SANCTUARY GARDENS

We are so thrilled with our landscaping. The overall design was beautiful on paper, but to see it in the ground, it is really an eye-catcher. Our final design was more expensive because we added a few more plantings and ordered additional mulch than what was originally quoted. It is the only property in the neighborhood that showcases certain plantings in a very unique and beautiful design, yet addresses all of our landscaping "issues" that we had. We've had many drivers slow down and even stop at our property just to look at all the plantings. Many people now walk by our property so they can enjoy everything. One neighbor drove the wrong way on our street just so he could shout out the window to us that he loved our landscaping. Other neighbors have sent me e-mails to say how great everything all looks. Our next door neighbors love it because its beautiful and helps make the whole corner look fantastic. There are too many parts to the design that I enjoy, but one aspect that has been beautiful and practical at the same time is the plant screening near our fire pit. Other designers had suggested things that didn't address all the issues in the right way. Patti clearly is able to think about many different aspects and address them all with a few well placed plants, shrubs or trees. We had many landscaping challenges and an irregular-shaped corner lot. Patti's design gave our lot beauty, privacy, lot line definement, screening, shade, personality, ease of care, yet kept a good portion of the yard open for play and allowed for sun for our vegetable garden. Patti oversaw the installation at the beginning and the end. The guys from Monarch Nursery worked diligently to get everything installed in one day. That night we had severe storms and the next day, I was pleased to find my trees and all the other plantings were still standing tall. Patti, we just love what you did for our property and definitely will use your design services as our landscaping needs evolve.

I had so many terrible candidates before Patti that I was getting disappointed. It was a breath of fresh air to work with Patti. She was very professional and nice. She understood my ideas and worked with my preferences, which were specific, yet explained why something might not be right for our home and added choices of her own. She saw immediate things that I or other professionals never even noticed. I wanted something different from the houses in the neighborhood, not cookie cutter plantings. She did a unique and wonderful design that incorporated mostly low maintenance and hardy plants yet added beautiful specimen plants that will definitely add charm to our home. Everyone who sees our design responds with "WOW." Her design has a wonderful balance, great use of texture, size, color and space, works in harmony with the home (instead of competing with it like I have noticed with some other landscapes). It will leave us with a very large section of grass to use for games and running (instead of using up all of the front yard for plantings and grand walks), yet will encompass our land in a way that will allow it to stand out and apart from everyone else and showcases beautiful plantings. She also addressed important issues (sun, wasps, salt, privacy) in an attractive and subtle way. Her vision and design were very unique and exciting. Right now, we just put in Phase I and the plantings are still small, but I can see their potential and am very happy. We will put in the second phase during the spring. We did run into a snag with Phase I: We did not care for the original selection of evergreen that was installed. Although I loved the unique color, it was a blueish green pine tree; it was rather scrawny and I thought it made the wrong statement as a specimen tree next to the house. Patti agreed with us and immediately went looking for a better shaped tree. When one wasn't available, she decided upon a beautiful and perfect Douglas Fir tree that I get to enjoy everyday. It brings a smile to my face whenever I see it and I feel at that moment I can relax because I have all this simple, natural beauty to enjoy. Overall, it was a very positive experience and the Douglas Fir is so perfect, it makes up for the snag we hit with the initial evergreen.