I think good planting design brings together many things: a client’s tastes, values, and expectations for long-term care; an understanding of site conditions such as soil, water, climate, sunlight, and shade; a deep knowledge of plant material; an eye for beauty; and the ability to reconcile sometimes competing priorities to create a cohesive and distinctive sense of place. This is what I try to bring to every planting design project.

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I provide planting design services in Salem, the Willamette Valley, and throughout the Pacific Northwest, working independently with clients or as part of multidisciplinary design teams.

 

Planting Design Services

 

Services can include:

• Planting plans

• Plant selection and specifications

• Tree and shrub selection

• Native and habitat-supporting planting

• Climate-adapted and drought-tolerant planting

• Renovation and redesign of existing planting areas

• Mapping and inventory of existing trees and plant materials

• Plant collection planning

• Planting concepts and visualizations

• Phased planting and landscape improvement plans

 

Designing With Plants

 

Plants do much more than fill space in a landscape. They can provide shade and cooling, manage stormwater, support healthy soils, provide food and shelter for wildlife, and contribute to larger networks of habitat. They also provide beauty, contribute to human health and well-being, and offer respite from the stresses of everyday life.

 

Good planting design considers these different possibilities and determines which matter most for a particular client and place.

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See planting design in practice in my residential garden projects.

 

Designing Across Scales

 

Planting design can range from an individual planting area to one element of a much larger design process. Decisions about buildings, circulation, public spaces, hardscape, grading, drainage, and infrastructure establish many of the conditions in which plants must succeed.

 

On larger projects, I can work with landscape architects, architects, engineers, planners, arborists, ecologists, and other specialists to develop planting that supports the larger design while responding to the particular conditions of the site.

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For projects focused primarily on planting, I can work directly with the client to develop planting plans that landscape contractors or staff can implement.