Expert Clackamas Landscape Design and Build Services with Big Sky Landscaping

Some of the most popular trends in Clackamas include: 

• Utilizing native, lower-maintenance plants for a more eco-friendly space

• Utilizing vertical space to enhance aesthetic interest in a smaller area (living fences are a beautiful way to do this)

• Incorporating a mixture of bold, vibrant, and moody colors

• Creating a calming effect through sound and water

• Making your yard more sustainable by growing food and creating a home for wildlife, such as bees or chickens

You’ll want to keep in mind factors such as the areas:

• Warm, wet climate

• Rolling hills and scenic views of Mt. Hood, Oregon’s tallest mountain

• Family-oriented atmosphere

• Basalt-rich soil that retains nutrients and moisture

• Consider the contours of the terrain and the plants living in it, areas of sun, shade, and moisture, and where you expect the most activity to take place.

• Enhance existing features by using distinctive tiles, flooring materials, or grass steps.

• Repurpose old materials such as bricks and stones. 

• Transplant plants to create a more attractive aesthetic. 

While it might feel more authentic if you do all the designing yourself, there are irreplaceable benefits to having it done by a professional, including:

• Personalization

• Maximization of the use of space

• Selection of plants

• Integration of hardscape into the landscape

• Guarantee of a sustainable and eco-friendly transformation 

• Management of the entire project

• Assurance of added value to your home

Our payment structure is designed to align with the size and progress of your project. Typically, we require an initial down payment ranging from 10% to 50%, depending on the overall scope of work.

From there, larger projects may include progress payments tied to key milestones throughout the installation process, helping keep everything moving smoothly from start to finish.

The final 10% is due upon completion of the project.

If you have questions about payment structure or need flexibility based on your project, we’re always happy to review options with you during the consultation process.

The landscape design timeline depends on the size and complexity of your project. Smaller residential designs can move relatively quickly, while larger properties with grading, retaining walls, or custom outdoor living features may take more time.

At Big Sky Landscaping, our typical design process takes about 2 weeks from initial consultation to presenting your completed design.

For homeowners in Clackamas, this timeline also allows us to carefully evaluate site conditions, drainage needs, and sun exposure across your property so the final design is both thoughtfully planned and build-ready for long-term success.

We believe in individuality in our craftsmanship! Instead of offering cookie-cutter designs, we help clients craft custom landscaping that won’t be commercialized and shared with other clients. 

We encourage clients to get as creative as they want! Our designers and builders are skilled enough to handle the project as long as it is structurally feasible. 

So if you’d like a walking koi pond garden with multiple waterfalls? Consider it done. 

A concrete brick patio with mosaic pavers? We can do it. 

An outdoor kitchen/living area with an in-ground hot tub attached? We’ll find a way to make your idea practical and structurally sound.

Yes. Our services offer extensive design and installation. If you have a landscape architect in mind or a design already in place, we will work with what you have as well. 

The same goes for any other contractors you might have in mind for this project.

Plants that grow well in Clackamas thrive in a mild Pacific Northwest climate with wet winters, dry summers, and variable soil conditions that often include clay-heavy areas – especially if your home is in the low Cascade foothills or upper terraces. 

Native and climate-adapted plants such as evergreen shrubs, ornamental grasses, ferns, and perennials perform especially well here. In many Clackamas properties, proper drainage and soil amendment are important steps to ensure long-term plant health and strong root development.

If your home is among the few with a complicated or hard-to-work-with soil composition, worry not!

We can easily rework the ground used in your project to accommodate most plants, shrubs, and trees.