Plan-it Earth Design

I am not a gardener. My yard needed updating, rearranging and some new plantings. Amy came and assessed our needs and wants. She came up with a great plan based on rhese. She was also able to recommend someone to help with redoing our front lawn. She arranged for the delivery of the plants needed and on the day of installation was present to place the plants for others to install. This was very helpful as I did not have to try to remember where everything went. She directed the workers on what plants to move and subdivide and where to place those as well. She also gave me a list of the plants with the various care needs- much appreciated by this non gardener! !She was great at communicating with us and very timely for our appointments. I would highly recommend her and I would definitely use her again.

Couldn’t be happier with the transformation of our backyard! We hired Amy to design and help implement this project and I am so glad we did. Amy listened extremely well to what we wanted (including lots of birds, bees, and butterflies and no walls of hedges) and understood exactly how to make a result that was better than anything we had imagined. We now have a place for daily relaxation and occasional party hosting. There is so much to love with the result, but I have to particularly call out the water fountain. When Amy said we needed a water feature to help attract the birds I didn’t picture anything quite as perfect as a large mossy rock that has been drilled to pump water through it…it’s just a perfect fit for the atmosphere we wanted. Hiring Amy to assist with the implementation was extremely worth it. She took the time to arrange every rock and careful plan all of the planting. If you don’t love your outdoor space or are considering giving it added attention, I highly recommend you contact Amy. I can hardly wait for the front yard update!

Amy is wonderful to work with - she listens to our wants and needs, helps us visualize what can be done and works to make it all happen. She works well with the landscaper to place each plant and rock perfectly! This is our second project by Amy and would enthusiastically recommend her.

We moved to another part of town last summer and were thrilled with the backyard and mature trees and landscape. We had several problem areas in the front yard that needed plantings and a makeover after an oil tank removal. I turned to Amy Whitworth who had helped me years ago at another residence. After an initial consult, Amy easily comprehended my needs and made thoughtful suggestions for a cohesive design. She advised me on soil improvement after assessing the spaces. I hired her to design 3 areas with varying light and drainage needs. Amy came back to me promptly with beautiful designs, a comprehensive plant list with alternatives and a generous offer for a remote consultation as needed. We were so impressed with her plant knowledge, professional, warm demeanor and willingness to advise us on the DIY installation. I hardily recommend Amy Whitworth for as a responsive, friendly and competent garden designer.

Previously I have designed my own gardens and they were more of the Cottage Garden designs that evolved over years. I hired Amy Whitworth of Plan-it Earth Design because my husband and I bought a new (to us) house on that had almost no landscaping. We will be retiring soon and we did not want to spend years designing and in the future, weeks doing trimming and more. I learned about Naturescaping from Amy’s classes that she does for the community. I also took one of her Raingarden classes to learn about that technique too. In our front and back yards, Amy designed hardscaping, planting beds, a water feature and raingardens all around our requirements. All incorporated her Naturescaping techniques with an abundance of native plants, along with a few of my requested favorite non-natives. All of our house rain runoff now feeds into raingardens which are beautiful! Both my neighbors also hired Amy and we talk about her plant knowledge and speed at identifying the right plant for the land and your needs. She is a delight to work with. She is extremely conscientious and cares about what she does and making sure it will work for you. While Amy oversaw the installation of our garden, she worked as a go between the workers and us to make sure we all understood the goals, any issues and resolution. The cost came right in what I expected. My husband and I so enjoy our yard now, both front and back. Best is that it is installed and we can enjoy it right now. We have already had someone come by and ask if they could take a picture of our front yard.

My husband & I have two small areas on our residential property that we want to complete with a mixed meadow & a rain garden with all natives for a Backyard Habitat certification. Amy was the only designer willing to help us with her "design-on-the-fly" for both areas. She has excellent knowledge of the plants from the Native Plants of the Willamette Valley list. She listened and consulted with me through both drawings and we got everything we wanted. We will be doing most of the work ourselves and are comfortable about accomplishing our goals. I highly recommend Amy for any project.

