up with cut flowers from the flower market and making arrangements and bouquets all day. Right now we are leaning towards bright colors like chartreuse and fuscia, and some lighter pink and coral accents. Dahlias will be in season, so think big and bright!

I am not a huge fan of cut flowers in garden design, instead opting for plants with showy foliage. But, when we moved into our house we acquired, along with ugly lawn and dandelions, some columbine, irises, gladiolus, calla lillies and dahlias. So, I've left them in the garden and quite enjoy them, actually. I make arrangements with them all Spring and Summer. This photo is the first arrangement of Spring. Probably from early May. It is just columbine and astromeria. Viola!

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.