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With Seattle being hilly, yard space is often sculpted around unusual terrain. We see this fairly often, and find many owners that are at a loss on how to take full advantage of these uneven spaces. As well as being difficult to envision, the spaces are generally hard to tame, manage, or manipulate into something worth enjoying. Stone Soup Gardens loves these kinds of challenges. Whether you have a steep slope, a soggy pit, or a hilly blackberry divide, we can turn your unused space into something for you and your family to enjoy. We can create a functional area for growing edible plants, or create a level retreat for those sunny spring and summer days. One of our clients in Columbia City has just such a space. While the yard area itself is fairly level, it is raised up sharply on a hill overlooking the street, and the backyard was a bramble patch. Seeing the unused potential of the area, our client contacted us to see what we could do. Hence, the great berry wall came into play. The great berry wall was built using downed timber from a local contact. We had the majority of the logs cut to a specific size, while others we trimmed to create easy step access in and out of the raised bed. This allows for ease of picking as the berries come into season, as well as for watering and pruning once summer and fall roll around. We planted the raised bed out with different types of raspberries, strawberries, gumi berries, lingon berries, thimbleberry, chilean guava, lavender, and sage, as well as espalier apples and pears, chives, and red flowering currant in other parts of the yard. This means that there will be a good selection of plants that stay green throughout the year, as well as those that will shed their leaves during the winter. It also creates a nice color palette for the eyes, as well as flavors for the mouth! For a bit of flare, we also included a bike wheel arbor along the front wall of the house, which was a great way to add interest, while providing a surface for things to climb on. We installed a laundry to landscape greywater system in the front yard which will water the espalier trees and herbs, and in the backyard we installed a cistern to side sewer which will provide water for the raised bed in the backyard. Take a look at the project beforehand: And here it is now: Walk-Up Sale Saturday March 11, 2017 9 AM- 3 PM Location: King Conservation District (west parking lot) 1107 SW Grady Way Renton, WA 98057 Payment: Cash, Visa, Mastercard (sorry no checks) Plants Available for Purchase: http://kingcd.org/programs-native-walk-up-sale.htm 
Last year one of our raingarden installations was featured in a small spot with Ciscoe (of Gardening with Ciscoe) and King 5 for Make a Difference Day 2016. We are so proud! Check out more on the construction of this raingarden HERE.
The design for this garden was by the wonderful Jaqueline Cramer of Earth Care by Design Collaborators. Way to go, team! As the weather gradually warms, and the crocuses pop, our crew is busily maneuvering through the sometimes muddy, sometimes snowy world of landscaping. It's been nonstop around here as we work to finish off projects and begin new ones. Here is a peak at what we've been up to lately: Installing a backyard deck and brick paver patio Building a raised faswall bed, a pocket fence, and installing plants Building a Catio   Recently we've done a few client check-ins for maintenance and boy are things looking good! Fall is a wonderful time for raingardens. They certainly do flourish with all the wet. Here is a little peak at one of our long-time clients' garden spaces. The place looks great! Interested in seeing what the space looked like before? Check out here, here, and here.
In 2014, our clients asked us to do a compete renovation on their backyard. We installed a stone patio, hugelculture beds, mushroom beds, and did a general clean up of the yard. This year, they asked to come back and do some sprucing in the front yard. While the yard is small, they've done a lovely job creating more interest in the front with the recent painting of the house.
To create more visual interest, we created a nice stone wall along both sides of the driveway. We added some new edibles such as huckleberry, blueberry, lingonberries, and mulberries. Not to mention artichokes, wild ginger, an Italian plum, lavender, echinacea, and more. This layering of plants will be a nice touch of color, and will also tie in nicely with the new house color. To finish, we added a new gate to the backyard and put in the trough for containing those wily herbs. A fun little project, to be sure.
To give a bit shade to the front porch, we added a cute little arbor and put in some evergreen huckleberry, ceanothus, and a daphne to create a layered color palette that will compliment the home. Stay tuned to watch how this little garden grows! We are embracing the digital age here at Stone Soup Gardens with our mighty new Instagram Account. Come on over and follow us and see what we are up to. Photos from life, love, landscaping, hardscaping, permaculture, events, and more! @stonesoupgardens   Here is a fun one! We just completed this excellent addition to a chain link fence. We are using recycled bike wheel frames to create an arbor of sorts that will provide a bit more privacy between the neighbors' yards. It also adds an element of whimsy to an otherwise adorable little backyard garden. The owners love to entertain and have cocktail parties, and this bike wheel fence will be a definite conversation piece! We also retooled the stairs leading up into the garage and back garden area. We are still working on a few last minute touches, but it is coming together nicely! Every month Stone Soupers gather together to do something awesome as an educational outreach day. We've visited an earthship, attended a permaculture conference, toured the Bullitt Center, kayaked to pull trash out of the Puget Sound, and most recently, went for a hike on the Gold Creek Trail near Snoqualmie Pass. It was great to have the whole family there and to be able to share our collective knowledge of native vegetation, fungi, interesting animal facts, and to catch up with each other outside of the usual work day. Here's a look at our family outing. |
This is how Stone Soup Gardens rolls - check out our blog for current, upcoming, and past projects, events, and other super cool stuff worth mentioning.
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