Every residential landscape starts with how you live outside and how your specific ground behaves. Taking time to map foot traffic, daily gathering spots, and healthy existing vegetation can provide a useful foundation before committing to materials or plant palettes.
Grounding choices in real property conditions can help avoid piecemeal decisions later. Our approach to Mercer Island garden planning and design focuses on understanding site exposure, physical access, and household routines across all four seasons, bringing ecological design, careful installation, and ongoing stewardship into a unified vision.
We take care of our clients every step of the way. Dedication to a high quality of service is core to our values as a company, and as individuals.
Site conditions can shape the sequence of a durable landscape project. When factors like steep grades, seasonal runoff, mature tree canopies, narrow access routes, or shoreline-sensitive surroundings apply to a property, they can set practical priorities. Recognizing where surface water gathers during storms or where existing root systems spread helps clarify what to discuss before garden features are selected.
Observing these site behaviors throughout the year brings clarity to the process. By watching how winter rains move across the property and noting how sun patterns shift into summer, you can phase improvements logically. This kind of sequence helps connect near-term priorities with later phases and long-term maintenance rather than treating each decision separately.
Properties with varying terrain, mature trees, or multiple outdoor zones can benefit from an integrated layout before work is divided into stages. Evaluating how gathering areas, garden paths, and planting beds relate to existing soils and water movement can help clarify the planning conversation and make later care easier to consider.
Browse the Seattle-area portfolio for further inspiration, or reach out when you are ready to discuss Mercer Island garden planning and design for your own property.
Earthworks, masonry, carpentry, metalwork, planting, irrigation & lighting — we can install your garden start to finish. 12-month warranty on labor and on plants if we provide irrigation.
Keep your yard looking tidy and vibrant with our hourly maintenance services. Ideal for small yards and gardens, we can help tend your space year-round.
Our yard care services are all-electric and organic, never using harmful pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, or chemical fertilizers. Have peace of mind knowing our experienced and dedicated technicians are tending to your lawn and garden.
One-off or ongoing calls to support you in your garden and landscaping projects. If you need a bit of guidance, or a whole lot of information to keep you on track, we can schedule phone or video calls to discuss your projects and next steps.
Planning and design to flesh out your dreams and vision for your backyard or frontyard, or determine plant lists and concept plans to begin your installation.
Transformation of lawn to a native meadow by removing sod, adding topsoil, and seeding with Native Pollinator Meadow Mix from Northwest Meadowscapes.
*depending on size & species.
Whether in your front yard, backyard, or sidewalk strip, we can help you select the appropriate species and recommend the right placement for your yard and get it planted.
Rain Gardens help slow and sink rainwater into the ground, which keeps it from overflowing our city's sewer systems, but also creates potential for beautiful plantings -- attractive to you & to wildlife!
Trees are valuable, long-lasting assets in your landscape and deserve expert care. Our experienced pruners provide precise, species-specific pruning—whether for productive fruit trees or magnificent statement trees—ensuring health, beauty, and proper seasonal maintenance.
Feeling overwhelmed by your garden? We’re here to help! Our stewardship coordinator will assess your yard, identify key areas for clean-up, and create a plan to reset your space while preserving valuable plants and features. We’ll provide an estimate and get your yard back in shape.
A detailed landscape plan, showing every plant and feature drawn to scale and with all the relevant information to build and plant the landscape. Created with our custom design process.
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Project Manager
Teddy makes sure all of our new design/build projects go off without a hitch, and coordinates between our designer, crew, and clients to make sure everything runs as smoothly as possible. His attention to detail helps our projects wrap up beautifully every time.
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Maintenance Coordinator
Dylan brings over 25 years of organic horticultural experience with a passion for building healthy, resilient landscapes from the soil up. His expertise includes organic vegetable gardening, butterfly gardens, soil restoration, organic rose care, and organic turf management.
“Feed the soil, not the plant!”
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Installation Crew Lead
Justin brings over 18 years of hands-on experience in landscaping, hardscaping, and outdoor-living construction. He’s worked with a range of well-respected companies, honing his skills in everything from irrigation and planting to decks, fences, patios, and full landscape transformations. Justin loves turning client ideas into beautiful, usable spaces and takes pride in building everything with care, quality, and solid craftsmanship. Nothing makes him happier than seeing a client’s vision come to life and knowing the space will be enjoyed for years to come.
