2019 Landscape Projects - Tetherow

Landscape Projects 2019

2019 was another year of wonderful projects and gorgeous landscape transformations  and I continue to work with incredible clients and contractors.  Following are pictures of some of my projects that got installed this year:

Tetherow Backyard Upgrade Extraordinaire! 

Before: Most of the pre-existing backyard was a slight slope of native grasses.

After: A revamped, upgraded backyard for all sorts of enjoyment!  A clean modern concrete wall contains a lush lawn with native perennials and grasses to soften the transition to the native landscape beyond.  Good Life Landscaping found a stunning Juniper 'Ghost Tree' which creates a gorgeous focal point when viewed from the patio.

 After:  From the northeast corner of the property and the Tetherow Golf Course, the new perennials and grasses will soften the view.  We can also see the landscape boulders creating additional interest and texture, unifying the modern patio/lawn area and the soft native landscape beyond.

   After:  Previously this area was bumpy dirt and grass from the rain and snow melt from the roof-line above.  Now it is a modern and stylish path down into the landscape that will stand up to any rain or snow storms.

  After:  The landscape contractor Good Life Landscaping installed these large boulders as seating surrounding the Desert Stone gravel patio and path area.  The boulders are actually quite comfortable and provide a great somewhat tucked away area for the teenagers to gather.

  After:  The pre-existing patio was already cut at an angle and so we played with those lines to make the new lawn with diagonal lines to keep it fresh and interesting.  The home owners now enjoy a lush, level lawn to further enjoy the outdoors and the gorgeous views from their Tetherow home.

Landscape designed by Carlseng Designs 

Landscape installed by Good Life Landscaping

Tree from the Pleistocene Era - Yellow Cedar 'Aldrich Mountain'

I was researching evergreen trees for a client and came across one I hadn't read about before, the Yellow Cedar 'Aldrich Mountain' or Chamaecyparis Nootkatensis 'Aldrich Mtn'.  I read about it in the current Iseli Nursery catalog and it doesn't have a picture so that is why I've missed it before. 
This tree is normally found in wet coastal climates but there is a small population near John Day in Central Oregon. Back in the Pleistocene era Central Oregon was wet but after the uplift of the Cascade Mountain range this area became the dry side of Oregon.  I love the geologic history of this area!

According to Conifer Country blog by Michael Kauffmann, there is a 26 acre population in the Cedar Grove Botanical Area in the Aldrich Mountains in the Malheur National Forest.  The normal range of Yellow Cedar's is Alaska, British Columbia and into Northern Oregon with a few isolated groves in the Siskiyou Mountains of Northern California (an ecologically diverse environment I need to explore more!)

Michael's blog is an excellent and very informative read, he goes into much more depth and I highly recommend you read it.

Since this tree can survive out near John Day I would like to try it here in Bend, Oregon.  A tree with such an interesting history should be the focal point of a landscape!



Yellow Cedar 'Aldrich Mountains' in a small nursery pot

Trunks of mature Yellow Cedar 'Aldrich Mountains' by Dave Powell USDA Forest Service taken in the Aldrich Mountains of Oregon.

Hardy Native Clematis Vine

A few years ago I was visiting a consultation client out near Alfalfa on a very hot, dry, exposed site.  She wanted to create a more water-wise, low maintenance and beautiful landscape that was deer resistant and was being challenged by the task.  I came up with some really great ideas for her but as we were walking around the landscape I spotted a vine running twenty plus feet around between some trees and an old structure.  We could not identify it at the time but later I learned it was Western White Clematis.  No wonder clematis do so well in Central Oregon!  What a hardy, tough, beautiful, valuable vine!

Western White Clematis or Clematis lingusticifolia in its habitat.  Quite tough and beautiful!

Looks at these beautiful flowers!  Growing with Sagebrush here.

 Look at these gorgeous seed heads!  So much interest and value for one vine!

It is valuable for bees and attracts birds and hummingbirds.
It is a green deciduous vine growing 12-36' and is noted to like well draining moist soil but I found it growing in an area with minimal moisture, I would say it is adaptable but is healthier and more lush with moisture and certainly needs irrigation to get established.
For more information visit Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
Great news!  Our local native plant resource for Central Oregon, Wintercreek Restoration and Native Nursery currently has this plant in stock.  Did you know you can check their availability online?
Wintercreek Nursery - what a great resource!

I am going to get one or two and plant them growing up the stairs to my rear deck, looking forward to trying it out!