Hey everyone. I’m working on a landscaping project for a portion of my backyard and could use some advice and ideas.
I live in western Washington State (south Puget Sound area), and I’m aiming for a natural, woodland-inspired look using low-maintenance native plants. I’d like to create a natural looking path (gravel, flagstones, etc.) and I want to add some privacy screening from the apartments across the street. My house faces west, so the areas pictured get afternoon shade.
If anyone has plant suggestions (especially native shrubs or trees that provide privacy), path material recommendations, or layout ideas, I’d love to hear them. Photos or links to similar projects are also very welcome.
Thanks in advance for your help!
by Treydy
3 Comments
The first photo is facing south towards the apartments I’d like privacy from. The second photo is facing west and shows the side of the house. I’d like the path to lead from the patio to the gate in the second photo.
Rhododendron is the Washington state flower and is a beautiful shrub. It gets big, though, so pick a nice corner spot or use as a statement centerpiece with other native flowers around it.
The gate would be perfect for a native orange trumpet honeysuckle. It isn’t clear whether you have enough sun but I recently planted a couple Pacific wax myrtle as an eventual privacy screen.
I really like the look of flagstones with low-growing plants between them. I just put in a flagstone path in part of the garden as a trial run before expanding it over more of the yard. I am using woodland strawberries in the shade, coastal strawberries in the sun and viola adunca in the mixed sun and shade.
It is a large space. I would start with a zone of your yard so you don’t get overwhelmed and can better learn what works for you and what doesn’t. I would start with the side yard area. Use hoses to lay out the proposed path. I would do a slightly curved path for a woodland feel. If you aren’t ready to commit to a stone path, consider doing a cedar chip path. If you don’t like it, you can just move the bulk of the woodchips and the rest will decompose. I did a cedar chip path in my front yard and I really love it.
For the rest of the yard, I would spend the summer planning so you are ready to make the most of the free leaf mulch, soft soils and stratifying seeds in the fall. I’d get some garden planning books to think about the basics of garden design and get some inspiration.