Services · Bend & Deschutes County
Six things we build into a yard
Design, hardscape, planting, water, fire and light — drawn by the same person who walks the site, installed by the crew that reads the plan. One contract, one set of drawings, no handoff.
Westside install, 2023. 640 sq ft of tumbled paver, basalt seat wall, gas fire table on a dedicated line.
- 60%
- Of Bend's municipal water goes outdoors in summer
- 100–130
- Frost-free days we design and phase around
- 2 yr
- Hardscape workmanship warranty on every build
- 1 yr
- Plant establishment warranty, irrigated beds
How to read this page
Scope, spec, and what it costs
Every service below lists what's actually in scope, the spec we build to, and a real range. We publish ranges because a 400 sq ft patio on decomposed pumice and a 400 sq ft patio on a basalt shelf are not the same job, and anybody who quotes you both at one number hasn't seen your lot.
Three variables move Bend pricing more than anything else: rock excavation, access width for a mini-ex, and how far your material has to be barrowed from the truck. We measure all three on the first visit and put them in writing.
Services combine. Most of our work is a full-yard install where design, hardscape, planting, irrigation and lighting land as one phased proposal — but we'll take a standalone irrigation retrofit or a patio-only build if that's the year you're having.
— Nora Vance, LCP, principal designer
01 · Design
Landscape design
A drawing set you could hand to any competent contractor in Deschutes County — grades, plant counts, paver layout, valve schedule. We'd rather you own it.
Concept markup from a Discovery West site walk, before the drafted plan.
- DeliverablesSite analysis, dimensioned concept plan, planting plan with counts and sizes, grading and drainage plan, irrigation zone diagram, and one 3D view per outdoor room.
- Site analysisSun and wind exposure, existing grade shots, soil probe at three points to find the lava shelf, drainage path, view corridors, utility and septic locations.
- Review packetsHOA / ARC submittals for NorthWest Crossing, Discovery West, Tetherow and Broken Top, formatted to their committee requirements.
- RevisionsTwo rounds included. Third round and beyond billed hourly at $115.
- Timeline3–5 weeks from measure to final set. Winter (Nov–Feb) is our fastest design queue.
02 · Hardscape
Paver patios & walkways
Bend freezes and thaws roughly 90 nights a year. Patios fail at the base, not the surface, so that's where the money goes.
Base prep is 60% of the labor hours on a patio and 100% of the reason it stays flat.
- Base spec6" compacted 3/4"-minus for patios, 8–10" under driveway pavers, compacted in 3" lifts, 1" bedding sand, polymeric joint sand swept and set.
- Edge restraintSpiked poly edge on soil, cut concrete toe on slopes over 4%. No sand-only edges.
- WallsSegmental retaining walls with geogrid over 4 ft, or set basalt outcropping — the westside default when the rock is already on site.
- Rock excavationHammer work billed as a disclosed allowance, typically $900–$2,600 on Awbrey Butte and Broken Top lots.
- Also builtSteps and risers, dry-laid flagstone, walkways, fire pit surrounds, pool decks, driveway aprons.
03 · Planting
Native & drought-tolerant planting
The plants that survive here are a short, specific list. We plant that list, in the two windows it works, at spacing that assumes they'll grow.
Third-season bed: blue avena, rabbitbrush, penstemon and yarrow over 3/4" rock mulch.
- PaletteRabbitbrush, manzanita, mountain mahogany, penstemon, yarrow, blue avena and karl foerster grasses, serviceberry, vine maple in protected courtyards.
- SoilNative pumice drains too fast to hold anything. We amend planting pockets and import screened topsoil by the yard — a disclosed line item, not a surprise.
- Planting windowsSept 1–Oct 20 is our best root-establishment window. April 15–May 25 is second. We don't plant in July.
- FirewiseDefensible-space zoning for WUI parcels in Tumalo, Sunriver and Crooked River Ranch — noncombustible 0–5 ft, spaced and irrigated 5–30 ft.
- TurfSod or hydroseed where it earns its water. Note: city code bans irrigated turf in new planter strips.
04 · Water
Irrigation systems
Sixty percent of this city's water goes outdoors. Half of a bad system's output goes onto the sidewalk. Zoning is the whole game.
Inline drip at 0.6 GPH under mulch. Beds and turf never share a zone.
- ZoningBeds on inline drip, turf on MP rotators, sun and shade split, never mixed on one valve. Typical residential build: 6–11 zones.
- ControllerWiFi controller with local weather feed and a master valve. Programmed to Bend's actual ET, then re-checked at the 30-day walk.
- BackflowAssembly installed and tested per City of Bend Water Services requirements; meter box protected until landscaping is signed off.
- DepthMainline at 18", laterals at 12", all under compacted trench backfill — deep enough to survive a Bend January.
- SeasonalFall blowout at 50 PSI (booked from Oct 1) and spring startup with head-by-head adjustment. $145–$285 by zone count.
05 · Outdoor living
Outdoor kitchens & fire features
The point of a Bend backyard is the shoulder season. Built right, a fire feature adds six usable weeks on each end of the year.
Framed counter, basalt veneer, 36" grill and side burner on a dedicated gas run.
