APLD ~ APLD Members ~ Member of the Month

APLD Members ~ Member of the Month

Rick Laughlin, APLD
June Member of the Month
Salt Lake City, Utah

Conversion of a small front yard lawn into a layered garden.

Busy, single professional owner wanted a colorful, water-wise, low maintenance garden with seasonal interest to attract hummingbirds and butterflies. I eliminated all turf in the 18’-wide park strip, replacing it with contrasting masses of evergreen shrubs, ornamental grasses, perennials and groundcover. Main yard turf was reduced to visually functional turf and surrounding layers of plantings.

Back yard driveway transformed into a garden retreat.

Client traveled often, with little time for maintenance. They wanted to escape to an inviting, seasonally interesting garden. Client decided to remove existing garage and build new one behind the house. I suggested it should repeat house siding and bricks and be accessible to the house on its west side. Front yard, I decided to unify park strip and yard area with repeating plants, so I designed a functional lawn space and layered plants for depth to soften imposing house. In the side and back yard I designed to lose the “bowling alley” effect and create the allusion of more space using different base plane surfaces, elevation changes, partially obscured views, and different rooms like entertainment/relax area with arbor. In addition, I added a lawn area for dog, hidden ski chair area and colorful and fragrant plantings that disguise the formerly bland alley. Patio area unified with house using pavers that resemble brick siding texture and color.

Contrasted rectilinear and curvilinear lines in the back yard create visual tension and interest; this was inspired by a Thomas D. Church design. Wrought iron fence entrance to back yard repeats entrance railing and visually invites one to discover the back yard via angular gravel path. Garbage cans screened from street with lattice fence. Notice the rose-covered arbor that shades, encloses and personalizes the patio. I suggested and designed the wood arbor to satisfy owners’ shade request.

Landscape renovation responds to architectural additions.

The owner hired an architect to improve the front of the house. Inspired by a landscape design she saw in southern California, the owner commissioned me to create a similar look using different materials. Overlapping architectural forms on the house are repeated in the rectangular entrance concrete slabs. This circulation pattern continues parallel to the house leading towards the back yard. The tall ornamental grass creates a sense of mystery as one approaches the front door, gradually revealing a rectangular fish pond. Aromatic thyme softens the spaces between the concrete slabs en route to the front door. Additionally the owner wanted the formerly predominately turf grass front yard converted into a water-wise landscape. The house sits on a broad curving circle. I repeated this form in the plantings, which add some movement to the composition.

Clay soil lot transformed into a layered composition.

Client was a busy doctor who enjoyed gardening. The existing soil was such poor clay that I had 8-10” removed from the entire landscape and replaced it with 8”of a premium soil mix, tilled in 3” at a time. Following this, the client gushed to me the newly amended soil was like “butter.” Also replaced was the existing entrance and deck railing with a more modern, functional railing that connected the house, deck and steps. I softened rock walls and slopes in the front yard with shrubs, cascading perennials and ornamental grass. In the back yard, the new free-form deck at floor plan elevation eliminated the former awkward step access and extended house into the garden. The vine covered lattice partition on deck gave owner privacy, while the fragrant plants used along steps and walkways were inspired by an APLD trip to England and France. The dry stream was aligned on visual axis with master bedroom.

Steep water-thirsty lawn becomes water-wise landscape that deters daredevil children.

The owner was a single professional that was frustrated with the local children using her hill to perform their daredevil stunts on skateboards, skis, bicycles, etc. She wanted a means to replace the hard-to-keep-green turf grass lawn and a functional deterrent to the local daredevils. My solution was to strategically place 40 hand-selected boulders in a configuration that would deter the children from using her hill for their entertainment. Water-wise plantings complete the composition.

Designer Biography

Rick Laughlin, APLD is the owner and principle designer of Laughlin Design Associates, Inc., (LDA) a company that does mostly residential landscape design and exclusive commercial. Rick is a Certified Professional Landscape Designer and an active member of:

APLD (Association of Professional Landscape Designers), and is founder and past-President of the six-state APLD Inter-Mountain Regional Chapter.
Society of Garden Designers, United Kingdom
Garden Writers Association of America
Utah Nursery and Landscape Association

In a continuing effort to enhance his knowledge of the profession, Rick attends APLD conferences, other professional classes/seminars, teaches landscape design classes at Jordan Valley Water Conservancy Gardens, and travels to gardens in the United States and abroad. He has a strong college background in horticulture and wildlife. Rick has been an avid gardener for 35 years and a professional landscape designer for 16 years. As a teenager, he installed gardens in Virginia. Rick grew up in a landscape intensive family, served as college greenhouse caretaker, installed residential and commercial landscapes in Virginia, and then moved to Salt Lake to continue the profession.

LDA has designed and installed projects in Park City, North Carolina, Idaho and Utah. Notable projects include Marquee Restaurant, (now Ruby Tuesdays) Park City, Parkview Plaza, Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, and numerous residences in Salt Lake City and outlying areas. Rick works with a wide range of garden styles.

Certified Members seeking to be profiled should send before and after photos with SHORT design intent statement to:

Bethany Dennis
APLD Communications Manager
Email: communications@apld.org
Phone: 717-238-9780

* PHOTOS SHOULD BE CLEAR COLOR PRINTS OR JPEG COMPRESSED FILES