Smaller spaces can sometimes prove to be the most challenging. You have to use careful consideration with every plant and its placement. This small lot in East Sooke was no exception. Starting with a blank slate, the client approached us asking for a garden design with year-round interest, preference for evergreens, some repetition, and some small sized feature trees.

The site already had rock retaining walls built and some garden soil in place. The exposure of the site is near the ocean with lots of gravel roadways and walkways throughout, apparently getting quite hot in the summer. There was a combination of sun and shade aspects and the plant material needed to be deer resistant as well. When a plant list that runs heavy on evergreens is used, it can be easy to end up with a sea of dark green. When creating the design, we focused more on foliage than flowers and selected a variety of foliage colours, textures and heights.

Once the drawn design was complete, the project got underway starting with a drip irrigation system to eliminate the need for hand watering in the future for the client. For this project, the clients did a lot of the labour themselves, of which they did a great job. We gave direction and recommended where to get the materials like soil and mulch from and they installed it. We provided plant materials, and the community came together for a fun day of planting.

After only one growing season, the garden looked great and had filled in a lot by fall 2023. The clients were happy with the end result and mentioned that neighbours have been giving lots of compliments.