The owners of this large backyard lot had recently moved back to the US from a long stint abroad in Italy. Wanting to have some of the comforts of their former home, the planting plan relied heavily on herbs, fruit, and drought tolerant shrubs from the Mediterranean region. And of course, what is an Italian garden without plenty of room to grow tomatoes? Custom designed and built cedar raised beds allow for plenty of space for Robyn, a food blogger and cookbook author to grow ingredients and play in the kitchen, with built-in benches to double the edible garden as a social area.

Lots of COLOR was another design objective, especially outside photographer Dave's studio window, achieved by a matrix-style meadow planting in the influence of Dutch designer, Piet Oudolf. Riots of color burst forth throughout the seasons, starting with a river of spring bulbs and ending with tall and ethereal late season flowers mixed with tall Stipa gigantea grasses whose texture add a structural element to the bare winter garden. Many of the selected plants will reseed, forming a denser meadow over time, and an unfolding garden to observe with curiosity.

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While plenty of native wildflowers and groundcovers are strewn throughout the garden to provide local pollinator support and to ground the garden in the Pacific Northwest, the front garden (pictures coming soon) is planted with 90% natives in a forested understory from the property's historic registered trees.

Reed Neighborhood, SE Portland