Blog
Trending Now: Paver Patios
As you spend more time outside in your yard enjoying warm days, are you finding your patio is looking worn out? You’re not alone. Spring and summer Landscape East & West regularly takes calls from homeowners who are ready to change their landscape and, right now, they want paver patios. Let’s explore why this trend is catching on in all the best yards around town.
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Take Time to Inspect Your Irrigation System
Every year around this time we have an unseasonable, and unfortunately short, bout of summer weather. One week we’re cranking up our thermostats, and the next week the AC is on. While this often prompts buds to burst, and bits of green to pop through the soil, it isn’t time to worry about watering yet. Even a week or two of warm and dry air is not reason enough to turn on the irrigation system. However, this taste of summer is a good reminder that now is the time to ensure your irrigation system is in working order for when the summer season finally does arrive.
At Landscape East & West, we’re happy to visit your home or business to conduct a spring tune-up on your irrigation system. Whether you call us or want to tackle the job of inspecting and repairing yourself, here’s what we recommend to make sure your irrigation system is in good working order and ready to flow into summer:
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Outdoor Lighting for Security and Aesthetics
The term landscaping often brings to mind plants, grass, or structures like arbors, but an essential ingredient to landscape design is outdoor lighting. When you invest your time and resources to beautify and secure your yard you should be able to enjoy it, and see what’s in it, whether day or night.
The landscape designers at Landscape East & West carefully select and position outdoor lighting fixtures to both add to the aesthetics of your yard and enhance the security of your home. There are strategies we use to get the most out of your outdoor lighting.
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Retaining Walls Done Right
The Pacific Northwest has a rugged landscape. To the experts at Landscape East & West, that means mountains and valleys, forests, and lots of rocks. While altering terrain is what gives this area interest and beauty, it can also bring challenges when creating landscapes.
Here, we tend to rely a lot on retaining walls to level off sloping yards to make them usable spaces. But there is a right way and a wrong way to install a retaining wall and too often in our travels we see the results of those incorrectly installed. Let’s take a look at what to consider to ensure a retaining wall in your yard stands the test of time.
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Choosing a Covered Structure for Beauty and Functionality
Landscaping professionals harness human creativity to seamlessly integrate manmade structures with the natural environment, creating a functional and enjoyable space. Here in the Pacific Northwest, that often means adding a covered structure that offers protection from our abundance of rain. At Landscape East & West, we are experts at designing practical covered shelters that add a layer of functionality while also adding to the charm of area landscapes.
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Transform Your Winter Landscape From Mudpit to Magnificent
Flying into the Portland International Airport this time of year, you’ll see how lush and beautiful our state is, with healthy forests and huge swaths of bright green grass. But upon closer inspection from the ground, those lovely lawns can look downright soggy and muddy. This time of year is when Oregonians begin to question just how much rain their lawn can absorb before they’re left with an unwanted swimming hole right in their own backyard.
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The Benefits of Hiring a Landscape Designer
It may be tempting to think that as a homeowner, you know your yard best and can put together the perfect landscape that meets your needs and looks beautiful. We would like to politely disagree. The award-winning landscape design experts at Landscape East & West have spent decades studying sound design principles and producing beautiful outdoor spaces throughout the greater Portland metro area. We don’t guess and we don’t take chances. When we create a design, you can be assured a yard that is functional, eye-catching, and built to last.
Let’s explore exactly what a landscape designer brings to a project.
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The Pros and Cons of a Pondless Water Features
Water features can be a beautiful addition to any landscape offering the soothing sound of trickling water while adding aesthetic appeal. There are many types of water features to choose from but they generally fall into two basic groupings: those with a pond and those that are pondless. No matter what type of water feature you choose, Landscape East & West can design and install it, but here we’re going to look at the pros and cons of choosing a pondless water feature.
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10 Tips to Match your New Landscape to your Budget
At Landscape East & West, we always applaud you for dreaming of a beautiful new outdoor space for your home. Spending time outdoors is good for your physical and mental well-being, and who doesn’t like some fresh air no matter what time of year? But before your dreams get too big, we recommend creating a budget to ensure your finances match your new landscape desires.
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Landscape Maintenance for a Beautiful Spring
You may not be ready to start thinking about colder and wetter weather, but now is the time to winterize your plants for the coming months. The Pacific Northwest mostly avoids the harshest winter weather, but to keep your landscape healthy it needs to be protected. Our team at Landscape East & West is already out pruning, thinning, and mulching so our clients’ yards will be ready for the next spring bloom.
Here’s the landscape maintenance we recommend homeowners focus on to keep plants happy and healthy through wind, rain, snow, and ice.
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