Tag Archives: SEATTLE LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT
Starting a Garden on a Budget Can Be the Best Retirement Activity
By Carrie Spencer, Garden Writer,
for Seattle Landscape Architect Brooks Kolb
carrie@thespencersadventures.net
Seniors with an inordinate amount of free time after retirement are wise to spend it in productive and enriching pursuits. Undoubtedly high on the list of such worthwhile activities is gardening, as its well-known benefits are varied and plenty. Research shows that it’s a hobby that can help you live to be 100, as it offers you regular physical activity and copious amounts of outdoor time. Moreover, it’s wonderful for your mental and emotional well-being.
Your garden also has the potential to yield fresh food that can contribute to keeping your diet a healthy one. The best part is, it’s an activity that’s quite cost-effective and may even save you money in the long run. So, without further ado, let’s take a look at how you can start.
Do Your Research
No doubt, your road to a green thumb starts with due diligence since gardening has a great many nuances you’ll need to learn from the ground up (pun intended). These are largely reliant on where you are geographically speaking, what kind of garden you want to grow, and even how much time and effort you can put into it.
Luckily, there’s plenty of guidance — often for absolutely no cost — that you can find after a quick search online. For instance, if you live in a city, you may want to find out how you can grow a small garden despite space constraints, which, in turn, can give you that much-needed connection to nature. Or, if you’re looking to grow a vegetable patch, research will help you determine which vegetables are best in your area as this will ensure that you don’t waste money on the wrong seeds and time on the wrong methods.
Stock Up on Supplies
Of course, you’ll need to invest in the appropriate garden tools to help you with your initiative. This will run the gamut from trowels to shears, from gloves to wheelbarrows. It also goes without saying that you’ll need to know how each one is used in your gardening efforts.
Now, you can easily buy the gardening tools that you need, even when you’re working on a budget. Ditto with supplies like fertilizer, mulch, etc. When you’re pinching pennies, it’s definitely a great idea to buy gardening implements from retailers like Target, which often has deals on already-discounted items. You can even save more when you take the time to search online for promo codes and cashback offers that you use for additional discounts.
Starting a garden will be hard work and will require an investment, but the fact is, the return on investment you can expect can’t be beaten. At the very least, growing your own food will ultimately translate to savings toward your food budget, while you get to ward off unwanted medical bills as you eat and stay healthy. More than enough reasons to get your garden started, yes?
Are you a Seattle-area homeowner looking for sustainable garden design services? Connect with Seattle Landscape Architect Brooks Kolb! Call 206-324-0858 for a free consultation.
Photo via Pexels.com
These 3 Steps Will Help You Plant and Nurture a Productive Garden
By Carrie Spencer, garden writer, for Seattle Landscape Architect Brooks Kolb
Growing a garden is a healthy way to enjoy the outdoors, feed your family, and support your local ecosystem. But tending to a truly productive garden requires a bit of expertise and plenty of planning. These 12 steps aim to help you nurture your garden into the best growth possible.
1. Outline a Plan Before You Begin
Dropping some seeds into dirt sounds easy. However, for the best results, plan your garden before you start digging.
- Create a sun map to understand your garden’s shade conditions.
- Draft a garden layout to follow while installing plants.
- Favor native plants whenever possible for better results.
- Select hardy companion plant combinations to attract pollinators and sustain healthy soil.
2. Adapt to the Space You Have
Know what you’re working with, whether it’s limited growing space or hundreds of acres. Here’s how to work with the space you have.
- Grow in planters for portability, convenience, and pest protection.
- Choose foods that you can grow in small spaces, including in an apartment.
- If you live in a city, start a community garden.
- Use (or build) a greenhouse for year-round production.
3. Deliver Nutrients for Optimum Growth
Your beginner garden needs lots of TLC. Of course, it also needs nutrient-rich soil, the right amount of water, and plenty of sunlight.
- Test your soil and add nutrients accordingly.
- Learn to compost and fertilize with kitchen scraps.
- Establish a healthy watering schedule for your garden.
