The Outdoor Plan *New!*

Folks, I've been meaning to share with you that we have a plan for the outdoor space. Yes, a plan! Hurrah!

Let's back up. Last spring we met with a few landscape architects to hear some ideas and collect some bids, but then we did nothing. So what happened? (It's not you, it's us.) We didn't know how much it would cost. The bids scared us. We didn't set aside money in our budget for a landscape architect, though we completely value both the service and a well designed space. Next time we will budget for this.

What to do now? So, after a summer of evaluation, we kind of bargained with some local talent, and asked lovely Teya from Pacific Garden Design if she'd come out to our place for a few hours and just talk us though some ideas and sketch up a rough plan on the spot.

Looking back, let me tell you, it was an intense 3 hours.  Throughout the appointment it became clear just how much work was ahead of us. This left us both dizzy ("move all the aspens." etc.). The plan, though? It's great.

It incorporates two features which I'm excited to share with you.  The first idea is all about using the excess rock we have on the property by utilizing gabion walls. I'm sure you've seen them around.  They are like caged rocked structures.  Here are some examples.

They function as both structural elements as well as a controlled and decorative way to use all the rock we have laying around. Of course, we have to build these complicated structures out of cattle fencing, which may or may not happen this weekend.

The other feature in our plan that I'm pretty excited about is a vertical garden. Remember that large concrete retaining wall we have out there? Well, it's getting a garden.  Here are some cool pictures of what that can look like.

Do you see the potential? A vertical garden should really break up that stark concrete wall and make it feel more alive and soft.  I really like how these examples used multiple panels, like each has its' own canvas. It's like outdoor art for our concrete wall. 

So, the outdoor plan involves all of that fun stuff, and it also incorporates materials that are budget friendly, which we can execute ourselves. (Teya is a smart designer, people!) We are going to start working on portions of the plan this fall, which will include building gabions and moving trees. 

Phew!

(images linked to sources.)