Landscape and garden design in Logan, Utah

Who this is for

Garden design and planting is for anyone starting a bed from scratch or starting over. That might be a new house with bare ground around it, an old bed full of plants that never did well, or a family that wants to grow its own vegetables.

It also suits shared spaces, like the park where we laid out and planted a garden labyrinth. Large or small, the questions are the same: what will grow well here, and how much care will it need?

How a design starts

It starts with a walk around the yard, with you. We note which parts get full sun, which get morning sun only and which sit in shade for most of the day, because a plant in the wrong light never does well. We look at how the ground drains, what the soil is like and where the water comes from, since a yard on canal water plants differently from one on a drip system.

Then we ask what you want from the space. A bed that is mostly for looking at is a different plan from a bed for cutting flowers, a border that hides a fence, or ground for vegetables. We talk through how much care you want to give it. A garden that needs weekly work suits some people and not others, and the plan should fit you.

From there you get a plan and a written price. Beds are laid out with sizes and spacing in mind, so the garden looks right when the plants are full grown and not only the day they go in.

To begin, call, text or send the quote form with a note on the area and what you're picturing. The quote is free and there is nothing to sign. Once you agree to the plan, we prepare the ground first, working in compost and amendments where the soil needs them. Then the plants go in and get mulched, and everything left over is hauled away.

Plants that suit Cache Valley

Winters here are cold and long, which leaves a short growing season, and the plants we choose have to finish their year inside it. Hardy perennials, shrubs and trees carry a garden from year to year, and annuals fill the gaps.

Which plants suit alkaline soil is a long list. Many natives and hardy ornamentals handle it without complaint, while plants that demand acid soil, such as blueberries, rhododendrons and many azaleas, will yellow however much they are fed. We pick from the first list, and where you really want a plant from the second, we say what it would take.

Much of the valley's soil is heavy with clay as well. Clay holds water and packs down hard, which is why beds here are prepared before anything is planted. Choosing the right plant for the spot does more for a garden than anything done after it is in the ground, and we judge a planting by how it is doing five years on.

Mature size matters as much as hardiness. A shrub that grows to eight feet doesn't belong two feet from a window. Planting at the right distance now saves cutting back later.

Raised beds and vegetable gardens

Raised beds warm earlier in spring and drain well, which suits a short season, and they put the soil at a height that is easier on your back. They are filled with good soil and compost, so plants start in loose, fertile ground whatever is under the lawn. The raised bed in the first photo on this page is one we built and planted.

A conventional vegetable garden is tilled, amended and set out in rows, as in the photo of freshly tilled rows. Which crops go in when depends on the weather. Cool-season crops such as peas, lettuce and spinach can go in early. Tomatoes, peppers, squash and beans wait for the last frost to pass, and often until the soil has warmed.

Tell us what you like to eat and how much sun the spot gets. The plan follows from those two answers.

Pollinator and flower beds

A pollinator bed is planted so that something is in flower from spring to the first frost, which keeps bees and other insects fed all season. The photo of the long raised bed with young flowering plants shows one newly planted.

For flower beds in general, we group plants that like the same conditions, put the tall ones at the back or the middle and the low ones at the edge, and repeat a few plants through the bed so it looks planned and not scattered.

Larger plantings

A design doesn't have to be a backyard. One of our projects is a circular garden labyrinth, laid out in stone and plantings in a Cache Valley park, which is in the photos here. Larger plantings use the same method as a small bed: the site, the soil, the water and what will last.

We don't pour concrete or build retaining walls. If your plan needs a patio, a wall or paving, that part goes to a hardscaping company, and we plant around it.

When to plant in Cache Valley

Logan sits at about 4,500 feet. The last spring frost usually comes around the middle of May, and the first hard frost usually arrives in late September or early October. That is a short window, so timing matters.

Most flowers and vegetables go in once the danger of frost has passed. Trees, shrubs and perennials also do well planted in early fall, while the soil is still warm and the air has cooled, which gives their roots a few weeks to settle before winter. Anything planted in mid-summer needs extra water through the hottest weeks.

Planting well, and the first two summers

A plant goes in no deeper than it grew in its pot, with the root flare at the soil line. Planting too deep is among the most common reasons trees and shrubs fail in a way no watering fixes. The hole is wide, not deep, and the soil is firmed gently, then watered in and mulched.

The first two summers decide whether a plant takes. Roots are still reaching out, so new plants need deep, regular watering through dry weather while established ones do not. Most plants settle in after one summer, and trees and larger shrubs need the extra care for two. A layer of mulch holds the moisture in.

We'll tell you how often each new planting needs watering, and what to look for when it is thirsty.

Gardens we've planted

Beyond the photos on this page, the gallery shows a front bed we cleared down to bare soil and rebuilt with young trees and new plants among boulders.

Where we work

We design and plant gardens in Logan and the towns around it across Cache Valley. A new planting does best with good soil under it and a little care after, so these pages go together.