This corner had a problem plenty of homeowners will recognise: a struggling tree, patchy lawn that never looked right, and standing water with nowhere to go. We stripped it out and started again with a design that works with the site rather than fighting it.
The stonework is the backbone of everything here. We laid a flagstone path along the curb using a mix of natural stone and salvaged brick, including some antique stamped pieces that carry character you cannot buy off a pallet. Monumental boulders anchor the corners of the planting bed and give the space a grounded, permanent feel. That kind of stonework takes patience. Every piece has to be placed with intention.
The drainage was solved with a dry stream bed drawing on Mount Rainier watershed design: graduated rock running from large boulders down to smooth river stone, channelling water away from the lawn and toward the street. It reads as a natural feature, which is the point. Drainage work should not look like something bolted onto a yard after the fact.
