If you’ll be in the Portland area this Saturday, June 18 from 10am to 4pm, mark your calendar for the ANLD’s (Association of Northwest Landscape Designers) 12th Annual Designers Garden Tour to get some great landscaping ideas. Here’s what I saw when I got a sneak peek of these seven fantastic eastside gardens last week.
The Wagner garden is a lush Asian-inspired retreat in Clackamas. Four-season interest is a high priority for owner/designer Helena Wagner.
The delightful garden writer Beverley Nichols once wrote, “A garden without water is not a garden at all.” This essential element is expertly integrated into the Wagner garden. The waterfall blends in seamlessly with its surroundings.
The Langeliers garden in southeast Portland, designed by Lucy Hardiman and Susan LaTourette, is a study in textures. This was especially evident when the sun peeked through the clouds and an island bed planted with euphorbia, cryptomeria, eryngium, sedum, Russian sage, maiden grass, and yucca was lit up from behind.
How do you feel about whimsy in the garden? I think the key is keeping it subtle—allowing the visitor to discover something silly. Did you see the bird at first glance?
In the Hannan garden, we again see the value of water in even the smallest of spaces. This simple black fountain adds movement, sound, contrast, and the mystical appeal of H2O.
I hadn’t ever thought of painting a garden wall this dreamy shade of blue. How soothing it must be to look at during our drizzly Portland winters!
The King garden, designed by Bruce Hegna, showed me the largest trident maple (Acer buergerianum) I’d ever seen, and taught me that there are special blends of turf made to resist the insults of dog pee. Neither of these is shown in this photo, but the garden is pretty, too.
I loved this dry creek bed installed by Jaylene Walter. I soon learned that Jaylene is in high demand for her expert landscape installation skills.
The Ohlson garden, designed by Amy Whitworth, also features the handiwork of Jaylene Walter. The sidewalk was cut up and recycled in the paving. Kristin Ohlson is a bit of a rock hound, and Amy said that a lot of the stones used here were ones that Kristin had brought with her when she moved here from Ohio!
Red accents liven up this space, and edibles (artichokes) make great ornamentals.
The Bebernes-Gawf garden in northeast Portland, designed by Alyse Lansing, beckons from the sidewalk with glass and cedar garden art by a local artist, Garden Art by James.
The piece in the back garden looks like candy!
The Mauch garden, designed by Barbara Hilty, is a soothing green space beneath the trees. This uncommon tree is Stewartia monadelpha. It has smaller flowers than the more popular S. pseudocamellia, and I thought it was a mockorange at first glance.
The Mauch garden also had the beefiest, healthiest clumps of Beesia deltophylla I’d ever seen. What a beautiful foliage plant for shade.
The tour on June 18 is sponsored by Al’s Garden Center, the Portland Water Bureau, and Honl Tree Care, among others. Tickets are $25, and the proceeds help to fund ANLD’s scholarship program for aspiring landscape designers attending local community colleges. Visit the ANLD website for more details.
Thank you so much for joining us on the pre-tour Amy! And for promoting our Garden tour. Love your photos and blog!
Debbie Brooks
Creative Garden Spaces
ANLD President 2016/17
Thanks for the invite, Debbie! It is a wonderful showcase of local talent, and I’m happy to spread the word.
Your sharp eyes found some details I missed (including that silly bird) and you ID’d a number of plants which were unfamiliar to me. Thanks, Amy – nice overview of the tour!
You had some really great photos, Jane. It was fun going on the tour with you, and I like how we all noticed different things.
Hello,
I’m trying to figure out what kind of tree we have that came inside a Top Hat blueberry bush I bought over here in Moscow, Idaho. The tag says “Woodburn, OR”. I brought a picture of it to Moscow Building Supply where I purchased the blueberry bush, but they couldn’t Identify it.
This tree has grown past the eves of our split level home in two years. It’s like the bean stalk in Jack and the Bean Stalk. It is a broad-leaf, evergreen with leaves that are three times as long as their width. They are not opposing and some leaves come right off the trunk. Those that come off the trunk are huge, much bigger than my hand and mostly near the top of the tree.
I’d love to know what this tree is. Since it came to our house like a stray cat, I’d like to take care of it, but it will have to be moved since it is very close to the house. So, knowing what its needs are would be helpful. Our cold winters have not phased it. The leaves are somewhat shiny, the trunk is a soft green. It does not appear to be a member of the poplar family.
Thank you for any help, maybe even a suggestion as to who to contact.
Adrienne Vincent