Rainy weather and a steep grade challenged Tryon Creek Landscape's installation team at this Lake Oswego, Ore., residence. Over eight months of construction, the crew cleared unsightly plantings and unkempt hardscape, transforming the site with a new dock, stairs and 1,500 square feet of dry stacked stone retaining walls installed by hand.

Sixty tons of "A" split basalt rock, 64 cubic yards of crushed gravel and 56 cubic yards of concrete were installed in total. Approximately 60 cubic yards of old plant material, 50 cubic yards of excavated dirt and 100 yards of old concrete, brick and rock were demolished and removed before installation began.

Early in the installation phase, team members had to be secured with a rope tied to a tree just to walk the project area following heavy spring rains. The Tryon crew built an access road with several kickbacks during construction to allow foot and wheelbarrow access to the site.

The owners of this residence, overlooking Lake Oswego, Ore., were thrilled with their stunning lakefront view. The landscape leading to the view, however, was another story. Principal Stacey Werner of Tryon Creek Landscape, Inc., worked with the homeowners and designer Patty Hines to remove years of mismanaged hardscape and landscaping, creating a new and inviting scene that features tiered retaining walls, plantings, and stairs for safe access to the dock and lakefront at the bottom of a steep grade change.

The owners wanted a backyard that would add to their lake view, not detract from it like the existing landscape, which was overgrown with old, leggy and misshaped plant material following years of improper maintenance and old age. The old concrete and brick hardscape was broken, eroding and beginning to slide down the hill.

Large construction equipment was unable to reach the hillside due to the grade change. A Ditchwitch SK500 mini skid loader hauled materials from the front of the residence to the top of the hill, and workers used wheelbarrows and five-gallon buckets to move materials from the top of the site. The retaining wall at the base of the hill is Celtic Stone, with a coping cap from Mutual Materials, based in Bellevue, Wash.

New steps with a pre-cast sandstone finish (Napa Valley Cast Stone) were installed adjacent to the house, set on concrete rat slabs. A new deck was also added to the house, and a new boathouse was installed at the lake level with a deck for additional entertaining space.

Dilapidated hardscape and unruly plantings above a grassy lakefront nook formed an uninviting scene before the project began.

The owners, the designer and the contractor had a common vision, but knew the project would be a challenge. The site was very steep, and the design and material choices had to be made carefully due to restricted site access. No large equipment could reach the area, limiting the installers to a small mini skid steer loader in the upper backyard and wheelbarrows and buckets for the rest of the yard.

Demolition was necessary before construction began. Old native rock, patios, walkways and walls were broken up with a jackhammer and moved by hand with five-gallon buckets and wheelbarrows to the upper level of the backyard, where they were loaded into the mini skid loader's bucket, transferred to the front yard and loaded into drop boxes. Ten 10-yard drop boxes of old hardscape material and six 10-yard loads of old plant material were removed in total.

Installing nearly 1,500 square feet of dry stack stone retaining walls was the project's greatest challenge. The wall materials were chosen for shape, color and size, so workers could move the stone into place by hand without heavy equipment. Werner's team took elevation shots to establish how tall each wall needed to be, and determined the proper distance between the walls for soil and hillside stability. Building "cut" walls rather than "fill" structures let the team push the engineering limits a little more.

With dry stack walls, a gravel footing and gravel behind the walls is crucial. The mini skid loader carried gravel from the front and dumped it into a 24-inch plastic pipe, temporarily installed as a chute, sliding the material down about 60-80 feet and saving labor time. A hired barge floated about 30 tons of split basalt rock to the site for the lower walls, and another 30 tons was carried in by hand for the top section.

The new walkway and step treads, made from precast sandstone finished concrete from Napa Valley Cast Stone in California, were ordered 60 days before they were scheduled for installation to provide adequate time for shipping. The retaining wall at the lake level, nearest the new dock, is Celtic Stone with a coping cap from Mutual Materials.

While Tryon Creek's in-house concrete team performed most of the installation work, a framer assisted in the construction of the boathouse and deck, an electrician wired the boat house and a specialty ironworks company in Portland, Kervin Brothers Iron Works, built the wrought iron railing and property fencing.

Construction ran from March to October, using three- to six-man crews on demolition and installation, taking advantage of Oregon's few dry months in the summer. Werner and his team took special care with materials and labor costs, avoiding budget overruns at the client's behest, and leaving the homeowners happy with an improved dock, safe access to the water from the property, and fresh hardscape and landscaping worthy of their spectacular lakefront view.