Appealing, low-maintenance landscapes can be a challenge for design/build contractors, especially for residential clients who want the impossible: a no-maintenance landscape.
“There’s no such thing as a no-maintenance landscape,” confirmed Bill Fehrenbach, project manager, The Pattie Group, Novelty, Ohio. “Every landscape needs some maintenance – no matter how minimal.”
The Pattie Group and Dennis' Seven Dees Landscaping, Portland, Ore., show through two of their residential project designs that asthetically pleasing, low-maintenance landscapes are feasible.
RETURNING FOR A CHANGE. After spending some time away from their home, Ike and Laurie Hanawa returned to renovate their 25-year-old residence and upgrade their 1/3-acre property. One major area of concern for the Hanawas was the greenspace surrounding their home.
Hidden in a dense Douglas Fir forest along the Willamett River in Portland, Ore., the woodsy area with its steep valleys provides a nice, yet dark and watery, hideaway. The intense wetness proved a problem for not only the home because it was located in the low center of the flat site, but for the landscape, which had become hard to get around because it was overgrown with deciduous trees and dead, overwatered grasses, perennials and annuals. The abundant overgrowth shaded most of the sunlight from entering the yard so it could not dry up the excess water and feed the plant materials. The site was also behind on its routine upkeep.
Refusing to attempt handling another high maintenance garden, the Hanawas recruited Dennis’ Seven Dees Landscaping to alleviate the drainage problems and reduce the high amounts of pruning and mowing needed on the site to create an aesthetically pleasing low maintenance landscape. The project was done in two phases. The first began in November 1996 to rectify and repair site problems and the second began in October 1997 to add a new plant pallet.
It's All In The |
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Slite planning is the most important part of a low maintenance landscape, according to Mike Gilliland, landscape architect, Dennis’ Seven Dees Landscaping, Portland, Ore. His tips include: |
STEP ONE: DEMOLITION. After visiting the Hanawa residence a number of times to get a feel for the surroundings, Bill Sanders, landscape designer, Dennis’ Seven Dees Landscaping, went through various design schemes with the Hanawas to make sure the plan fit the greenspace to their style of utilizing the property and to enhance the landscape views from inside the house.
The first step was to identify the types of improvements the site would allow while at the same time keeping cost and plant disturbance down. The drainage problem was obvious due to the pocketing and saturated, dead lawn and overgrown plant materials, but the actual areas of concern needed to be pointed out. Before discussing a garden theme, extensive demolition had to be done.
Overgrown, excess plant varieties, particularly most of the perennials, annuals and all of the vegetables/edibles due to the high maintenance needed to keep them growing, were removed and the flat site was recontoured with properly located mounds of soil to channel water away from the house and the site. Many of the deciduous trees were also removed to let sunlight into the site.
Over time, the site had also developed odd corners and spaces such as 1-foot strips of lawn that were hard to irrigate and maintain. When it was recontoured those spaces were eliminated.
STEP TWO: DESIGN. The major goal of the site’s redesign was to keep it scaled and simple.
The property was regraded to accommodate an extensive irrigation system. A dry creek with decorative rock and grasses was integrated into the landscape as a convenient disguise for the technical irrigation system and was a low maintenance addition because it can be easily blown clean.
For ornamentals, Sanders matched flowering ornamentals, such as the Pieris Japoniea variety of rhodedendrons to the clay soil where they are known to do well. He also matched plants that like wet feet, such as Kelseyi Dogwood, in the wet, shady areas.
The theme chosen for the yard was similar to a Japanese garden effect because the plant pallet included Japanese maples and low maintenance grasses. Vinca minor groundcover, which keeps weeds out and adds color, and bark mulch, which helps the soil retain water, were low maintenance additions.
The Hanawas wanted to open up their yard to sunlight, yet retain privacy, so Sanders also added low maintenance conifers selectively. Dwarf blue spruces added a different color and texture throughout the landscape.
Explore the February 1999 Issue
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