Established Landscaping Makeover

Landscaping projects come in all shapes, sizes, and scopes.  For this month, I have decided to highlight one I worked on a couple of years ago.  The location was in an area that had older homes, but was an extreemly trendy area to build, and builders and developers were buying up lots, tearing down the old homes, and rebuilding with the latest technology and techniques.  Technically, this home was a remodeling project, but when the only thing that remained of the original house was a small portion of the foundation in one corner, it is as good as a complete rebuild.  This was a situation of a new home on an established lot, in an established neighborhood. 

                My initial assessment of the property showed it had some great potential.  The lot size was quite large for a city lot, and there were a few large mature trees on or surrounding the property providing some privacy.   One of the major challenges to overcome was the grade.  The lot was situated on a hill, with the grade sloping from east to west.  Prior to the remodel, the previous owners tried to gain more usable area by installing a retaining wall.  It helped, but was placed in an awkward location and reduced the usability of the lot.  Also, because of the grade issues, drainage was also a major factor.  In the Seattle area on sloping lots, when the ground is disturbed, it can cause springs to form which can cause all sorts of drainage issues.  Another major issue was the main access to the home.  The builder focused on creating a beautiful home, but didn’t leave much for the landscaping.  There were some stone steps that had not been properly set into the hill side and would wobble under foot.  The flagstones leading to the front door were small and spaced far too far apart to be of use. 

                When I met with my clients, they had specific ideas of what they wanted, but didn’t know the best way to make them happen.  They had one little girl who was nearly four years old, and were expecting another little girl.  They also had an energetic black Labrador named Rover.  Their main priorities included making a safe, attractive, and functional entry walkway with steps, creating an area for entertaining in the backyard, and increasing the usable lawn area for their girls and Rover to play.

           The design called for a complete rework of the front entry, including the wall, steps, and walkway surface.  The homeowners decided on using concrete pavers to help keep the project on budget.  The design also called for a series of retaining walls to be built, one that would retain soil that had been cut out, and another that held fill material.  This would increase the usable lot area significantly allowing for a large flat lawn area.  A large patio in the backyard with plantings and lighting accents would serve for the entertaining area. 

                The project turned out to be a great success and the homeowners were thrilled with what was done.  There were a few modifications to the design as we entered the construction phase, but overall, the design intent was maintained. 

  

FINISHED PHOTOS:

 

A Landscape Designers Home

BEFORE

AFTER

For my first post, I want to address the old adage 'never trust a skinny cook’. So it is with landscaping and landscape design. I am always curious to see the landscaping around the homes of those in the landscape industry. Most of the time the landscaping is a work in progress as there are always new ideas and materials to experiment with. Occasionally you find a home where the landscaping has been finished and it is a great opportunity to glean interesting ideas and concepts. Prior to this summer, the landscaping around our home in Washington was the former type of landscape, but I was able to finish most of the project in my mind prior to moving away. This blog features the landscaping at our home in Lake Stevens, Washington.

Landscape Sketch - Before

One of the reasons we decided to purchase our home was that the landscaping was complete. It wasn't ideal, but was such that I didn't feel like I had the huge weight of INSTANT PROJECTS looming over my head. There were some shrubs and a couple small trees along with a simple prefabricated water feature with some fish. It had some space for entertaining with a two-tiered deck. The backyard was fully fenced with plenty of lawn area, which was extremely important for our family. The orientation of the home was another plus with the front of the house facing west with plenty of shade in the afternoons for the backyard. There was also NGPA (Native Growth Protected Area) both behind and across the street from the house with lots of mature trees and native vegetation.

Soon after moving into the home, we realized that there were some significant drainage issues that needed to be resolved. Since it involved removing the existing deck in order to replace the foundation drains, I decided it would be a nice opportunity to implement some additional modifications tumbling around in my brain.

Landscape Sketch - After

Install a new deck - The idea was to keep the deck footprint the same. Since the lower deck was only a foot or so above ground level, it needed to be fully dismantled in order to replace the clogged foundation drains. I rebuilt it using the existing joists, but installed all new cedar decking. I didn’t really care for the narrow steps of the original layout, so I extended the steps to the entire width of the deck. The cedar planter boxes and benches took up a lot of usable space on the deck, so I only replaced the smaller boxes, using them to frame the access to the lawn. The railing of the original deck felt heavy and obtrusive, so I replaced it with a more visually appealing railing that blends in with the plants and other landscaping around it.

Reduce the slope of the yard – While trying to find a good location for an inflatable pool, I decided that my yard needed to be more flat. After installing the new deck, I installed a small retaining wall along the fascia with plenty of space for air and water to circulate. I then capped the wall by mortaring concrete pavers to the top of the retaining wall blocks. These pavers were set level with the top of the deck. I installed more drain lines behind the wall and backfilled behind the wall with a sandy topsoil. This raised grade just enough to maintain a slight slope on the lawn for drainage purposes, but make it appear level. The grade did need to slope slightly more near the concrete patio area as I only installed one step up to reach the lawn area.

Replace the water feature – Even though the existing water feature created some sound and enjoyment for the kids, it really didn’t fit with what I had in mind. To create the necessary drop for the waterfalls, I installed a CMU (cinderblock) wall under the front edge of the deck up to the fascia board. I continued this around the corner of the deck, leaving an area for access by building a cedar gate, completely enclosing the area under the upper deck. The wall gave me an area to build the water feature from. My original idea for the main pool of the water feature was to cantilever the patio out over the water, but soon remembered that kids are drawn to water like moths to a flame. I redesigned it to include a seat wall between the patio and deck areas and the pond. I also wanted to be able to adjust the water level based on the age of my kids. While the kids were young, the pool would be kept at around six inches or so. When they grew up, the gravel in the base of the pond could be removed making the pond deeper, up to 36” deep. I veneered the wall under the deck and the seat wall with a Montana Slate flagstone and capped the seat wall with a flat topped wall cap.

Install additional patio space, walkway, and update plantings – I used the Montana Slate flagstone again and build a small sand set patio at the foot of the seat wall. This transitioned to a walkway that extended out along the side and to the front of the house. We placed a portable fire pit on the stone patio area. As I was building the walkway, I had placed a pile of sand along the fence for future use. It didn’t take too long before the kids had found a use for it, turning it into a make-shift sandbox. They had such a good time that I decided to work it into the landscape installing boulders around the perimeter. The plantings I installed help to bring some color and textures into the landscape. Hostas and a variety of ferns work great in the shade, along with some Annabelle Hydrangeas with their large white blossoms. Rose Glow Barberry, Purple Smoketree, and a Crimson Queen Japanese Maple provide some purples and reds all season.

Along with these main improvements, I also updated the outdoor lighting, built a garden box in the sunniest corner of our yard, and installed a secondary gate to the storage area beside our house. It was all quite the project and took some time to complete, but the end result turned out really nice. The new atmosphere of the landscaping is serene, relaxing, and an enjoyable place to spend an evening.