Local Design and Advice

For residents of King and Pierce Counties, Washington, we are happy to meet with you, walk your ground, and offer advice and design help, and help set you up with professional landscaping installers if you desire. We can also coordinate with our partners for those living in Utah and Salt Lake counties, Utah. Simply email us.

We highly recommend that you do some preliminary work before inviting us to visit with you.

Decide whether you want some minimal improvements, or a wholesale redesign. Decide whether you want minimal, moderate or intense upkeep. Decide whether you want intimate space or open space, play area or viewing area, a natural look or an English garden look, flowers or ground cover or food crops. Send us a brief description of your property, including things that cannot move, and a terrain description. Streams, hills and forests are particularly important considerations.

If you already know what you want, and where, you don’t need us. The last five people I consulted with didn’t actually want to me to design their yards, and they rejected every suggestion. They just wanted someone to talk to, someone who would agree with them, or someone to see if there were errors in their own analysis. One wanted a few flower starts. I suggest joining you local garden club before you go to the expense of a consultant or designer. Once you have seen a few yards, traded a few flowers, and engaged in a few conversations, you will have friends, a support group, and a clearer understanding of whether you need a professional service.

You need to consider weather, climate, predators, and what your neighbors are up to in your design. I was unable to do much with one yard, because it was surrounded by unkempt yards, and natural brush. The animals, weed seeds, and even the light were so affected, that all we could really do was create a somewhat natural setting, with lots of ground cover. In another case, we were able to plant precisely the two fruit trees the woman wanted, in a very small yard, because the neighbor had fruit trees that would pollinate them.

I recommend that every person spend some time wandering arboretums, landscaped public centers, and places like Minter or Buchart Gardens (both in BC, Canada). Go on a Spring Garden Tour in your own community. Take a virtual tour of the European palace gardens on the internet. These are great for generating ideas.

Also note, we do not maintain nor install yards. Some have called us when what they really needed to do was open the yellow pages. We are the architect, not the builder, and not the cleaning service.

Thanks,

Joel