Yard of the Week: Nod to Nature in the Pacific Northwest

Photos by Brady Campbell Photography

Yard at a Glance
Who lives here: A couple nearing retirement
Location: Spokane, Washington
Size: About an acre
Landscape designer and builder: Matt Barton (designer) of Copper Creek Landscaping, which also handled the masonry, concrete, carpentry and boulders

This property is part of a community with a homeowners association that requires full landscape plan approval before a house is constructed. As part of the submittal process, the homebuilder hired Copper Creek Landscaping. The homeowners bought the house about halfway through the project, and Barton tailored the approved design to suit their wish list.

The homeowners’ request for their outdoor space was simple. “They wanted a really nice outdoor space,” Barton says. “These folks are starting to think about retirement. They wanted to have a little mini retreat and mini resort. And while they wanted to live in the city with amenities, they wanted to be out where it’s more quiet and peaceful.” With that in mind, he created a rustic backyard where the homeowners could relax and move easily between indoor and outdoor entertaining and gathering areas.

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The house opens to a covered lounge with a fireplace. A stone quarried in Montana that has been cut to a thin veneer covers the columns and fireplace surround. It’s dry-stacked and utilized throughout the project, including on the back side of the pool. Though much of the yard is winterized in the colder parts of the year, the homeowners use this covered space year round — even when snow is on the ground.

When crafting the look and feel of the space, the designers paid close attention to the architecture, the natural landscape, the homeowners association requirements and what the homeowners wanted. “We’re always trying to make a piece of architecture where the landscape relates well to the house and the house relates well to the landscape,” Barton says. “We pull elements of architecture into the landscape.”

Three wide steps, framed by a low wall of natural boulders, lead down to another patio. The heated saltwater pool is 10 by 18 feet and 5 feet deep. It’s gunite with a tile finish. The designers had considered a more organic shape, but the rectangular design made installing an automatic safety covering easier and resulted in a lower-maintenance setup.

They’d also considered creating a disappearing-edge pool, but the cost and the maintenance didn’t make sense in this case. The ledge along the front can double as a bench, and the drop-off in front helps create the effect of a disappearing edge. The HOA requires pool fencing, and the team chose hog wire for a more transparent and natural look.

The pool has been cleverly designed and built with firefighting in mind; valves and a heavy-duty spigot allow the pool water to be accessed quickly in the event of a fire. “The system can divert water from the pool through the existing plumbing, making it available as a water source for firefighting efforts,” Barton says. “This emergency setup allows for a fast response and adds an extra layer of safety to the clients and their property.”

Swimming pool contractor: Copper Creek Pools

The designed portion of the landscape sits close to the house, as required by the homeowners association, and much of the 1-acre property remains untouched. Factors including neighboring views, natural features, topography and setbacks dictated how much of the site could be developed. The landscape beyond the edge of the building envelope needed to be left natural.

Stained sand-washed concrete was used for most of the paving. “We wanted something that would complement the house and not be too busy,” Barton says. It is low-maintenance, recedes in the design and lets the natural materials pop. “Pavers would have been really busy and competed with the rock,” he says.

Concrete and flatwork contractor: Garmon Construction

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A 9-by-9-foot freestanding deck sits about 15 feet away from the pool, overlooking a creek and more of the property’s natural landscape. Because the deck is farther out from the house and not within the approved building envelope, the team had to get special permission from the HOA to build it.

It’s obvious why they pursued constructing the deck here. “It’s kind of your why,” Barton says. “You’re on this little platform, and you can look out and see the creek. When you’re out there, you can go and check out what’s below.” They used TimberTech composite decking (in Sea Salt Gray), tying in with homeowners’ request for a low-maintenance space, and cable railings to keep the view clear.

The house is only about 10 minutes away from downtown Spokane, but the community’s lot sizes, natural terrain and strict building requirements give it a remote feel.

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The team paid close attention to water needs with plant selection, as required by the homeowners association, choosing low-maintenance varieties, pollinator attractors and plants with year-round interest. Two choices were black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia sp.) and coneflower (Echinacea sp.), which are drought-tolerant and attract bees. “We are the Lilac City, so there are some lilacs we planted to nod to that,” Barton says.

They also had to consider some less desirable critters. “There is a lot of wildlife and deer, so we had to plant things that the deer won’t chew on,” Barton says. Lavender and grasses were the team’s top picks.

Outdoor lighting, including tree lights, step lights and lights nestled among the boulders, highlight key features of the home exterior and landscape. Barton notes that the lights are especially welcome in winter, when the yard is more often enjoyed from inside. “It gets you excited for the holidays,” he says. “It’s nice to look out into the landscape and see that depth, and see that snow light up with the landscape lighting.”

The front yard plantings have the same low-water, low-maintenance qualities as those in the backyard. ‘Karl Foerster’ feather reed grass (Calamagrostis x acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’, USDA zones 5 to 9; find your zone) will grow to form a hedge with year-round interest and seasonal color. One specimen cedar tree stands out with its weeping, sculptural form.

More plants used in the project include bearberry (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi, zones 2 to 6), blue fescue (Festuca glauca, zones 4 to 8), blue oat grass (Helictotrichon sempervirens, zones 4 to 8), coral bells (Heuchera sp.), hydrangea, ninebark (Physocarpus sp.), penstemon and yarrow (Achillea millefolium, zones 3 to 9).

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