It’s easy to do in you own landscape, even if you live in an urban environment.

What makes the difference between a landscape and a garden retreat, you might ask?

A garden is an area of grounds laid out with flowers, trees, edible and ornamental shrubs, and is for recreation and viewing enjoyment.  It is a place of its own. It is space that offers peace, quiet, privacy, and security. It is a magic you can sense before you even reach your front door. As your hand touches the doorknob, you are gently surrounded by the fragrance of flowering plants that welcome you home. Lush foliage provides a visual delight and you hear the twitter of birds, mingled with the bubbling tones from the water feature that attracts them to your yard. Immediately, the stresses of the day begin to melt away as your retreat beckons you to enter.

Yet, the difference between a landscape and a garden retreat affects more than our senses.

• Modern day stress fills our lives with the conflicts of traffic, the contest of our careers, the consumption of our resources, and the carefulness of our relationships. A garden retreat provides a haven of peace and contentment where we can find room to gather our thoughts and achieve true physical, spiritual, and emotional relaxation.

• On a physical level, caring for your private  retreat can burn calories, build muscle, and strengthen endurance. The psychological benefits range from a total acceptance from your retreat  of who you are, to the intoxicating sweetness and fragrance of the plants that surround you. On a spiritual level, regardless of belief or practice, a garden retreat supports the harmonious relationship between spirit and mind, helping to refocus and sustain the search for inner peace. These retreats also offer a practical side to well being. They are a place to dine, a space for thoughtful conversation, a gift to share with family and friends, and an environment to conduct your daily exercise regimes.

Garden retreats do not need to be completed in a few days, weeks, or even months.

• An organic process that can emerge over time, a garden retreat begins with a vision, a plan, and an initial investment that earns deep rewards in the long run.
  
• Defined by the owner’s personal character, a vision above and beyond an ordinary landscape. A plan that can be drafted to include conceptual ideas that express personal tastes and desires,
  
• This can be implemented in stages that reflect personal needs and available budgets. An on-going feast for the senses, the plants in a garden retreat can take decades to mature.
•  Yet at each stage of growth, they offer grace and beauty and quietly reveal their secrets as they embrace and welcome you home.

• Much of the United States has severe weather at least 40% of the year.  Whether it’s winter freeze from November to May or unbearable heat from April to October, few places are as temperate as the pacific northwest.Along with the temperate temperatures, we also have the benefit of abundant rainfall. 

• No wonder Washington is called the ” Evergreen State” because of it’s year round beauty.

• Our soils have much diversity in some areas, but most of the land has been left with heavy clay.  Scientists attribute this fact to the gigantic glaciers that dominated the pacific northwest many thousands of years ago,  These glaciers pulverized our native soil to clay leaving a heavy soil that can be difficult to nurture plants year round.

• Since the 1800′s, nurseries in the pacific northwest have been collecting and hybridizing plant varieties that will thrive in our area.The largest group of these nurseries (mostly wholesale) are in the Willamette Valley southeast of Portland.  A large community of nurserymen and horticulturists have effectively offered trees and plants throughout the United States.

• Much of what we enjoy in our landscapes is the result of a temperate region, soils that have been enriched and plant varieties that have been collected and hybridized.  Our gardens offer great opportunities for us to enjoy year around beauty, flora, fragrance and inspiration.

Here are some basic principles that will help you  enjoy your garden year around:

1.      Take advantage of your properties’ natural features.

Some are fortunate enough to own a property with a year round view of mountains, rivers, interesting trees or just a territorial view. Others are more concerned about screening an undesirable view.  Some properties may have desirable natural features such as a stream or mature specimen tree.  Sometimes a property may seem that nothing is a good natural feature, but you can always find something naturally good about your property, even if it’s only the sun or shade exposure.   Remember as we look for the good, the bad and the ugly, we must always emphasize the good by the way we layout our garden.

2.      Use hard surfaces, retaining walls, and structures that seem appropriate and natural in your yard.

You may have heard the saying, “function before form”.  Everything in your garden should have a purpose.  If your landscaping is not serving your purpose , then changes are in order.  Many times these changes include a larger patio, a new walkway, leveling an area in order for it to be usable year round.  The best way to enhance your garden with these elements, is to think through these changes so they will seem natural and appropriate for your property.  Some examples include a flagstone patio by a natural waterfall or stream, a gazebo in a flowering meadow, or a gravel path in a  forested part of your property.

