Whole Gardens | Landscape Design & Installation

November 8, 2023

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⁣ “I felt the kindliness of the moss, which is

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“I felt the kindliness of the moss, which is all over everywhere once you get out of the made world.”⁣
-from Barbara Kingsolver’s Demon Copperhead ⁣
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And a birthday is the perfect reason to get out!⁣
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Thanks to Aaron for celebrating out there with me on a hike under the sheltering arms of Doug firs. ⁣
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And thanks to the rains for growing mushrooms, plumping moss, and filling rivers.⁣
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And to our dog Leela for the joy of her four legs running free.⁣
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#itsmybirthday #getoutside #moss #rain #demoncopperhead #coralfungus #hkingdogs #hikinghusband #loveoregon #pnwgirl #46 #openyourdoors to #naturesbeauty
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Such an instantly satisfying thing, concrete.⁣
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And very appropriate in this setting with the contemporary architecture.⁣
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Pour day is almost as exciting as planting day, which is coming soon! ⁣
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The structure of the concrete here will become the container for the chaos of foliage and flower.⁣
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#gardenofcontainedchaos #concretepour #takingshape #concretepath #staggeredpath #contemporarydesign #containedchaos #landscapedesign #landscapeinstallation #jonathanrathjenconstruction #openyourdoors to #naturesbeauty

⁣ Got weeds? Plant more plants!⁣ ⁣ The front

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Got weeds? Plant more plants!⁣
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The front, public-facing part of Tammy’s Layered Habitat Garden started out a bit more formal than the inner gardens.⁣
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A pattern of low shrubs and ground covers looks great year round, but their slower growth left bare ground.⁣
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And bare ground means weeds here in the mild, fertile Willamette Valley.⁣
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So, after nearly two years, we added another layer!⁣
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Native flowers like Oregon iris, Pacific aster, Western mugwort, and more join the scene. They’ll add seasonal blooms and spreading growth to cover bare ground and outcompete weeds.⁣
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More diversity, more beauty, more habitat, less maintenance!⁣
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Thanks Tammy for continuing to care for the abundant nature of your garden. You’re the best!⁣
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#layeredhabitatgarden #plantmoreplants #layeredplanting #diversity #beauty #habitat #lessmaintenance #weedsolution #fallplanting #oregonnativeplants #willamettewildlings #iristenax #irischrysophylla #erigeronglaucus #artemisiavaleriefinnis #sedumoregonum #lifenotlawn #droughttolerantlandscape #openyourdoors to #naturesbeauty

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“𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩—𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘺 𝘺𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘨𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘰𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬. 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘰𝘺𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦—𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬.⁣
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𝘖𝘰𝘱𝘴! 𝘎𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘢 𝘨𝘰. “𝘔𝘺” 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘨𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯. 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴. :)”⁣
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Thanks Marilyn! We all had a lot of fun working with you, too!⁣
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And thanks to my team for the laughter-filled days of collaboration!⁣
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#spiralhabitatgarden⁣
⁣#habitatgarden #gardenfountain #goldfinches #lifenotlawn #habitatgarden #pollinatorgarden #birdgarden #outdoorliving #projectcomplete #greatclient #teamwork #collaboration #landscaperenovation #readytogrow #fallplanting #landscapedesign made in @morpholio #morpholiotrace #openyourdoors to #naturesbeauty

⁣ The light and colors and bird chatter were abs

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The light and colors and bird chatter were absolutely delicious yesterday morning in Alida’s garden. ⁣
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After nearly five years of growth despite the heaviest deer pressure I’ve encountered, this lawn-to-habitat conversion is singing.⁣
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The salal really took hold this year. It often takes a bit to get going. Same slow success story for the creeping Oregon grape. These, along with evergreen huckleberry are reliably deer resistant native shrubs—except for the few broken branches from the relentless rutting of bucks.⁣
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In the perennial layer, native Douglas Iris with its self-seeding companion meadowfoam continues to expand and bloom better every year.⁣
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Stalwart perennials like echinacea, coreopsis, and Jerusalem sage are thriving.⁣
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But the native dense sedge (Carex densa) had to go. Like another native sedge (Carex praegracilis) I tried in a mixed planting previously, it was not companionable with the other perennials—too aggressive and smothering.⁣
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The midwestern garden obsession with sedges doesn’t translate to our region. I’m over it. ⁣
I’ll stick with clumping grasses in my planting plans like fescue and deschampsia instead.⁣
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#livinggreengarden⁣ #fallcolor #lifenotlawn #frontyardlandscaping #deerresistant #firewise #pnwgarden #pnwnatives #oregonativeplants #sedges #mahoniacharity #japanesemaple #landscapedesign #plantingdesign #gardendesign #openyourdoors to #naturesbeauty
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⁣ Not so spooky with bright sunshine and blossom

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Not so spooky with bright sunshine and blossoms, but the winds of something darker and pumpkin spiced are on the air.⁣
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Happy Halloween from Ami’s garden, friends!⁣
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Keep these stalwart plants in mind if you’re looking for something to mark the season in your garden next year:⁣
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𝘙𝘶𝘥𝘣𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘢 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘨𝘪𝘥𝘢 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘨𝘪𝘥𝘢—so much better than the over-used ‘Goldsturm’, which finished flowering weeks ago. Goldfinches are starting to descend for the seed feast of these soon-to-be witch-hat seedheads;⁣
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𝘈𝘳𝘣𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘦𝘥𝘰 ‘compacta’, native to the Mediterranean including Portugal and Spain where Ami just visited. This strawberry bush hedge was busy with bees and flower flies grabbing some nectar while the sun shone today;⁣
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also 𝘗𝘦𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘵𝘶𝘮 ‘Hameln’ all fuzzy and cute with the nonstop blue of 𝘎𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘶𝘮 ‘Rozanne’— a favorite combo;⁣
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and 𝘍𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢 ‘Mt. Airy’ for the rainbow foliage win!⁣
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#openairlivingroomgarden #halloweenblooms #fallblooms #rudbeckiafulgidafulgida #blackeyedsusan #arbutusunedocompacta #strawberrybush #pollinatorgarden #pennisetumhameln #geraniumrozanne #fothergillamtairy #openyourdoors to #naturesbeauty

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