Services

Response To Nature is an owner-operated, environmentally-conscious landscape business that designs and builds unique outdoor gardens, water features and living spaces for the Central Oregon community. We aspire to sculpt the natural landscape to meet the ever-changing needs of our residential and commercial landscaping clients in Bend, Redmond and Sisters, Oregon.

Response To Nature is small enough to make the experience personal, yet big enough to do the job right from concept to installation. The process starts with a conversation about your landscaping goals and how to achieve them by applying proven principles of landscape architecture to the existing terrain.

“Landscapes should have the elements of mystery, magic, and spontaneity.”


Sandy Melchiori, co-founder & landscape designer

Landscape design combines elements of art and science to create a functional and aesthetic extension of indoor living to the outdoors. Our landscape designers are experts at this – they apply both artistic creativity and their landscape architecture expertise to develop a landscaping plan that meets the needs of you and your surrounding environment. » More

Response To Nature provides a full-service landscape construction team that offers experience in all aspects of installing and implementing your landscaping project. We can build what you need as well as coordinate any additional resources and outside contractors. We stay until the job is done and you are satisfied with the results. » More

Our experienced service tech focuses on all of the mechanics of irrigation and pump systems: Maintenance, construction, remodel, retrofit on existing systems and system start-up and winterizing. We are also certified to test irrigation backflow devices.

 
Beautiful stream

Our Process

  1. One of our team has a conversation with the potential client over the phone, at a face-to-face meeting, or via email in response to an email inquiry about initial needs and ideas.
  2. We meet with our potential client at the job site to discuss ideas and needs in more detail. It’s important for us to get a feel for the client and their personal style.
         We usually complete a site analysis at this meeting too. The site analysis includes documenting the layout of existing structures, circulation routes, topography, sun and wind exposure, existing plant material, etc. It helps if the client has an existing site plan. Depending on the scale of project, we may recommend a survey.
  3. Response To Nature (RTN) develops a proposal for design services.
  4. Upon approval of the design service agreement, we develop a conceptual landscape plan that focuses on the major built components and their integration into the site. We carefully analyze each space to ensure that the design meets all needs.
  5. We present our concept to the client and then openly discuss how and why the major components were located and shaped. This is often an educational meeting for the client as they discover the intricacies of their site.
  1. Crucial client feedback helps to guide the design development. We detail the specifics of all construction materials and plants.
  2. Our designers present the master landscape plan for final approval.
  3. Our team develops a landscape construction installation bid from the master plan.
  4. Upon acceptance of construction installation contract, we schedule and coordinate our crew and other necessary contractors to begin construction.
  5. We complete utility ‘locates’ first. If necessary, we conduct grading. Then we put in the infrastructure, such as electrical, irrigation, and water features. Next, we install the hardscape. The project is almost done when plants go in the ground. Our crew applies a nice top-dressing of mulch in the planting areas. Finally, we perform a thorough clean-up.
  6. We check with the client frequently – often many times per day, depending on their availability – to keep them informed of the installation progress.
  7. Upon completion of the installation, we create a ‘punch list’ to verify that we have achieved every detail on the plan and that the client is enthusiastically satisfied.

Design

Our landscape designers conduct a thorough site analysis at the beginning of the design process. We always consider ongoing maintenance and plant growth when developing our landscaping designs. Whenever possible, our designs emphasize low-maintenance, native landscapes that use regionally appropriate plants.

Our deliverable is a landscape design that integrates all hardscape and softscape features:

  • You receive a master landscape plan and an irrigation and lighting plan (if applicable).
  • If requested, we can also provide a landscape maintenance service plan that describes ongoing care of your landscape project.
  • Our landscape designers are skilled in document preparation and presentation. We make sure your project complies with your community’s Design Review Guidelines, local and county regulations, and even LEED credits from the U.S. Green Building Council.
  • We use AutoCAD to create clean and concise drawings. To help you envision your new landscape, we often illustrate our design ideas in 3D with SketchUp, or we enhance photos of your site using Adobe Photoshop.
  • Our design team coordinates with surveyors, architects, engineers and builders to ensure seamless transitions throughout your project.
CONTACT US FOR AN APPOINTMENT!

Construction

Our landscape construction team is experienced and skilled in all aspects of landscaping. We consider our strengths to be our versatility and our ability to communicate and work closely with our landscape designers, our clients, and outside contractors.

Our landscape installation team is responsible for building hardscape features and planting the softscape (flowers, trees, shrubs, etc.) required for your landscape design plan. We have experience with all types of projects – big and small, complicated and simple.

Administration

Professional landscape construction and installation requires many components, from building fences to applying intricate masonry techniques to coordinating electrical for lighting and water features. We can act as your over-all project administrator by coordinating and supervising the various contractors who specialize in the different disciplines.
CONTACT US FOR AN APPOINTMENT!

Our Services