PORTFOLIO
The all-season Garden: Year-round gardening in the Montana Rockies
Welcoming owner and visitor alike, this Montana Bitterroot valley landscape design seems to frame the modern residence and places it squarely into the Rocky Mountain scenery.
Not only did Charles & Nora in Stevensville, Montana, desire a landscape design that would soften, if not hide, their long perimeter wall, they wished this landscape to become a garden that they could enjoy in multiple ways throughout the seasons.
An unwelcoming exterior wall in urgent need of dressing up.
This wasn’t their first gardening adventure: Charles and Nora have been avid gardeners all their lives and even achieved the Master Gardener certification. They can be found in their garden almost daily: She enjoys the care for perennials and grasses, and he loves the shaping of shrubs and trees, and they otherwise share all garden chores that arise, such as fine-tuning the irrigation when plants have been added, or spreading fresh mulch, etc.
This garden feels serene in the early morning sun
Having experienced the benefits of gardening with native plants in their previous Virginia garden, they didn’t need convincing that a landscape design with Rocky Mountain native plants would best integrate the garden into their surroundings, help it blend harmoniously with the scenery of the Bitterroot River that flows past their property, and frame the view of St. Joseph Peak, in the distance, across the river.
Native plants mingle with non-native ones: The must-haves Irises, Poppies are familiar and soothing
It was indeed a hellstrip of a yard outside their house walls; 60 feet or so of stark 6 ft wall, only broken up by the kitchen window which looked down on a supersized, lifeless expanse of turf, with a few trees providing a bit of screening between their and the neighbor’s property. On their wishlist was a naturalistic discovery garden design with a generous mix of perennials, grasses, shrubs and trees that would hold the gardeners’ enjoyment through all season: Not prepared to watch their landscape disappear under a blanket of snow in winter, we planned to create a lot of winter interest in this naturalistic garden with the varied textures of perennials and ornamental grasses, conifers of various sizes and unchanging forms, and local boulders that are ever-present earthy structures in all seasons.
Completely open yet feeling very private: An inexhaustible playground for passionate plantspeople
I created a design with an easy to maintain DG (decomposed granite) walkway meandering through this landscape, and a dry creek that evokes the nearby river bed with many beautiful boulders. Ornamental grasses, shrubs, trees and perennials were Montana native plants where suitable. These plants cover every biome in Montana, and thus the gardener can find plants suited perfectly to his or her growing conditions. They are endlessly interesting and beautiful; adapted to local soils, climate and water conditions, they are generally disease resistant and drought tolerant plants that require little maintenance. Perhaps most importantly, they provide food and shelter for all manner of wildlife that they evolved with, such as pollinators and their kin, birds of course and small and larger mammals. They are locally grown by plants people that are equally passionate about our native environment, and for many consumers this is a valuable plus. What I appreciate most about designing landscapes with Montana natives is that they connect me closer to nature and lift my spirits, and whatever I can do to contribute to habitat restoration and helping our wildlife is dear to me; no other plants can do that.
The “Dry Stream Bed” is a permanent and entertaining feature of this garden. It evokes the near-by river and helps this garden blend seamlessly in its environment.
What ensued was an excellent working relationship: Which garden designer doesn’t enjoy working with plant lovers who also share your aesthetics and goals? We tweaked the planting plan several times in order to find just the right plants with the structures and textures that would provide that year-round interest. However, we didn’t restrict the plant palette to Montana natives: Having been gardeners all their lives, Nora and Charles had a few very traditional “must-have” plant darlings that they wanted to integrate into this palette, such as Iris and Lilacs. With the rich variety of plants at our disposal we had many conversations to fine-tune the planting plan, and with the help from a few great local growers of native plants (see below), we put together an exciting list of plants. Now, two years after installation, we’ve learned about the challenging conditions that affect the garden: Strong desiccating winds both in winter as in summer, with occasional moist air blowing in from the river; hotter summers and longer dry spells that demanded some substitutions with tougher plants. And as always, gardens evolve: Tastes refine, accidents (and deer) happen… Some grasses will need to be exchanged against better performers to create a more convincing draping over the boulders; some groundcovers are unruly creepers and will be replaced. Also, more angular boulders will be incorporated into the dry stream bed, for increased variety’s sake.
The DG in this garden path is a clean, easy to maintain and a perfectly modern material that feels natural, unobtrusive, and yet permanent.
Here’s a glimpse of what the garden looks like when snow covers the ground. It seems that it is as interesting and entertaining to look at with some grasses and perennials flower stalks left to dry and rattle in the wind and carry a cute cap of snow on their dried seed heads that will be appreciated as winter food for birds and mammals.
There will be more photos to follow – in another post….
Installation: Bob Johson/Innovative Landscaping
Plant Partners: Great Bear Nursery, Hamilton https://www.greatbearnativeplants.com/
Center for Native Plants, Whitefish https://centerfornativeplants.com/
Caras Nursery, Missoula https://www.carasnursery.com/
Glacier Nursery, Kalispell https://glaciernursery.com/wp-content/uploads/2024-Catalog-PRICELESS.pdf
This residential landscape design stands out with dramatic, lush and unfussy plants that have remarkably low watering needs. Shady sitting areas, water features and various plant collections draw children and adults outdoors for year-round play and enjoyment.
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