Plant Spotlight: Thuja plicata

What It Is

Thuja plicata, the western red cedar, is an evergreen conifer native to the Pacific Northwest. In Washington, it grows mainly on the wetter west side of the state, but it also grows throughout North Idaho. In fact, North Idaho is home to a huge western red cedar thought to be the largest tree east of the Cascade-Sierra Crest. Although it can reach giant proportions in the wild, there are many nursery cultivars available with more restrained growth, and Thuja plicata is often included in the arborvitae group. Cedar is well known for its iconic scent, as well as its natural insect repellent and rot-resistant qualities, making it a popular choice of wood for building outdoors.

Why to Grow It

The flat, lacy needles of Thuja plicata provide year-round beauty, as well as excellent screening. It is a great conifer for partly shady spaces, and the fragrant foliage is a classic holiday decoration. If the tree is limbed up as it matures, it maintains its interest with shaggy red bark that weathers to gray. Western red cedar’s dense foliage also provides excellent shelter for songbirds and wildlife in the winter months.

Where to Put It

Western red cedar works well as a single specimen tree in the landscape, but its dense structure also makes it an excellent hedge. While it thrives in full sun in its native range, a little bit of shade is helpful for the hot, dry summers we get in the Spokane region, and it does well into partial shade. Providing it with plenty of water is also important here, especially for plants in full sun, and Thuja plicata can even tolerate wet, boggy soils.

How to Incorporate Art in Your Landscape

Incorporating art into your landscape can elevate it to another level, but it can be hard to figure out how to bring art in without it feeling like an afterthought. If you’re in need of inspiration, here are six ways to include art in a thoughtful manner.

Lead the Eye

Art is a great focal point in the garden. A piece of art draws the viewer toward itself, which creates a flow through the landscape. Whether it’s a major statement that defines a space or a smaller piece that teases the viewer from afar, art can be used to lead the eye and direct people through a landscape.

This partially hidden pagoda sculpture invites visitors in to discover the landscape.

Create a Theme

Art can also be used to establish and strengthen a theme throughout the landscape. It can unite disparate elements or echo similar ones. A bold piece of art can dictate the style of a whole space. Meanwhile, on constrained properties where different parts of the landscape are separated from each other, repeated artworks can create a rhythm among themselves and connect those spaces.

This standing rock sculpture echoes the use of natural materials throughout the landscape.

Add Whimsy

At its most basic, garden art brings personality into the garden. It can be an opportunity to showcase a durable collection, or just to make wishful thinking into reality. You might never get a blue heron drinking from your water feature, but with a piece of art you can have one year-round. You won’t see a cactus or agave surviving the Inland Northwest winter, but a sculpture has no problem. Garden art can simply be a fun expression of your whims.

Steel barrel cactus sculptures bring a touch of the Southwest into this Spokane backyard.

Include the Old

Landscapes can grow stale or simply not meet your needs. In the event of a landscape makeover, elements from the old landscape can be incorporated as art in the new landscape. If you’re decommissioning a fountain, consider adding some drainage holes and turning it into a planter. Salvaged bricks can be turned into a decorative patio inlay, or an old gate could become a trellis. Get creative to preserve the history of your site while adapting it to fit your lifestyle.

This metal jungle gym was original to the house; the homeowners preserved it as a sculptural centerpiece.

Inject Color

Art can provide forms and colors that no plant can match. It offers predictable, year-round interest with little to no care. Glass sculptures and gazing balls, glazed ceramic urns and bird baths, and powder-coated metal trellises and screens are just a few options for bright, cheerful color that can keep your winter garden from feeling boring while being just as dynamic in the growing season.

These colorful glass sculptures anchor the planting bed year-round.

Give it a Job

Art doesn’t have to be an aside in the garden; it can be a functional part of the landscape. If you’re putting in a fence, it could feature a decorative pattern. Your bird feeder could hang from a metal sculpture instead of a simple hook. Upgrade your flower pots to statement-making planters, or switch out your coir door mat for something more fun. If it’s something you look at or use regularly, make sure it brings you joy at the same time.

