Olander Garden Design

Courtney helped us completely overhaul our front and back yards, including rock work, patio, deck, and fencing design. She was AMAZING to work with- from design conception, to helping us find the perfect contractor to do the job, to overseeing all aspects of the work. The end result? The perfect outdoor sanctuary. We worked w/ Courtney in the summer of 2019, and we were thrilled by how everything turned out. BUT we had no idea what was coming... And the work she helped us do last year has absolutely been responsible for our sanity this year. I’m sure we would be reveling in our new outdoors regardless, but given Covid19, and the increased amount of time we’ve all be spending at home, the yards/deck/garden have been 99% responsible for keeping us happy and sane. Sometimes even when you know something is a work of beauty, you don't realize just how special it is until life goes sideways. Courtney's work is superb on all levels, even ones that are unforeseeable at the time.

I cannot say enough about the work that Courtney did for us! Her attention to detail, her knowledge of plant life and her desire to get us the backyard we really wanted made her a dream to work with. When she mentioned the word "woodland" in reference to what I was trying to describe, I said, "That's it! Exactly!". I knew right then that we were working with someone who "got me". She communicated clearly throughout the process, gave us various options and continually asked for our input. As if that weren't enough, she is warm and has a good sense of humor which always makes a project more fun! I would very highly recommend Courtney to anyone who is looking to transform their yard space. She will educate you along the way, if, like us, you don't know much about botany. The pictures she gathers and the plans she draws up capture perfectly what is presented in the final product! And, thanks to Pinterest, you can send her anything that catches your eye that you'd like to incorporate. :-) With our backyard oasis complete, we can now enjoy a space that was once unusable. Thank you, Courtney! Jana Jarvis

We purchased a home near the water that needed a landscape overhaul. Courtney listened to our wishes and came up with a design for the landscape that met our needs and budget. Once the project had begun, she made sure everything was done according to plan. Our landscape looks fabulous and we can hardly wait to see it progress through the seasons. We would highly recommend Olander Garden Design for whatever size project you have. Courtney was a pleasure to work with throughout the entire process.

Olander Garden Design saved my project! After bad experiences with two other professionals, we reached out to Courtney Olander at the recommendation of a neighbor. Courtney worked with what we had already begun in terms of hardscaping, and saw us through the planting plan all the way to plants in the ground. She actually listened to what we wanted and was able to put a plan together that was even better than we imagined. We are extremely pleased with how it turned out! Courtney is a true professional, always delivering what she promised in the timeframe proposed. She was responsive to email and phone calls, and is just a pleasure to work with. Her knowledge of plants and landscaping in general is very impressive. I whole heartedly recommend Olander Garden Design, no reservations.

Courtney at Olander Garden Design was wonderful to work with on our front and back yard remodel. Not only did she present us with design options , she served as the project manager for both projects. She listened to our visions and included them in the designs. She also had helpful suggestions so that our projects could have the modern flare that we wanted but kept them within our budget. As the project manager she was very helpful during the biding process and has a great relationship with the contractors that we ended up using for the projects. Courtney was very communicative providing updates and helping to trouble shoot any issues. She was very attentive to our needs and made our projects her priority. We highly recommend Olander Garden Design and feel that Courtney's knowledge and expertise in outdoor spaces is exactly what we needed. We receive so many compliments on our front and back yard and it is because of Olander Garden Design!

I would give the highest recommendation for Courtney - she is the visionary for our front and back yard transformation. Working within the constraints of our space and accounting for how we planned to use our yard, she created a design that maximized our limited budget. She is also very knowledgeable about plants native to the NW and a year later our new space is thriving!

We first began working with Olander Garden Design in August 2016. That relationship began with an email with this subject line: “Help! Couple in Shoreline need help with challenging yard!” We have been slowly remodeling the house for many years, but the backyard, surrounded by trees and heavily shaded, utterly confounded us. We had a sense that it could be “something”, but we had no idea what or how to get there. Enter Courtney Olander. From the beginning, we were pleased with her professionalism and the excitement she brought to the project. The backyard, which for us had become something of a torment, was for Courtney an exciting opportunity. Over the next several months, amidst a flurry of Pinterest and other links, Courtney helped us understand what it what was that we wanted—what appealed to our aesthetics but would also fit in our lifestyle. That was a great educational process, but we still could not quite “see” how to apply it. Then Courtney produced three detailed plans. Suddenly, we really could begin to see it. That was a fun moment. In truth, we could have picked any one of Courtney’s three plans and been very happy; she had a good sense of what would appeal to us and what would work for us. But we took some time to really think about it. In the end, we combined elements from each of Courtney’s three plans. Flash forward several months-- The project was finished at the end of July, and the result far, far exceeds our expectations. It is a beautiful space that is easy to live in and with, and we are excited to see it evolve through the seasons and over the years. There is still some work for us to finish— more deck, a pergola over the patio, etc.—but we have already moved into the space and begun living in it. We could not have imagined this space without Courtney, let alone known how to get here. I cannot recommend Courtney highly enough. A before-photo and a couple of after-photos (you have to imagine a boardwalk deck leading out to the deck around the shed and a pergola over the patio).

Courtney helped us to envision what our backyard could become and then worked tirelessly on our behalf to make our vision possible within our budget. I really appreciated how she listened to us, asked all the right questions (even ones that I had not considered) and then brought us two design concepts for our consideration. We picked our concept and Courtney continued to refine the design. We absolutely loved the final design and our backyard is now a really fantastic space. I have already recommended Courtney to friends and relatives!

Courtney came up with a few designs for our backyard. She is very thoughtful when considering everything, extremely professional, kind, and easy to work with.

Courtney, owner of Olander Garden Design was one of our best decisions regarding design and helping with the execution of our landscape project...When she first meets you, she has you do a short survey of your likes and dislikes of plants and flowers ,and then comes up with a landscape palette for you...she respects your budget and needs, and gives you several options...Courtney worked so well with the landscaping company that we hired to do the physical execution. She is so thorough, that she caught construction mistakes before they came to fruition. Her choice of tree and plants was phenomenal... she would go to several nurseries to find the perfect specimens. I feel that Courtney can do any landscape design, whether it is a small garden or a complete remodel of property as we did.