Tag Archives | Landscape

A New Landscape for 2014

A new landscape for 2014Welcome to 2014!  2013 was a busy year at John Darby Landscape, Inc., and we want to thank all of you that we had the opportunity and privilege to work with last year.  We are looking forward to another great year in 2014, and wanted to remind you all that landscape projects in our region can generally be done at any time of the year (with some exceptions for polar vortexes and hurricanes, but those are fairly unlikely).  As we move toward the spring and summer season however, our calendar fills up fast, and we sometimes have to delay new projects by several weeks during the busier months.

Besides scheduling, here are some good reasons to tackle your landscape project in winter instead of waiting for warmer weather:

  • You get a jump on the season.  You can be sitting in your lawn chair marveling at your amazing new outdoor living space while your neighbor is still trying to figure out where he left the shovel last fall.
  • Fall and winter plantings establish faster.  Planting in the cooler weather gives plants an opportunity to establish and get prepared for our harshest season – summer.  Whereas summer plantings are “what you see is what you get” until the next growing season, fall and winter plantings have the benefit of an extra spring growth flush.
  • Let nature provide the water for establishment instead of your wallet.  Fall and winter plantings use the natural abundance of seasonal rain water to get settled in and get past the fragile “newly planted” stage.  Summer plantings rely completely on irrigation systems to establish themselves, which means more money out of your pocket every month when the water bill comes in.  Early planting and an efficient irrigation system can cut the watering costs dramatically!
  • Hardscape projects such as paver patios, walkways, and garden walls form the backbone of your landscape.  By getting these main elements in place now, you will be able to focus on more important things once the sun comes back.

Whatever your landscape dreams for the new year, we can make them happen!

 

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Lake Oswego – October 2013

This project involved lots of gorgeous new plants, an irrigation system upgrade, a lawn facelift, boulders, beautiful containers, flagstone walkways, and an impressive amount of drainage work.  The original landscape at this home was fairly basic and lackluster, and had been left unfinished in some places.  Coupled with drainage problems that were causing erosion and an inefficient irrigation system that liked to spray water everywhere, it was definitely time for a change!

The first thing we did was to fix the drainage issue.  We installed a few hundred feet of river rock drain to collect and channel the water, which quickly fixed the erosion problem and made the yard quite a bit easier to work with.  We removed an existing back lawn and replaced it with new sod, which was reshaped to better fit the yard.  Then we brought in a truckload of incredible plants to fill in the blank canvas and give the new landscape substance.  Be sure to take a look at the picture of the Coral Bark Maple (Acer palmatum ‘Sango kaku’), which is in full fall color right now and is absolutely stunning!

The new landscape was finished off with some strategically placed boulders and a pair of flagstone walkways.  We installed two birdbath column rocks, which look awesome in their new home.  To top it all off, we retrofitted the inefficient planting bed spray irrigation with super efficient pressure-regulated Rain Bird Xeribug™ emitters that use only a fraction of the water as the old system.

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Bull Mountain – October 2013

This was a part of a multi-phase project in the Bull Mountain area of Tigard, and included planting, boulders, custom brick work, irrigation, lawn installation, and an elegant water feature.

Some highlights of this project include:

  • A fantastic fountain!  You can see in the image that the three pots are constantly overflowing into the main basin, which is lined with basalt wallstone, surrounded by custom brick work, and includes LED lighting for nighttime accents.
  • Tall fescue sod – The more we use this premium turf grass in our projects, the more we fall in love with it.  Tough, tolerant of low water levels, low fertilizer requirements, and did we mention tough?
  • Low volume watering system – All of the trees and shrubs are watered with Rain Bird Xeribug™ drip emitters for targeted and efficient watering.  The controller is paired with a rain sensor and a seasonal adjustment feature for adaptive watering.
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