Mukilteo drops toward the ferry and the Sound. Salt reaches the lower streets, and the hills above the terminal shed water down through yards that were cut into the slope. A flat inland detail does not survive on these lots. 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 98275 · 2020 population 21,246
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 Mukilteo
Hillside runoff is the job. A patio with a view is also a patio that can send water at the house if the base and the pitch are wrong. We build the drain before the pavers, and we hold the bank with a wall that has rock or drain tile behind it, not a decorative stack sitting on the sod.
Salt-tolerant natives belong on the exposed edges. Pressure washing is how you get the marine film off a walk and a railing; it comes back, so we treat it as upkeep. Lawns up in Harbour Pointe and over toward Beverly Park sit on flatter ground and behave more like the rest of the county — clay, moss, shade from big trees — and we maintain them that way. The waterfront lots are a different trade: erosion, wind, and a view you do not want to block with a hedge.
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
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.
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.
More from this crew
- Landscaping across the region
- Landscape design in Mukilteo
- Yard cleanup in Mukilteo
- Paver installation in Mukilteo
- French drain installation in Mukilteo
- Landscaping in Everett
- Landscaping in Edmonds
- Landscaping in Mill Creek
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.