No matter your level of expertise, you can learn to grow a garden that is as prolific as it is beautiful. With these simple steps, you can design the perfect garden for your property or apartment. Then, careful tending will bring you vegetables and flowers all season long.
Carrie Spencer created The Spencers Adventures to share her family’s homesteading adventures. On the site, she shares tips on living self-sufficiently, fruit and vegetable gardening, parenting, conservation, and more. She and her wife have 3 kids, 2 dogs, 4 cats, 3 goats, 32 chickens, and a whole bunch of bees at their home in Richmond, Virginia. Their goal to live as self-sufficiently and environmentally-consciously as possible. You can reach her at carrie@thespencersadventures.net.
Photo via Rawpixel
Creating Curb Appeal for House Sale
by Clara Beaufort, for Seattle Landscape Architect Brooks Kolb. Clara is a garden writer and community gardener based in Georgia. She created GardenerGigs to connect local gardeners with those in need of plant care help. You can reach her at clara@gardenergigs.com.
Any good real estate agent will tell you that creating curb appeal is an essential step when you plan on putting your home on the market. Your home’s interior could be completely remodeled with all the best upgrades, but if the exterior is lackluster, many buyers won’t even walk through the door. The good news is that investing in curb appeal does more than just help sell your house faster. It also improves your home’s value, so you can be confident that it’s money well spent.
Brooks Kolb’s Design for a Laurelhurst Front Living Room
Lawn and Garden 101
When you’re ready to invest in improved curb appeal, the hardest part for most homeowners is figuring out what to do first. Think of this step as Lawn and Garden 101 – you’re getting a feel for what it takes to get your yard in tip top shape. The first tasks to do will vary by season, so we suggest starting with a seasonal checklist. For example, Martha Stewart’s spring gardening tips include surveying your yard first, then deciding how to fill any gaps, reseeding grass, pruning, and preparing flower beds.
Starting with these tips will help you come up with a lawn and garden plan, plus it will help ensure you’re choosing the right plants for the season. Timing and choosing plants carefully is always important with landscaping, but especially when you want to sell your house. This is because plants that are in bloom and have lots of color will make the biggest impact on buyers. To get this maximum effect, The Spruce recommends that spring sellers plant early bloomers, hardy annuals, and flowering shrubs.
Creating and maintaining a beautiful lawn and garden is a lot of work, but you don’t have to do it all on your own. Whether you don’t have a green thumb or you simply don’t have the time it takes, hiring a gardening service is an easy way to get (and keep) the results you’re looking for. These pros specialize in all aspects of landscaping, whether you need help with the planning stage, planting, weeding, or other maintenance needs. And, remember, spring is the ideal time to make your exterior shine.
Tackle Other Exterior Projects
Curb appeal is about more than just your lawn and garden, which is why the next item on your to-do list should be addressing other exterior issues. This includes fixing anything that’s broken or worn looking, plus making cosmetic improvements strategically. Look at things like making repairs, such as fixing a broken deck board, along with cleaning spots you wouldn’t normally think about, such as your home’s roof and siding.
Inexpensive Extras
In addition to doing the necessary work of repairs and cleaning, buyers will be even more impressed if you go the extra mile with curb appeal. This doesn’t mean you have to spend a fortune or a ton of time. Our suggestion is to pick just a few “extra” projects that will make the biggest impact, such as creating a more welcoming front entryway.
If your front door is looking shabby, give it a fresh coat of paint, and don’t forget about house trim and shutters. Along with a spruced up front door, make your front porch even more inviting with a container garden, adding a seasonal wreath, and a new welcome mat.
It’s also smart to think about making the most of your home’s outdoor spaces for the season you’re in. If you’re selling in spring, a birdhouse is a great seasonal accent for your garden, and the beautiful birds you attract are an added bonus. Or if you’re selling in summer, consider staging outdoor spaces to highlight the potential for backyard barbeques.
When you’re getting your home ready to sell, you want to highlight its best features while making house hunters feel welcome. Don’t underestimate the value of curb appeal, which affects your home’s appraisal value, to give that warm impression! From a neat and tidy lawn to seasonal accents, every improvement you make outside will help get buyers through the door – AND a better price at closing.
