Edmonds faces the Sound. Salt air reaches the patios, the wind comes off the water, and the soils change as you move up off the beach — sandier near the shore, heavier as the hills rise toward the ferry and the bowl downtown. Salt, wind, and a hill toward the water. The landscaping has to assume all three, or the first winter edits it for you.
Snohomish County · ZIP 98020 · 2020 population 42,690
A yard that can take the weather
Terrace, drained bank, salt-tolerant edge, and a sheltered lawn only if the lot has a sheltered spot. Views stay open by pruning, not by stripping. Irrigation is for establishment, not for a thirsty border on a bluff.
We keep structures modest. The Sound is the feature. A busy landscape between you and the water is usually the wrong design, and we will say so.
The ground in Edmonds
A yard with a view of the water is also a yard in the wind. Screens and plantings have to stand up to salt and to gusts that shred a soft shrub in one winter. Madrone, shore pine, and kinnikinnick already grow on these bluffs for a reason. We use that palette when a client wants the bank to stay put without a weekly watering schedule.
Lower down, salt film builds on pavers and railings, and a pressure-wash is maintenance, not a one-time event. Retaining work on the west-facing slopes is about holding a sandy bank, with drainage behind the wall so the hill does not load up and shove. The older neighborhoods up the hill have more conventional clay and bigger trees, so we do not treat every Edmonds lot like a beach cottage.
How we do the work
Landscaping, the way we mean it, is building the yard: dirt moved, water handled, plants in the ground, bark and edges finished. It is not a mow, and it is not only a patio. When a project is really just a patio or just a drain, we call it that and we price that.
We plant what can live through a wet winter and a dry August without a full-time gardener. The sequence is always the same. Get the water right, set the hard surfaces, then plant. Plants first is how they get buried or stood in a puddle.
What we look at first
- What you want to be able to do in the yard
- The thing that is failing now: water, a slope, a dead lawn, an empty bed
- Trees that stay
- A budget, so we phase instead of half-building everything
Plants we will not specify
Anything that wants a dry summer and no rain in winter, unless you understand it is a gamble. We plant for zone and for the wet. A plant you loved in California can be attempted in a pot. It should not be the backbone of the yard.
Warranty, plainly
We stand behind the build: pitch, drainage, and plants installed correctly. We do not warranty a plant against no water in August, a deer, or a freeze that splits a species we told you was marginal. Establishment watering is your job unless we are contracted to do it.
Phasing
If the whole yard does not fit the budget, we finish a piece that works: the drainage and the door area, for example. An even layer of unfinished everything looks like we left. A finished half looks like a plan. We prefer the second.
More from this crew
- Landscaping across Snohomish County
- Landscape design in Edmonds
- Yard cleanup in Edmonds
- Paver installation in Edmonds
- French drain installation in Edmonds
- Landscaping in Mukilteo
- Landscaping in Lynnwood
- Landscaping in Woodway
Sources for the climate and the water
- USDA plant hardiness map for choosing plants that can take a Snohomish County winter.
- EPA WaterSense on watering less once a lawn or a new planting is established.
- EPA Soak Up the Rain on keeping roof and yard water from becoming someone else’s problem.
