GardenStone Looks Back at 2009 – and Forward to 2010

2009 has been a fantastic year for us. In a year everybody said was going to be a time to jealously guard what you already have, we decided to place our trust in the community and expand. We not only grew to encompass more than personalized stone engraving, but built a whole new storefront from the ground up, to share with our sister business Cascading Creations.

We finished building and decorating the store in early Aril. When we say we built it, we mean it. We laid down the concrete floor, put the rooms together and did pretty much everything else, with help from the Cascading Creations crew and a few other great professionals in the community.

Let’s not forget one very important group that we have to credit with our ability to really expand and make GardenStone the kind of venture we always wanted. That’s Inland Northwest Bank. 2009 wasn’t a year when most institutions were exactly eager to lend out money, but INB didn’t just use a “cookie cutter” policy to decide whether to help us with our plans.

Just as INB supported the community, we wanted to do the same – that’s been part of the company vision all along. That’s why we added consignment space to support new local artisans and added a home décor section filled with Pacific Cost crafts and antiques. We also joined our area’s Buy Local movement to help keep the economy around us stable and active.

As 2010 looms we look forward to further establishing ourselves around Airway Heights and the Spokane region, as well as online through our website, where you can purchase home décor, suggested personalized stones and completely custom rock work. We hope to make contact with more Pacific Northwest artisans and expand the reach of our reputation.

Above all, we want to meet you, introduce you to our corner of a great community and dazzle you from some great stone engraving and other fantastic pieces of craftsmanship. So enjoy the holidays and see you in the New Year! We’ll be keeping stone in stock and shelves full for you.

Five Things You Can Do to Prepare for the Next Spokane Landscaping Season

The Spokane landscaping (and hardscaping) season is done, done, done. We may be concentrating on snow removal and miscellaneous jobs (site cleanup, stone engraving, etc.) but that doesn’t mean landscaping has to wait! Most landscaping and hardscaping jobs include a number of tasks that don’t involve any digging, building or other hands-on tasks. If you take care of this stuff now your job will go much more smoothly once the 2010 season starts. Even if you don’t we try to make it an easy, fun experience – but preparing just makes it even better.

Check Your Drainage

Check the area you want landscaped for slopes, swampy spots and where the snow tends to go when it melts. Take a few pictures – even make a few drawings – and you’ll highlight some of the space’s drainage issues. That makes it much easier for us to head off any issues during the job.

Keep Your Landscape Clean

We’re great at site cleanup . . . but we prefer to do it after the job. Get rid of debris, keep the snow from piling up too high and you’ll make starting the job much easier. Don’t forget to pay special attention to edge areas (such as between the home and lawn) where unwanted much can accumulate.

Look Into Permits, Pipes and Cables

Nobody likes being surprised by buried pipes and cables that derail landscaping plans – or by obscure bylaws that force you to make changes after you’ve carefully laid out your vision for the space. Do yourself a favor and figure it all out ahead of time.

Measure Your Space

This one’s pretty basic. Measure the dimensions of the area you want landscaped! The more accurate your measurements are, the better our estimates.

. . . and Book Your Job!

Winter may make the season seem distant, but before you know it, 2010 will bring it back – and it’ll be busy. Contact us to make arrangements in advance and put yourself at the front of the line!

Engraved Stones and More for Christmas

Christmas is very, very close. Naturally, we at GardenStone Creations would like to throw our hats (well, custom rock work) in to the ring and offer gift ideas. You might think that engraved stones are a bit somber for the season, but the fact is that we create more than memorial style engraved stone plaques. We know how to create personalized stone engravings for virtually any occasion.

(Oh, before we forget, we do more than engraving. We also carry a number of antiques, local handcrafted items and other great pieces for home décor. Check it out!)

Stone engraving is capable of a lot more than it used to be. We can create very close renderings of people, scenery objects and wildlife in etched stone and color engravings close to your exact specifications. Engraved natural stone always needs to take the nature of an individual rock into account, but doing so while creating a beautiful piece of art is part of the medium. Let’s look at a few different personalized stone gifts you can give this holiday season.

Personalized Birth Stones: Let us engrave the name, birth date, parents’ names and other vital statistics of a newborn in your network of friends or family. We provide numerous additional options to make the birth stone as elaborate as you like.

Wildlife Engraved Stones: We love this engraved stones because they really show what the state of the art is capable of. Our selection features a number if beautiful wildlife images such as running horses and deer. These are not personalized, but we are capable of creating personalized versions upon request. That takes us to . . .

Completely Custom Rock Work: Whether you want something just a bit different from a stone that we already offer at our store or site or want something completely different, we can accommodate you. Many people find it easiest to use an existing stone engraving (such as one of our wildlife stones) as a starting point, adding the other elements they want to see.

If you live near Spokane you can pick up an in-stock engraving right now by visiting our store in Airway Heights, WA. If you want a custom stone, let us know now and we’ll start your work right away. If you live elsewhere, contact us to order. We can ship directly to you, so there is no worry about ordering a rock that you can’t come and pick up!

No matter what you give or where you live, we at GardenStone wish you a wonderful Christmas, a happy New Year and joy through whatever you plan on celebrating as 2009 draws to a close.

That Chill in the Air Means it’s Time for Snow Removal!

The main Spokane landscaping season is over. We’re still available to perform any task the weather permits, such as excavation and landscaping site cleanup jobs, but most people prefer to put off more complicated stuff until the spring. You might think we’ve got plenty of time to kick back and relax . . . but nothing could be further from the truth. There’s snow to move!