Recent Work: A Cascadia Avenue Garden
Seattle Landscape Architect Brooks Kolb is proud to announce the completion of an extensive new garden on Cascadia Avenue in the Mount Baker garden. The front garden features six rectangular perennial beds flanking the central front walk, while the much larger back garden boasts a substantial number of amenities: a swimming pool, shed with kitchenette, sports court and children’s play area. A raised hot tub is situated to look out over the flames of a custom, natural gas-fed fire feature to views of Lake Washington beyond. In addition, a custom tree house nestles in an Evergreen Magnolia tree for the owner’s young children. More than thirteen varieties of fruiting trees, shrubs, vines and espaliers are distributed throughout the garden, all without blocking views of the lake. Brooks collaborated with architect Kim Lavacot for the shed and tree house.
Photographs by Miranda Estes Photography
Recent Work: A Mount Baker Garden
Seattle Landscape Architect Brooks Kolb is proud to announce the completion of a substantial new hillside garden in the Mount Baker Garden. Since the main floor of the house is at a much lower elevation than the street, an elegant concrete stair winds down past a dramatic waterfall to the front door. From the main stair landing, a wide gravel path loops around to the back garden, which features a tranquil koi pond and a mahogany observation deck with sweeping views of Lake Washington and the Cascades. On the north side of the house, a second stair descends to a lower level rental unit which has its own lawn. Lush plantings of trees, shrubs, ornamental grasses and perennials are distributed throughout the garden, while a variety of erosion control shrubs anchor the steep slope below the deck. Brooks collaborated with Turnstone Construction on the two contrasting water features.
Photographs by Miranda Estes Photography
Seattle Landscape Architect Brooks Kolb’s Inverness Garden published in “New Landscaping Ideas That Work”
Seattle Landscape Architect Brooks Kolb is thrilled to report that his Inverness Garden was just published as a case study in the new book, “New Landscaping Ideas That Work,” by Julia Moir Messervy (Taunton Press.) Titled “A Backyard Retreat,” Brooks’ garden design is honored with a two-page spread on pages 154-155 in the book, which show-cases nation-wide garden designs. It is also featured in a full-page photograph chapter heading, “Spaces that Work,” on page 20. Julia Moir Messervy is also the author of “Home Outside: Creating the Landscape You Love” and “Outside the Not So Big House” (with Sarah Susanka.)
Quoting Messervy, “Seattle landscape architect Brooks Kolb created an elegant landscape to meld beautifully with a mid-century modern home built in 1962. The new owners wanted a private dining terrace on the east side of the house.* Bands of white Texada concrete pavers alternate with fields of charcoal Texada to give interest to the flat plane around three sides of the house.”
*it is actually on the south side of the house.
For more information, please visit the Inverness Garden project page, https://www.brookskolbllc.net/projects/inverness-garden/.
Photographs by Ken Gutmaker
Brooks Kolb’s Inverness Garden to be Published in “New Landscaping Ideas That Work”
Seattle landscape architect Brooks Kolb, ASLA, is thrilled to announce that his Inverness Garden for the “Century 21 Idea House” is set to be published in the forthcoming book, “New Landscaping Ideas That Work.” Written by Julia Moir Messervy, the celebrated author of the “Not So Big House” book series, the January, 2018 publication will include a case study of the garden and a photo spread by Ken Gutmaker. This garden provides an outdoor living room designed to complement the architecture of the house, which was originally designed in 1962 by architect Jack Morse, who was a friend and colleague of Kolb’s father, Keith Kolb, FAIA.
