SAVAGE PLANTS and LANDSCAPE

This roadside park overlooking the water is for walkers, bicyclists, and others traveling the South end of Bainbridge Island. The owners wanted the park to have a more welcoming feel: better privacy from the road, additional casual seating, and to take full advantage of the beautiful view of Port Blakely. The completed park features a massive cedar slab bridge over the bog area and local fieldstones for sitting. Native plantings complement the woodland setting and check erosion and runoff.










Before

Originally a sea of invasive English Ivy, the owners completed the laborious job of clearing the site, then had it replanted in native shrubs. Our crew lifted and stored all the existing native plants for resuse in the new design.

Bridge Slab

This wood is milled from an old-growth cedar tree which grew on the Olympic Peninsula. Reaching approximately 750 years old, it fell and was partly buried for years. Just recently, the log was uncovered by a logger, and it proved perfect for this project.
(More installation pics)

The park entrance leads through tall cedars, firs and maples, and then emerges into the open bog area. New footpaths lead to different viewpoints, each with its own bench to relax and linger. Enjoy the vista to the harbor, or watch for birds among the trees and native meadow grasses.

The outdoor seating area on the sunny side of this Bainbridge Island waterfront home was cramped, dated, and threatened by erosion of the bank below.

The new deck expands the client’s sunny outdoor area, stabilizes the bank, and complements the house beautifully. To reduce the load on the soil, the deck is cantilevered out over the bank on a lightweight aluminum-beam frame. Jim used reclaimed old-growth cedar for the oversized decking, with the ends of the deck boards carefully shaped to follow the natural outlines of the bluestone patio pavers. The curving rail system was built to match the trim details of the house.






Scroll down to see “Before & After” image galleries of the project.

You can also check out the installation process for more images and info



Before

After