Field journal · Entry 214Bend, Oregon · 44.06° N, 121.31° WElev. 3,623 ftApr 24 · 46°F at dawnJul 12 · 91°F at 3 pmOct 18 · 31°F at dawnJan 9 · 14°F at dawn

Gardens that look good in January.

We design, plant and look after gardens in Bend’s high desert, where eleven inches of rain fall in a year and a frost can turn up in June. Every bed is drawn for all twelve months, so yours has something to show in each of them.

Book a garden walk

Or call the studio(555) 014-3868

On the crew’s list this week

Irrigation start-ups, bare-root planting and spring cutbacks. Cleanup visits are booking through May 30.

Drip tune-ups, deadheading and deep soaks for new trees. Two crews out daily, starting at six to beat the heat.

Sprinkler blowouts, bulb planting and leaf cleanup. Blowout slots are open through November 8.

Design season. We’re drawing spring gardens now, and knocking snow off shrubs after every big storm.

Plate IIIIIIIV · scroll to turn the year

Pl. I, spring. Serviceberry in blossom over tulips and creeping phlox. Soil at 46°F; the drip went back on April 22.Pl. II, summer. Coneflower, moonshine yarrow and blue grama under a full serviceberry. Berries ripe for the waxwings by July 4.Pl. III, autumn. The serviceberry turns, rabbitbrush flowers and the grasses go to straw. First frost came September 21.Pl. IV, winter. Nine inches on the beds. Seed heads left standing for the juncos; the juniper does the rest.

The working year

Every bed we plant has four acts.

Most gardens are designed for one week in June. Ours are drawn for the whole year: blossom in April, a long run of flowers through the heat, color and seed heads in the fall, and grasses and bark that still look good under snow. Pick a season and the whole journal turns with it.

Amelanchier alnifolia, western serviceberry. 1. flower raceme · 2. young leaf · 3. fruit, late June.

March to May · Soil 41–55°F · Last frost around June 4

Snow pulls back off the beds in March, but the ground stays cold into May. We start drip systems once nights hold above 28°F, cut last year’s grasses to the crown and plant bare-root trees while they’re still asleep.

What we do in spring

  • Spring cleanup and cut-backfrom $340
  • Irrigation start-up and leak check$129
  • Bare-root tree plantingfrom $185 a tree
  • Two inches of fresh bark mulch$78 a yard, installed

In flower: serviceberry, creeping phlox, pasqueflower, early tulips.

Echinacea purpurea, purple coneflower. 1. flower head · 2. ray petal · 3. stem leaf.

June to August · 90°F afternoons · 45°F nights

Hot days, single-digit humidity and nights that drop forty degrees. Plants up here grow fast and dry out faster, so summer is about water: drip tuned bed by bed, deep soaks for new trees, and nothing watered at noon.

What we do in summer

  • Weekly or biweekly garden carefrom $165 a visit
  • Drip tune-up, zone by zone$145
  • Deadheading and shapingin every care visit
  • Deep-water program for new trees$22 a tree, monthly

In flower: coneflower, moonshine yarrow, penstemon, blanket flower, lavender.

Ericameria nauseosa, rubber rabbitbrush. 1. flower cluster · 2. single floret, enlarged · 3. leaf.

September to November · First frost around September 22

The first frost usually lands in late September and the serviceberries go orange a week later. It’s the best time of year to plant: warm soil, cool air, and roots that settle in before the ground freezes.

What we do in autumn

  • Sprinkler blowout, booked by neighborhood$95
  • Bulb planting$1.40 a bulb, installed
  • Fall cleanup (leaves stay as mulch)from $290
  • Fall tree and shrub planting15% off to Oct 31

In flower: rabbitbrush, asters, sedum ‘Autumn Joy’, the last coneflowers.

Pinus ponderosa, ponderosa pine. 1. needles in threes · 2. seed cone · 3. bark plate.

December to February · 14°F mornings · 22 inches of snow a year

The garden goes quiet under snow and the studio gets busy. Winter is when we draw: site plans, planting lists and fixed quotes, ready for the first dig in April. Outside, we prune while trees are dormant and shake heavy snow off the shrubs.

What we do in winter

  • Design consultation, credited to your build$180
  • Full four-season planting planfrom $1,800
  • Dormant pruning, per arborist$95 an hour
  • Snow-load visit after a big storm$75

Still worth a look: seed heads, feather reed grass, red-twig dogwood, ponderosa bark.