- KitchensSteel-stud frame, cement board, basalt or dimensional stone veneer, granite or concrete counter, built-in grill, side burner, under-counter fridge on a GFCI circuit.
- FireWood-burning masonry pits, gas fire tables and linear burner troughs with electronic ignition, sized 36"–60". Gas and electrical by licensed subs we've used since 2016.
- StructuresCedar or steel pergolas, shade sails, screen walls sited against Bend's evening northwest wind.
- ClearancesFire features set to manufacturer clearances from combustibles and structures, with permits pulled where the gas run or footing requires it.
- Lead timeStone and appliance ordering adds 3–6 weeks. We spec in January for a June build.
06 · Light
Landscape lighting
Bend gets dark at 4:32 in December. Lighting is the cheapest line item that changes how much of the year you actually use the yard.
2700K uplights on ponderosa trunks, shielded path lights, no glare toward the neighbor's windows.
- System12V low-voltage, brass and copper fixtures, direct-burial cable at 8", transformer sized with 20% headroom for a future phase.
- TechniqueUplighting on ponderosa and juniper trunks, grazing on basalt walls, shielded downlights under eaves, step lights in every riser over 5".
- Color2700K throughout. Warm, consistent, and dark-sky considerate — shielded and aimed down where it faces a property line.
- ControlAstronomic timer with a photocell, zoned so the entry, patio and back beds run on separate schedules.
- WarrantyLifetime fixture warranty on brass, 5 years on the transformer, 2 years on our wiring and connections.
We had a certificate of occupancy hanging on a planter strip.
— Homeowner, Discovery West · builder handoff, 2024
Planter strips and sign-off
City of Bend treats planter strip landscaping as a building-permit condition that has to clear before your certificate of occupancy. Species, spacing and street-tree requirements are set by Design Standards Part II, Ch. 12, and the pre-approved ROW templates are narrower than most people expect.
We build to the template, photograph the finished strip, and hand you the file the inspector wants. On the Discovery West job above: staked on a Tuesday, planted Thursday, photos uploaded Friday.
How a build runs
From first walk to the 30-day check
Design-build means one team and one contract. Here is the sequence every project follows, and roughly when it happens.
Site walk & budget range
90 minutes on your property. Grade shots, soil probes, access measurement, and an honest budget range before anyone draws a line.
Free · booked within 10 days
Design retainer & drawings
Concept, then the full set: grading, planting, irrigation, hardscape layout. Two revision rounds. HOA packet if your community needs one.
3–5 weeks
Line-item proposal
Every element priced separately with allowances called out — rock excavation, imported soil, stone selection. Phase it or build it whole.
7–10 days after plan approval
Locates, permits, mobilize
Oregon 811 locates, ROW or grading permits where Title 16 applies, materials staged. You get a start date and a crew name.
2–4 weeks
Build
Rough grade, hardscape base, walls, irrigation mainline, planting, lighting, finish grade. Photo update every Friday.
2–7 weeks on site
Walkthrough & 30-day return
Controller programmed with you standing there, plant list handed over, warranty in writing. We come back at 30 days to retune the zones.
Included
Where we work
Service area & what changes by neighborhood
Westside & Awbrey Butte
Slope, basalt shelf and view corridors. Expect retaining walls, terracing and a hammer-work allowance on nearly every proposal.
NorthWest Crossing & Discovery West
ARC review packets, street-tree specs and planter-strip sign-off. Small lots, tight access, wheelbarrow labor priced in.
Tetherow & Broken Top
Larger parcels, native-palette guidelines, and lighting rules that favor shielded, low-output fixtures. We design to the committee first.
Tumalo, Sisters & Sunriver
Well or Avion water, WUI defensible-space planning, and longer irrigation runs. Travel is quoted, not hidden in the labor rate.
Straight answers
What people ask before they sign
Do I have to do design before you'll build?
For anything over about $25,000, yes. For a standalone patio, irrigation retrofit or lighting add-on, we'll price off a measured sketch and skip the retainer.
Can you install in November?
Hardscape yes, until the ground freezes hard — usually late November. Planting no. We'd rather hold your plants for April than warranty something that went in the ground at 28°F.
What licensing do you carry?
Oregon requires two: the individual Landscape Construction Professional and the Landscape Contracting Business license that carries the bond and insurance. We hold both — LCB #9418, $20,000 bond, $1M general liability, workers' comp on every employee hour.
Do you do maintenance?
Not weekly mowing. We do Spring Startup, mid-season irrigation audits, Fall Cleanup and Winterization for yards we built, and we'll hand you a short list of maintenance firms we trust for the rest.
Can we phase it over two years?
Most of our clients do. The masterplan gets drawn once; we sleeve conduit and irrigation stubs under phase-one hardscape so phase two doesn't cut your patio.
What isn't included?
Tree removal over 12" caliper, structural decks, fencing and pool shells. We coordinate those subs but they contract with you directly.
Next step
Walk the lot with us
Ninety minutes, no charge, no drawing yet — grade shots, soil probes, access measurement and a budget range you can actually plan against. Design queue for the current build season fills by February.
