Ladd’s Addition Garden

These homeowners have lived in Portland’s Ladd’s Addition neighborhood for many years in a large, beautiful home.  In thinking about ways they plan to utilize their house, and about how they want to live in the coming years now that they kids are grown, they decided to build a wonderful 2-story ADU in their back yard.  The structure turned out beautifully, and they rent it via AirBnb, with an eye towards living in it one day and renting out the main house.

Their well-loved back garden was destroyed in the construction process, and they wanted to not only recreate a space they both enjoy, but also figure out how to create two distinct, private spaces — one for the main house, and one for the ADU — without them feeling completely closed off from each other.

They brought me on just as construction was completing to get things underway with the garden structure & hardscaping, and while they still had time to get plants in the ground in the Spring once the hardscaping was in place.

They wanted a low-maintenance planting plan, with year-round interest, and to include some of their favorite plants and a water feature.  They already had some bamboo ready-to-go in containers that they wanted to use, but the rest of the planting plan was put in place with the goal of having a beautiful garden immediately, and also as it matured without having to make many changes.

I designed the garden to include a secluded area adjacent to the main house for the homeowners to enjoy, including a large patio for entertaining.  The ADU garden was designed to be enjoyed from a smaller dining patio outside the main floor ADU french doors.  A new, tall privacy fence was built at the back of the property, and the two garden spaces are divided using a combination of freestanding privacy screens and plants in an organic, fluid line to keep the whole space feeling casual.  Stone paths wind through the spaces allowing access to the ADU from the front of the property, and a gate allows the homeowners to easily access the ADU from their own space.  After giving them a bunch of inspiration photos showing various privacy screen options, they commissioned custom steel screens from a local metal-worker, which are a beautiful addition to the garden.

Featured plants include hosta, brunnera, fatsia japonica, ferns, hakonechloa, dicentra, hellebore and fothergilla in the shady areas; and hebe, euphorbia, liatris, clematis, tall sedum, salvia, miscanthus, dwarf shrubs, and various bulbs in the sunny areas.

• Garden Coaching
• Garden Design
• Plant Lists
• Planting Plan
• Space Planning