A year ago I was the new owner of a large yard, one with significant deficits: layout, plants, fencing, privacy and view. After contacting a few designers I was fortunate to find Amy Whitworth. I was impressed by her resume and her multifaceted approach to working with clients on projects large or small at any level of granularity the client desires. Amy Whitworth’s Plan-it Earth Design website is very comprehensive. It provided me with an overview of the steps required to create a harmonious sustainable low maintenance outdoor living space. Amy is willing to work with clients in whatever design capacity they choose. She will work with you from initial conceptual layout and create a detailed plan ready for installation. I preferred a gradual approach, and Amy’s Design-on-the-Fly concept led to a project based garden-making process. Together we have made great strides in addressing many of the structural challenges I faced: beautiful new custom gates and fencing, an arbor for privacy, and plans for new hardscape access to the yard. I installed several new trees and many native shrubs. We have a layout of plans for future garden paths, layering shrubs, perennial beds and a rain garden. I have been very happy with Amy’s collaborative approach. She relishes her role as coach and is very encouraging to learners. Working with Amy has afforded me the benefit of her network of professionals. These individuals have been uncommonly responsive, gracious and skilled. That can be hard to find under any circumstance, but even more so when the scope of the job is relatively small and the approach is gradual. I look forward to continuing to work with Amy for many years as current projects come to fruition and new ones evolve. We are both proud of the Gold certification we achieved through the Backyard Habitat Certification Program. I am happy to know that pollinators, hummingbirds, ladybugs and other species have new territory to claim. I am excited to see the bare root shrubs that went into the ground last February beginning to show their character.

We moved from a sun-filled garden in another city to a shady, tree-filled yard in Portland. Amy helped to re-design both our front and back yards. She taught us to appreciate shade-loving plants and where to re-locate some of the existing plants. She also helped these newcomers with ideas for nurseries and contractors. Amy was great to work with, and people who walk by our house often say that our garden is their favorite.

We worked with Amy to design our backyard garden. She transformed a rectangle with grass into a beautiful space with flowers, a fountain and a rain garden. Amy was a pleasure to work with and her design and knowledge skills turned our lawn into this beautiful garden.

We are very grateful to have met Amy at her Naturescape and Rain Garden workshops and she designed our small yard for us and picked out and placed the plants. She transformed our formerly plain and ugly yard into a lush rain garden with a boardwalk deck and flowering plants specially chosen to attract hummingbirds, bees and butterflys. Our yard feels like we're at a vacation resort. Every day I silently thank Amy for her vast knowledge and creativity. She works magic!

Watching my yard transform from uninteresting patches of grass to an array of beautiful plants, was the most enjoyable experience I have had in years. Of course, it began by sitting with Amy Whitworth and, under her guidance, choosing plant-by-plant what I liked and where it would be placed within the creative pathways she had suggested. I am sure that Amy could have measured my yard, drawn up a plan and had it implemented. However, by guiding me through the process (design) it made me feel that the result was a joint venture and I was invested in the outcome. I have a very small urban yard so plant placement and arbor design, for privacy, were important. Even as the hardscape was being prepared, Amy would be on site to suggest, “tweaks” to optimize the design. I interviewed more than one designer before beginning and know I made the correct choice with Amy

We first met Amy Whitworth of Plan-It Earth Design at a home and garden show where she was offering complimentary 15 minute consultations. What she came up with in response to the design challenges opened up possibilities we'd never considered. We hired her to design a new backyard for us, and subsequently to do design work in our front and side yards; we've now worked together for more than 10 years and we wouldn't consider doing something to the exterior of our house without consulting Amy. We've recommended Amy to many friends and they've all been similarly pleased. Amy came up with brilliant hardscaping and landscaping solutions and supervised installation. She's creative and resourceful, offering ideas at many price points; reliable and professional; easy to work with, and fun!