LOOKOUT LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE

Alana designed our entire landscape with a compelling entry and three lovely courtyards. She is a fabulous listener and truly understood our need to have year round outlooks from various areas in our house... living room, master bedroom and kitchen. The structural components of our landscape are like pieces of art and she designed plantings to provide year round seasonal change. We have a perennial garden that has a sequence of colors throughout the summer. It is like fireworks. All of a sudden a burst of bright color emerges just to be replaced by another. This is the outlook from our living room and we love it.

When we first met Alana to discuss a new vision for the landscape of our property, she listened and listened and returned a few weeks later with a proposed landscape plan which fully incorporated our ideas with her creativity and expertise. Her insight coupled with her listening skills and training is amazing. The final result captured our ideas and continues to unfold almost 2 years later. Alana continues to be available for our questions regarding how to care for our landscape in light of effects of weather and the passage of time after the project was completed. You will be well served to have Alana’s expertise and guidance when considering any change to your landscape whether your project is large or small.

My name is Larry Bruton FAIA, a retired architect, and I live on a 2-acre property in the Hewitt Park Estates area in southwest Portland. I have lived here for 30 years. I did an extensive remodel and expansion of the original house 25 years ago, so all the existing garden areas were replaced and expanded. My wife, who unfortunately passed away several years ago was an avid gardener which meant that the house is surrounded with many areas of perennial gardens, plus areas of sylvan and forest garden. With her passing and February approaching I realized I needed professional help to preserve and continue to maintain all our garden and landscape areas. I was fortunate enough to be connected to Alana McWhorter who with reference to the original landscape design documents was able to plan out the work necessary for our perennial gardens that spring and help me to understand what needed to be done, how and when. I was especially impressed with a color wheel she developed which showed what colors would be dominant in what areas of the garden in what seasons, making it easy to consider what changes, additions or subtractions we might want to consider as the garden continues to mature in the future. When Melanie joined Alana in forming Lookout Landscape Architecture it only increased the talent, skill and breadth of experience they bring to their work. I continue to be impressed with their knowledge of plants, their availability and their appropriateness for specific applications. Their knowledge and experience with hard scape design and construction is equally impressive. Alana and Melanie are very inclusive with their clients especially when it comes to selecting plant materials and usually offer to take them to nurseries for plant selection. The same is true of the entire process. Lookout does not just provide a service. They include you throughout the design, development, installation and maintenance as needed. For me, the result has been exceptional. I expect to be working with Lookout for as long as I have gardens and landscape to enjoy.

Alana designed a front yard remodel for us about a year and a half ago. We started with a daunting hill full of grass and weeds that was impossible to care for and wound up with a beautiful drought tolerant, easy to care for yard that gets us compliments all the time. Alana was great about narrowing down my disorganized, love-all-plants thoughts into a cohesive plan that looks good but still incorporated a lot of the personal touches we wanted. She also worked in a pathway, large landscape stones, and a small stone staircase and she referred us to a very reliable landscape installation team. Overall we were very happy with the process and have loved watching our new yard growing in for the past 16 months.

The early morning winter sunlight blushes the stems of the dogwood plants in a radiant scarlet. It was designed to achieve that effect. Against a black steel fence the sight is striking. It is almost a year since Alana from Lookout Landscape Architect Studio designed this front piece that adjoins a L shaped side and backyard that is now a tranquil Japanese style garden - a garden with the three aspects of such a design: plants, rocks, and water. Each stage of the design process - especially the concept drawings to final design - increased the confidence placed in Alana. Beyond the design phase - being included in the rock and plant selection, as well as the selection of the water feature built on that confidence. Furthermore, Alana was on site at each major step of the installation of the Japanese style garden : site excavation and construction, the placement of a rock pathway between the two end points of the L shaped yard, and the large basalt slabs that formed the backyard patio. The arrangement of each of these features helped create a space that is a delight to be in. The flow of color, line, shape, and texture follow the Japanese preference for asymmetry. Moreover, placing a (flame torched) juniper bench beneath a grown 15’ vine maple was a smooth touch. And then there was the strategically placed bamboo enclosure (for green and blue bins) designed and installed by Alana and her associate Melanie. It is bordered at opposite ends by small, slow growing Japanese cedars. The recent snow and ice as well as the resulting thaw accentuated how inviting a place this Japanese style garden is to be in - no matter the season. The work done by Alana and Melanie does justice to the Japanese and the gardens they have inspired.

We worked with Alana to plan & design our NE Portland backyard. She was thorough & professional throughout the process. Alana came up with some fun & innovative ideas to use the space well & create a unique design that suited us & our yard. Our yard is heavily shaded & was a somewhat large space with some huge trees. She did a great job of working with the trees & few plants we already had & helped guide us on shade friendly plants. We learned a lot through the process & were grateful to have both her expertise & design skills.

Alana was outstanding! Great design concept for my front yard and hands on throughout the entire process. Checked up months after the project was completed AND replaced a few plants that didn't make it through the unusually hot Portland summer. I can't recommend her enough. Side note, she has done several projects on my block and they are all excellent.

Lookout designed and installed a beautiful rain swale of river rock surrounded with a gorgeous grouping of plants. They were a pleasure to work with thoughtful, friendly and professional and the installation was done on schedule.

Alana and Melanie did outstanding work for us on a large-scale landscape design, planting plan, and installation for our home located in an open, woodland setting in Portland’s West Hills. The scope of the project included deck revisions, gravel pathways, planters, stairways, and five planting zones with a wide variety of perennials, shrubs and trees. The result is a stunning setting in which we’ll enjoy our outdoor space for many years to come. In addressing our project, Alana and Melanie understood our wishes for a landscape that would highlight our home’s features along with its natural setting. Throughout the process, they were always interested in and responsive to our ideas. Detailed and easy to interpret design plans and photographs of all proposed plants were provided in a very timely manner. Alana and Melanie did wonders dealing with the challenges finding lovely, habitat friendly plants that will stand up to the ever present deer who graze in our yard. They helped us plan our site and select plants suited to the new climate stressors occurring in the Pacific NW. We were invited to accompany Alana and Mel on nursery visits to view plants before purchasing, which was a lot of fun for us. On a professional level, Alana and Melanie are wonderful to work with. They were attentive to our budgetary needs, their communication with us was excellent, as was their working relationship with the contractors who installed the hardscape and plants. They are both trained as landscape architects with extensive knowledge and experience regarding landscape design. They also have a broad knowledge base covering plant varieties and growing requirements. On a personal level, they are warm and engaging, and so easy and pleasant to work with. We will continue to work with them as future projects come up and give them our highest recommendation!