3. Install an automatic low volume watering system.

In southwest Washington, we have too much rain in the winter and spring and not enough in the summer.  Our climate dictates we can’t control the amount of water our plants get  in the winter and spring (but we can control how well our soil drains).  Our busy lives dictate that we won’t control the amount of water our garden gets in the summer.  That is why we need an automatic low volume watering system to give our plants the right amount of water: too much and they suffer…too little and they die.  Automatic low volume watering systems can deliver just the right amount of water our garden needs. Even though an irrigation system is not needed year round, it is essential seasonally.

4. Use natural materials and plants to create enclosure and privacy

Is your property a piece of land or a garden in development?  What’s the difference? A garden is a space defined by it’s elements that possess natural beauty and give people an opportunity to relax and find inspiration.  I believe natural looking elements belong in the garden.  Man made elements without any naturalistic characteristics belong in a museum or the landfill,  but certainly not in your garden! Enclosure can be defined by fences, arbors, pergolas, trees, or plants.  This enclosure should be designed with year round interest.

5. Create a planting mixture of contrast, color, and fragrance

Plants grow in almost every size, shape, color and texture.  The challenge is finding the right plant for the right place.  But, oh no, maybe there are too many to choose from?  Could we rephrase that please, ” finding the right plants (for we have many choices) in the right places (that is, somewhere in your garden).   Deciding on which plants to plant where is both an art and a science.  The art is putting the size, shape, color, texture and fragrance of a plant at the right time of the year so that people will enjoy the seasonal arrangements made naturally.  The science is making sure the plants you choose will thrive in the soil, sunlight exposure and environment you plant them in. Putting contrast in the appropriate time and place will add a dynamic seldom seen in your neighborhood.  It is important to note that there are hundreds of broad leaf evergreen plants that will thrive in you garden.  You don’t have to have a dead looking garden most of the year when you use a high percentage of flowering broad leaf evergreen plants, this will create a year round look.

 6. Use low voltage lighting to illuminate trees and shrubs at night

We live in the northern half of the hemisphere where 6 months out of the year evenings are dark.  These evening hours are the times when the majority of people enjoy relaxation the most.  How can we enjoy our garden if we can’t see it.  In my opinion, lighting the garden should not be done with bright floodlights that blind the eyes and make us squint,  but by lighting the plants in the garden.  As plants are illuminated they reflect natural beauty and light up the area for people to enjoy.  Recently many cost saving developments have been made with LED lights so that we can save energy while we add beauty.  LED lighting systems can be used year round to enhance your landscapes beauty and safety.

7.Create a friendly curb appeal that welcomes all who enter

Curb appeal is about the opposite of your door bell.  Your door bell announces that a visitor has arrived.  Curb appeal welcomes your visitors and announces your home to them.  Your curb appeal can welcome your guest in a special way that home furnishings can’t.  Natural plants make visitors feel welcome and unique plants make people feel special and intrigued.  Beautiful hard-scapes can help direct them to the entrance of your home in style. Year round your curb appeal should say “welcome ” to all who visit.

8.  Use as many low maintenance strategies as possible.

I’ve never had a client ask me for a high maintenance garden, yet.  We all want a garden that gives us what we want, but usually we don’t want to invest a lot of our most valuable asset: time. Here are some helpful ideas that will save time and energy when maintaining your  garden year round:

• Install hard surfaces for people to use
• Install drainage so as to move water away from foundation of house and planting areas
• Install automatic low volume irrigation system: adjust according to plants needs
• Install low voltage lighting including a photocell and timer
• Prepare soil as much as possible by rototilling compost into existing soil
• Consider future growth of plant so it will have enough room to grow naturally
• Plant in location where plant will thrive
• Install a commercial grade weed barrier on top of soil
• Top dress planting beds with hemlock ,  aged fir bark, or compost (2″-3″)
• Use an organic fertilizer in spring and fall
• Consider replacing your lawn with an eco lawn
• Natural pruning has 3 d’s- remove dying , dead or diseased branches.
• Prune flowering shrubs after blooming
• Prune most trees in winter
• Plant with the goal of  80% plant coverage (eventually): If you don’t plant a plant , nature will will plant a weed
• Use annuals and perennials to fill in until permanent plants are mature

Every season has it’s unique expressions and every garden has it’s special features.  I hope you’ll strive to enjoy your garden year round with a 12 month month landscape.