This garden was published in the Fall Home Design issue of the Seattle Times “Pacific NW Magazine,” in October, 2012, with photographs by Ben Benschneider, and can be found on Kolb’s website, here: https://www.brookskolbllc.net/projects/inverness-garden/
Photograph by Ben Benschneider
Brooks Kolb LLC Honored by BUILD Magazine
Seattle Landscape Architect Brooks Kolb, ASLA, is honored and delighted to announce that his firm, Brooks Kolb LLC Landscape Architecture, was granted a prestigious award from BUILD Magazine, an international publication of construction and design based in the United Kingdom. Announced in September, 2017, BUILD named Brooks Kolb LLC “Best Traditional Landscape Architecture Firm – Washington State and Best Washington Residential Garden Design: Interlaken Park Garden.” See the link below, page 75 for the essay Kolb prepared, describing his firm for the magazine:
https://www.build-review.com/2017-architecture-awards-2017-f55a
Photograph by Mike Siegel
Published in the September 7, 2014 issue of the Seattle Times’ “Pacific NW Magazine,” more photographs and a description of the Interlaken Park Garden can be found here on Kolb’s website: https://www.brookskolbllc.net/projects/interlaken-park-garden/
Brooks Kolb’s dad Keith Kolb honored by UW
Seattle Landscape Architect Brooks Kolb’s father, Keith Kolb, FAIA, was honored last Saturday night in the Alumni Awards Program of the University of Washington’s College of the Built Environment (UW CBE.) My 95-year old dad was honored as a distinguished Professor Emeritus for his outstanding record of teaching architecture until his retirement at age 70. The program included 3 awards given to recent graduates, plus 2 “Distinguished Alumni Awards.” These last went to Lee Copeland, FAIA, who was Dean at the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Fine Arts (now re-named Graduate School of Design) when I was in the master’s program there, and Steven Holl, the New York-based architect who designed the beautiful Chapel of St. Ignatius on the Seattle University Campus as well as the Bellevue Arts Museum.
Here are 2 photos of dad, dated April 1, 2017, with (from left to right) Marga Rose Hancock, the long-time Executive Director of the Seattle American Institute of Architects (AIA); Betty Wagner, the long-time UW Architectural Librarian; and Jane Hastings, an architect colleague of dad’s who broke the (lower) glass ceiling in the 1950’s by receiving her degree in architecture and going on to a successful architectural practice in Seattle.
What’s Blooming in January?
by Seattle Landscape Architect Brooks Kolb
When we think of a garden bursting into bloom, we automatically think of spring, and in the Pacific Northwest that means March and April. However, that doesn’t mean that no plants are blooming in January and February, when the garden still appears to be mostly dead. In addition to the lovely purple and yellow Crocus bulbs that everybody is familiar with, not to mention the Primroses and Cyclomens found in every supermarket’s flower shop, here are some fantastic selections for winter blooms, and three of them are fragrant to boot!
Sasanqua Camellias are a species of winter-blooming Camellias, with many named varieties. They come in white (‘Setsugekka’ and ‘White Doves’), light pink (‘Apple Blossom’); dark pink (‘Tanya’) and red (‘Yuletide.’) If you’re lucky, the latter selection will bloom at Christmas-time.
Witch Hazels (Hammamelis) are a large species of small trees or tree-form shrubs with fragrant, confetti-like flowers that twist all the way along their up-reaching branches in shades of bright yellow to deep orange. And they’re fragrant besides.
Tall Sarcococca, called “Sweet Box,” is a delicate low hedge of glossy green leaves featuring white to cream-colored flowers partly concealed in the leaf joints. These perfume the air with a vanilla-spice fragrance. Sarcococca ruscifolia has small red berries, while the virtually indistinguishable Sarcococca confusa has small black berries resembling currants or huckleberries.
Pink Dawn Viburnum (Viburnum bodnantense ‘Pink Dawn’) is a tall, upright shrub with lovely, Daphne-like fragrant pink flower clusters that bloom on the bare wood.
Hellebore Hybrids (hybrids of Helleborus orientalis, also known as “Lenten Rose”) offer downward-pointed, cup-like flowers in shades ranging from white to chartreuse to pale pinks, mauves and purples on a low-growing evergreen shrub or tall ground cover. These are flowers that I always think of as painted in water colors rather than oils. You can select a variety for a desired color or just purchase randlomly mixed hybrids and enjoy the resulting color rainbow.
If you had all 5 selections in your garden, January would not be a dead month in the garden after all!
Helleborus orientalis hybrids
Hamamelis ‘Arnold Promise’