This metal garden gate was commissioned from a local artist and matches a larger gate at the driveway entrance.

If you’re looking to design your landscape and don’t know where to start, get in touch with us at Pacific Garden Design to talk about your project!

Gravel Options for Patios and Paths

Gravel is a great, low-impact material for patios and pathways. It is less expensive than solid materials like concrete, pavers, or flagstone; is quick to install; and has many environmental benefits over solid surfaces. The type of gravel used affects the function of the space, but it can also impact the overall aesthetic. A speckled gray gravel can evoke a zen garden feel, golden decomposed granite conjures Tuscan themes, and dark lava rock harkens back to mid-century landscapes. Here’s an overview of a few gravel options to consider for a gravel path or patio.

Pea Gravel

Pea gravel is a popular material because it is inexpensive and comes in a variety of colors and sizes. It’s composed of rounded pebbles, so it is comfortable for pets or bare feet to walk across. Because of its round shape, however, pea gravel can’t be compacted into a smooth surface. Individual pebbles simply shift against one another when force is applied, like plastic balls in a ball pit. Just as a child jumping into a ball pit will plunge down beneath the surface, your feet, furniture legs, and trash can wheels will similarly displace pea gravel as they press down. This makes pea gravel a poor choice for patios, where it will impede the movement of people and furniture, and a high maintenance choice for paths, where it will require frequent smoothing and cleanup of stray pebbles that have been inadvertently flung out of place.

Basalt Chip

Basalt is a dark, volcanic rock that is plentiful across the Inland Northwest, thanks to lava flows that blanketed the region a few million years ago, making it a fairly affordable choice in the region today. The rock is fairly uniform in color, which makes it ideal for understated use in the landscape. Basalt comes in many sizes, from cobbles several inches across to small gravel of less than half an inch. Because of the texture of the rock, chipped basalt breaks into jagged, angular pieces. While this can be uncomfortable on bare feet, it does mean that the edges of the gravel pieces will lock together when compacted. This allows you to create a much stronger surface than pea gravel, as the individual chips do not shift and travel in the same way as round pebbles. Smaller-sized basalt chip will create a smoother, flatter patio, but the smaller pieces can also be more painful to step on.

Small basalt chip creates a stable patio surface, but it can be uncomfortable on bare feet.

Crushed Granite

Like basalt, granite is a volcanic rock that is fairly common throughout the Spokane/Coeur D’Alene region. Its texture is very different, however, with large crystals of different colored minerals. In addition to giving crushed granite a very different look than basalt chip, those large crystals provide a coarse network of joints at which the granite breaks apart when crushed. This results in gravel with fewer sharp edges, and those edges that remain wear down more easily than basalt would. Even a granite pebble without sharp edges will have many bumps and ridges that allow it to lock against surrounding pebbles when compacted, making it a very good choice for gravel pathways and patios. In our area, it is usually close to basalt in price, but that will vary across the country depending on local supply.

A flagstone path through crushed granite forms a comfortable walkway for bare feet and pets.

Decomposed Granite

Decomposed granite offers a compromise between the comfortable feel of pea gravel and the structural integrity of basalt chip or crushed granite. As granite ages, the individual crystals and minerals break apart, forming a material with particles that range from rock dust to very small rounded pebbles that won’t stab a bare foot or paw. A decomposed granite patio or pathway is usually more expensive than using a similar crushed granite, but the small and varied particles compact down to a very strong and stable surface, comparable to a solid product. This means that decomposed granite has much less maintenance than other gravel products, while also being much more comfortable to walk on and use as a patio.

While all gravel patio and path options are more affordable and offer environmental benefits over solid products like concrete or pavers, they counter that somewhat with their increased maintenance. The level of maintenance will certainly vary by material and application, but in general a more expensive material like decomposed granite will need much less repair and replenishing than a material like pea gravel. Each person’s needs and budget will dictate which type of gravel patio is appropriate for their landscape. If you think a gravel patio might be a good choice for your landscape, contact us to look at your options.