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Landscape Designer
Kay has worked with plants in a variety of ways; from maintaining upscale sports clubs and city parks, to restoring habitat in urban forests and managing an environmental education program. Equipped with a passion for native plants and a certificate in Holistic Landscape Design from Bastyr U. as well as an ecoPRO certification from the WSNLA, Kay is here to help create thriving habitat for you and our non-human neighbors.
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Installation Crew Lead
Lincoln is the installation crew lead at Rutheo Designs, bringing extensive experience in landscaping, irrigation, and outdoor installations. RainWise certified, Lincoln combines technical expertise with a calm, solutions-focused presence, guiding his crew with care and precision. Passionate about sustainability, he enjoys creating environmentally conscious outdoor spaces. Lincoln takes pride in helping clients bring their visions to life, ensuring every project is installed efficiently, thoughtfully, and with lasting quality.
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Maintenance & Stewardship Team Lead
Laura helps to keep clients’ landscapes healthy, vibrant, and well cared for. Laura brings dedication, attention to detail, and a positive attitude to every project, ensuring each outdoor space looks its best year-round. Laura has a deep commitment to ecological care & restoring our relationship with nature.
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Administrative Assistant
Mayson is the administrative assistant at Rutheo Designs and the friendly point of contact for clients and the team. With a strong background in organization and communication, Mayson keeps the office running smoothly and helps ensure every project stays on track. She enjoys being part of a creative, plant-loving team and supporting the process of bringing beautiful outdoor spaces to life.
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Install & Maintenance Team
Carter is part of our maintenance & stewardship team at Rutheo Designs with seven years of hands-on experience. Passionate about restorative and sustainable gardening, Carter focuses on plant and habitat health and believes in fostering a harmonious relationship between humans and nature. Inspired by classes with Plant Amnesty on ethical pruning practices, Carter brings care, knowledge, and a thoughtful approach to every garden project.
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Lanscape Designer
Part of our design team, Marisa has had a passion for ecological restoration and design since childhood. Marisa has several years of hands-on experience working with landscapes and design. Her goal is to help people reconnect with the living world around them, creating a balance between beauty and function. She wants to create gardens that nourish body, soul, and soil — elegant, ecological spaces where people, plants, and ecosystems can flourish together.
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Installation Crew
Rob is a joyful jack-of-all-trades, having dabbled in many lines of work before joining our crew. Rob is a natural leader and is always learning new skills, and rapidly passing them on to the next person.
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Maintenance and Stewardship Team
Jonathan works at Rutheo Designs because he loves to work outdoors in nature. He is passionate about client satisfaction and makes sure to spend meticulous time to meet the individual needs of each client's property.
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Maintenance and Stewardship Team
Chayton is part of our maintenance and stewardship team and enjoys being able to see the difference his work makes in each landscape over time. Chayton is drawn to Rutheo Designs because of the company’s focus on organic practices, native plants, and low-emission equipment. One of his favorite parts of the job is helping create outdoor spaces that clients truly enjoy and feel proud of. He's always had a strong connection to nature and believes outdoor spaces should feel inviting, natural, and accessible to the people who use them.
Resilient outdoor spaces can start with deliberate planning, careful protection of established canopy trees, and an installation sequence that considers long-term maintenance. Read our Mercer Island landscaping and garden design guide for a practical look at site layout, plant selection, and phasing considerations suited to regional residential properties.
Rutheo Designs acknowledges that we live and work on the ancestral lands of the Coast Salish and Duwamish tribes, who have stewarded these ecosystems since time immemorial. We could not call this city home without the Salish People and the Duwamish Tribe.
We aim to honor the original caretakers of this land by preserving and restoring the natural ecosystem we live in, and educating others about the role indigenous communities have played in land stewardship since time immemorial. Using native and edible plants, minimizing our carbon footprint, and paying Real Rent to the Duwamish Tribal Nation are all ways we uphold our commitment.
At Rutheo Designs, we strive to let nature take the lead.
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