Services

Four kinds of work, one crew that knows your yard.

Fourteen of us in season, six through the winter. The person who draws your garden is on site the day it goes in, and the crew that plants it is the crew that comes back to look after it.

  1. 01

    Design

    from $1,800Plans

    A hand-drawn plan, to scale, with every plant named.

    A site walk, soil and sun notes, a scaled plan, a planting list that covers all four seasons and a fixed quote you can hold us to. Two to three weeks from walk to plan.

  2. 02

    Planting

    from $2,400A front bed

    Native and water-wise plants, chosen for 3,600 feet.

    Grown by nurseries in Tumalo and Redmond, planted into amended pumice soil on drip, and guaranteed for a full year. If it doesn’t make it through its first winter, we replace it.

  3. 03

    Garden care

    from $165A visit

    The same crew at every visit, April to November.

    Weekly or biweekly: pruning, weeding, deadheading and drip checks, then a short note on what’s flowering and what’s next. Winter visits after big snows are on call.

  4. 04

    Hardscape

    from $28A square foot

    Paths, walls and patios in local stone.

    Flagstone, basalt boulders from a quarry off Highway 97, dry-laid walls and gravel paths that drain fast when the snow melts. No poured concrete unless you ask for it.

Before & after

Out with the bluegrass.

Garden
The Alvarez front yard, Awbrey Butte
Built
May 2025, in five weeks
The brief
“Less mowing, more birds.”
Before · June 2024After · AprilJulyOctoberJanuary
  • 61%less water, summer 2025 against 2024
  • 2,300square feet of lawn lifted and composted
  • 84plants across 19 species, 14 of them native
  • 5weeks from the first dig to the last plant

“Every walk to the mailbox takes ten minutes now, because somebody always stops to ask what’s flowering.”

Nina Alvarez · Awbrey Butte

Planting calendar

When to plant at 3,600 feet.

Bend’s last spring frost comes around June 4 and the first fall frost around September 22. That leaves a short summer, so the calendar does most of the work: get roots in while the soil is warm and the air is cool, and let the snow do the rest.

  • Plant or sow
  • In flower
  • Our crews on it
  • Bare-root trees and shrubsPlanted while they’re dormant
    Plant mid-March to mid-May.
  • Container trees and shrubsSpring and fall, never in July
    Plant mid-April through June, and September through October.
  • Perennials and grassesIn by June, flowering till frost
    Plant mid-May to early June and in September; in flower mid-June to mid-October.
  • Spring bulbsIn the ground before it freezes
    Flowering April to mid-June; plant mid-September to early November.
  • Native wildflower seedSown on snow; it needs the cold
    Sow mid-November to early February.
  • Vegetable startsAfter the last frost, not before
    Plant June 4 to mid-July; harvest through August.
  • Lawn conversionsLifted, composted, replanted
    Our crews convert lawns mid-April through June and September through October.
  • Irrigation start-up and blowoutEvery system, every year
    Start-ups mid-April to May; blowouts October 10 to November 10.
  • Dormant pruningTrees and shrubs at rest
    December to mid-March.

Frost dates are 30-year averages for Bend; Sunriver runs about ten days colder.Zone 6b · 3,623 ft · 11.4 in of rain a year

How a garden gets made

From a walk round the yard to a garden that fills in.

  1. Week 0 · Free inside Bend

    Walk the yard

    A designer spends an hour on site with you. We test the soil, note where the sun lands in December and in July, find where the snow piles up off the roof, and ask how you actually use the yard.

  2. Weeks 1–3

    Draw the plan

    A scaled plan drawn by hand, a planting list for all four seasons and one fixed quote. Two rounds of changes are included, and the design fee comes off the build.

  3. Weeks 4–9 · April to October

    Build it

    One crew from the first dig to the last plant, usually three to six weeks. Oscar, our crew lead, sends a photo at the end of every working day so you always know where things stand.

  4. The first year

    Let it grow in

    We come back at thirty days, after the first frost and again in spring. Anything that doesn’t make it through its first winter is replaced at no charge.

Start with a visit

Book a garden walk.

Tell us a little about the yard. We’ll call within two working days to set up a free one-hour visit. Outside Bend there’s a $60 trip fee, and it comes off your project.

What are you thinking about?

We reply within two working days.

Season