Plant Spotlight: Ilex x meserveae

What It Is

Commonly called blue holly, Ilex x meserveae is a group of hybrid hollies originally bred by Kathleen Meserve of New York after World War II to feature showy foliage and berries while maintaining cold-hardiness for Northeast winters. Size varies depending on variety, but generally ranges between 6’-12’ high and wide.

Why to Grow It

When most of the landscape is dull and dormant in the winter, Ilex x meserveae puts on a show with its glossy leaves and clusters of red berries. The berries provide winter food for birds, adding to the interest.

Where to Put It

Ilex x meserveae needs full sun to part shade to thrive. It will mature to a large shrub, so take advantage of its evergreen foliage and showy berries to screen a boring wall or fence. It also works well as an evergreen hedge. Ilex x meserveae requires a medium amount of water and will need artificial irrigation in the Spokane/Coeur D’Alene climate during the summer.

Like all hollies, a male and female plant are each necessary for the female plant to produce berries. One male plant can pollinate several female plants, but it’s important to ensure that the varieties flower at the same time. Most cultivars, however, come with a male and female form that have been bred so that their bloom times align. The Berri-Magic line even includes a male and female plant in each container to ensure berry production.

Glossy evergreen leaves and red berries make this holly a winter showpiece.

Edging Part 2: Surface-Laid Products

In our previous post, we looked at three types of edging that are all installed as long strips anchored into a trench. This time we’ll look at a few options that provide a different look and functionality than the previous choices, all laid on the surface rather than buried. As with most things, the edging product that fits with one landscape design could be totally out of place or unworkable in another, so considering your needs and the attributes of each option is crucial.

Concrete Edging

Concrete edging, or curbing as it is sometimes called, is a popular choice in Spokane and Coeur D’Alene landscapes because it is well suited for our hilly geography. Concrete edging is formed in place, so the wet mix will conform to any terrain and bend around curves. Another reason for its popularity is the ease with which you can operate a mower around it. The wide, smooth surface of the concrete edging allows mower wheels to ride over the top, eliminating the need for string trimming or edging.

As with any concrete, however, the finished product is a solid mass. It can’t be moved in a redesign and can crack as the ground settles. Additionally, the wide, gray strips call attention to themselves and can easily overwhelm the landscape in small spaces. While the concrete can be tinted and stamped with a pattern to better blend into the landscape, concrete itself is already expensive. Add in the specialized equipment used to form the curb, pigment to tint the concrete, and labor to stamp a pattern, and concrete edging usually turns out to be a pricey option.

Paver and Stone Edging

Rather than using long, continuous strips of material, there is also the option to use concrete or natural stone pavers, cobbles, or similar objects to form the edging. The small segments can be easily placed around tight curves or straight lines on any terrain. The choice of product, however, can be customized to fit the character of the space, unlike any other edging option. Whether it’s weathered cobblestones, traditional bricks, or concrete pavers, the edging can truly be integrated into the design of the landscape. A rocky site can even make use of the rocks unearthed in construction for a cost-effective approach that grounds the landscape in its setting.

Native stone harvested during the landscape construction can be unsuitable around lawns.

While paver and stone edging can be a unique look, it does require a lot of labor to achieve, which will account for a large part of the cost. Depending on the exact material, it may also be necessary to edge or line trim around the perimeter of the lawn after mowing. Some materials, such as smaller found rock, may be unsuitable for using around lawn areas and best used only to contain gravel paths and patios.

No Edging

Finally, there’s the option to have no edging at all. While it certainly takes more maintenance to achieve a clean look, omitting edging between landscape bed and lawn can still result in a great finished landscape. It works well on sloping sites that have few edging options available, in relaxed cottage gardens, in small yards with little edge to maintain, and in many other situations.

Omitting edging can be a good solution for hilly landscapes if maintained well.

If that’s not enough information to help you make a decision, get in touch with us at Pacific Garden Design and we can help you design the landscape you’re looking for.