Blending Native NW and Japanese Inspired Gardens on Bainbridge Island since 1972

I am fourth generation born and raised on Bainbridge Island.  My father introduced landscape design to me as a child, bringing me out on jobsites to instill a sense of character and work ethic.  I quickly fell in love with the profession and its endless creative possibilities.

I take great pride in the work that we do as a company; not only the product that we create, but the uncompromising sense of integrity, hard work, and honest business practices that we uphold.

Born and raised on Bainbridge Island, a grandson of Norwegian immigrants who homesteaded the island, I was fortunate at an early age to be exposed to some of the finest gardens in the world—the Bloedel Reserve, the Kubota Gardens, the University of Washington Arboretum and Japanese Garden, and the Butchart Gardens of Victoria, B.C.

And as luck would have it, the wife of the island’s preeminent master landscaper was my mother’s hair stylist.  I tagged along with her and spent many wonderful hours as a child learning invaluable gardening lessons and techniques from ‘Happy’ Nishi’, as he was affectionately known.

I have carried these lessons with me for a lifetime, and am grateful for his influence. His greatest lesson was to “create from the heart”, not the mind.

In addition to Happy Nishi, I owe a special thanks and tribute to Junkoh Harui, Tad Sakuma, Mo Nakata, Sam Nakao, and Akio Suyematsu for guiding and influencing me in many subtle ways, from establishing an ethic of hard work each and every day, to the mindful appreciation of nature with its infinite combinations of color, texture, form, sound, and movement.  Some of the finest ground covers and plant materials are indigenous to the Pacific Northwest.

I also owe a debt of gratitude to Kay Takeda, of Takeda Landscaping, in Seattle. I learned the formal art of landscape design from Kay, and and after graduating from the University of  Washington, spent 18 months under her expert supervision.  Both Kay and Happy were renowned for their bonsai creations, and their influence on me regarding ornamental pruning and the art of bonsai are felt each and every day.

I consider myself to be a lucky man to have been allowed to help many wonderful families on Bainbridge and in Seattle over the years in their efforts to beautify and enhance their homes and gardens.  Private gardens are important sanctuaries for all of us to be able to self reflect and find some inner peace and satisfaction within the context of our very busy lifestyles.

Each home and property is unique and carries with it a certain “personality”.  My goal in every instance is to work closely with each client to discover and create the ideal garden for their home, whether it be Native Northwest, English Cottage, Formal European, Japanese Inspired, or a blending of these.