about*wld
laura will & adele medina o‘dowd | willow landscape design | wld
laura will principal, landscape architect
adele medina o’dowd principal, landscape designer, a.k.a. dogwood*designer. After 18 years as a graphic and new-media designer in the television and museum world, adele turned to an older media, landscape design, to reconnect with the physical world and get dirty. A graduate of GWU’s well regarded landscape design program, adele has been working to incorporate green thinking into residential landscape design projects as a matter of course. adele loves gardening at night.
collaborating with wld What’s so great about working with Landscape Designers? A Landscape Designer is there to help you see the big picture, identify priorities, plan the steps with the budget in mind and take care of the process along the way. Even though it may seem like a big investment on the outset, by following the design process you can expect that your vision will come to life and be vital for years to come. In the long run, it is actually the most economical way go. When we work together, your ideas, needs and desires will shape the outcome. We will be there to provide choices and make sure things get done. We help our clients by creating personal landscapes that resonate with their own inner worlds while taking it easy on the outer one.
photography on this site most of the photos that appear on this site were taken by us personally and All rights are reserved ©. There are some instances where we have linked/blogged them from images found on flickr. The use of all photos on this site are for an educational purpose and not for profit or to be sold. We properly credit photographers other than ourselves.
our process
1. SITE ANALYSIS | collect relevant base diagram information, take photos, conduct a site survey and catalog existing plants. Sometimes a topographic survey is also needed.
2. BRAINSTORM | we’ll define your goals for the project, big or small and discuss ideas and desires and look at inspirational materials – books, magazines, neighbor yards.
3. CONCEPTS | we will prepare a design concept document especially for you addressing your site with schematic sketches and photographs so that you may see ideas clearly.
4. MASTER PLAN | will contain the following:
a. plant material types (specific varieties will be determined later)
b. hardscape designs, walks, steps , walls, decks, patios, fences, etc.
c. rough estimate of time and cost to install all at once or in part
5. CONSTRUCTION DOCUMENTS | as needed, wld will provide construction drawings that will be sufficiently detailed for contractors to give firm prices and obtain any permits. These drawings will be made only if necessary for the process to continue.
6. ASSISTANCE in BIDDING/NEGOTIATION | wld has an existing relationship with landscape contractors who provides plant installation and hardscape construction and can provide price. If you would like to bid the work competitively, we will provide bid packages and administer the bidding process. Clients are responsible for necessary permitting.
7. ASSISTANCE in CONSTRUCTION | we will be on-site daily as your representative during construction to work with the contractor. We’ll be in touch on a regular basis to review progress, answer questions and help resolve and problems if they arise.
THAT’s IT in a NUTSHELL.
our studio we work on residential landscape design projects throughout the Washington DC metro area, VA & MD. We would love to visit you in your landscape!
Mira Courpas on 26 Mar 2007 at 5:18 pm #
Adele – this is amazing!! OK, my notebooks look like trash compared to this. How do you do it??
dogwood*designer on 26 Mar 2007 at 8:59 pm #
I’m certain your notebooks are fabulous – I don’t believe that for a second, but I’m also glad you like the site. Please use it to talk to people about plants and if you’ve got anything to add, please also do that. I’m always interested in what other people are using for landscapes and like themselves. If you ever want to be a guest blogger, the offer is always open.
a
Cathy Spargo on 30 Jun 2009 at 1:35 pm #
Hi – just wanted to say I love your designs. I was looking at the web trying to get ideas for our backyard area in re: to dog designs.
Sarah Conrad on 28 Jul 2010 at 9:14 am #
What an ingenious name!
We have a tiny backyard in Alexandria. We have three kids, boy/girl/boy ages 15, 11 and 7. It is L shaped allowing for the kids to have to back and we cannot see it from our new porch off the house. We have a plan in hand which involves basically patio-ing the whole thing over (it needs to be graded slightly too) but we don’t have any plants on the plan, nor have the kids’ needs really been considered either.
What experience do you have w/ masonry incorporated into your landscapes and are you interested in coming over to see our yard?
We are not in a hurry. Paying for the porch right now!!
Many thanks, Sarah & Roger Conrad
dogwood*designer on 28 Jul 2010 at 10:59 am #
Hello Sarah and Roger,
Yes, of course we’d love to come over to check out your yard. I will send you some info about how we work. We do indeed work with masonry design and installation all the time, patios, walls, walks, pools, fire pits, you name it. We have a good relationships with several masons and landscape installation contractors and can help you see the process through from start to finish. We love especially to design for families. You might even call it a specialty of ours. We will be in touch shortly,
a