Spokane area residents know that our weather doesn’t fit the mild, rainy Pacific Northwest stereotype. Spokane weather is chilly, with spots of bizarre temperature fluctuation – just enough to produce enormous heaps of snow that blanket the area throughout the winter. Schools and businesses hire us to dig them out of major snowfalls because we do fast, thorough work and they can call us on short notice. That’s why Spokane snow removal jobs keep us busy throughout the winter.

We’ve set things up to make hiring us for snow removal on the spot is quick and simple. Many of our cool landscaping machines are also excellent for snow removal. Don’t worry about narrow or oddly-shaped spaces, either. Our machines are agile enough to handle tight corners and other unusual situations. That’s an advantage we enjoy by working in landscaping, as opposed to being just some guys with a truck and a spade we throw on once snow hits the ground. We need the ability to plough heavy stuff through tight spaces all year round.

We know how unpredictable the weather can be, and that a lot of snow can fall overnight. That’s why we’ve set ourselves up with mobile email to make calling us for same day service a painless, quick affair. We can easily add you to our rounds as we visit schools, businesses and other large driveways and parking lots. While, the most convenient option is to contact us to tell us you’d like us to come by ahead of time in case of a heavy snowfall, it’s not the only one – we’re ready to roll as soon as you call or email us (though it is first come, first served).

Many of our customers are larger organizations with fixed budgets. If you’re one of these, why not give us a shout to request a snow removal estimate. Contact Cascading Creations and we’ll take a look at your driveway, lot and other areas and let you know what we can do.

(And if you need landscaping in and around Spokane? Don’t worry – we’re still available for any job we can do safely. Don’t be shy about asking!)

Last Chance for an Easy Landscaping Cleanup Job!

Hey there. Did you know that even though housing in the rest of the country is certainly having its up and downs, Washington State has become one of the fastest growing markets in the country? Now may be the time to change homes, but in many cases there’s one problem: Your property is a mess! We can help, however. Part of our Spokane landscaping services include landscape site cleanup. If you’re thinking of selling a property as the market bounces back, now is the time to schedule that job.

Don’t get me wrong; we love working all year round, but it’s easiest for everyone if you schedule these jobs before cold rain and snow hit the ground. It’s faster, safer and has the least complications. We have the heavy equipment to do heavy landscape cleanup jobs quickly, and thanks to great partnerships in the community we can get your wreckage hauled away just as fast. We know there’s nothing more annoying than seeing an idle Dumpster in your yard or driveway!

These big cleanup jobs cover a wide range of tasks. Sometimes we have to get rid of scrap from a recent home renovation, tear down a broken patio or dismantle an old hardscape. We can rapidly apply basic landscaping to any disturbed ground by laying down basic coverage like loose stone. (We can do sod and other more elaborate work, but with winter on the way, it might not be the best idea.)

We have the most fun tearing big things down, however. Lots of homes and commercial properties feature rickety old barns, lurching, rotted sheds or extensions that were never built quite right. We can either do the teardown ourselves or work with your contractor if you’re doing an end of season renovation.

You can see us having a blast clearing a site here:



Whatever you need, we can get it done – and sometimes you can even help. Take a look at our customer helper page to see how much fun it is. Just remember, if you need to get your property ready for sale or just get rid of a big eyesore, now is the time – don’t let it stick with you all winter!

Engraved Stones for Life’s Milestones

Gardenstone Creations sells personalized stone engraving for all occasions. The business sprang from Cascading Creations after we realized that we could do a lot more with custom rock work than apply it to landscaping jobs. Engraved stones come in all shapes and sizes, from heavy outdoor markers to small stone plaques that are perfect for home décor.

Our most popular engraved stones mark major occasions in life. For example, we recommend birth stones to new parents. In fact, this theme is s popular that we called the company “Birthstone Creations” in the beginning, but changed it because we didn’t want to confuse what we do with the tradition of precious stones being linked to certain birthdays. You can mark the baby’s birth and even illustrate it with baby handprints, footprints and other etched and colored illustrations.

Graduation stones are also popular. GardenStone pioneered this idea. As you might guess, these commemorate graduation from high school or college. These mark great personalized gifts for these important occasions and unlike a diploma, isn’t going to get folded, shredded, or wrecked when a glass frame breaks.

It’s great to be able to offer this kind of custom rock work at prices that make it a practical gift. Stone engraving has come a long way, and thanks to power tools, great coloring techniques and computer stencilling we can etch nearly any image into stone and color the design to suit you.

Just remember one thing: This is natural stone engraving. That means that every piece has to work with the stone, and its final appearance and shape will be based on the rock surface we work with. We can do a whole lot with the raw material – etch it, polish it, color it – but in the end, working with the stone is part of the art.

In addition to this, we offer completely custom stones. Contact us for custom rock work and we’ll help you create the engraved stone you want, working with natural stone to give you something that melds its best qualities with your request.

Get Your Xeriscaping Landscape Job Done Now!

One of the challenges around Spokane landscaping is the weather. Don’t like Spokane’s weather? Just wait 15 minutes . . . seriously though: The region defies typical Pacific Northwest patterns. Instead of being damp all the time we oscillate between an arid climate and sudden, chilling blankets of snow (it’s why we do snow removal around Spokane too). Did I mention it gets cold, too?

The unpredictable weather is one reason we recommend xeriscaping methods for your landscaping job. Xeriscaping is designed to conserve water, so it’s a great idea when we head into warm weather. Still, there’s more to like about it than what it does for you in the summer.

Xeriscaping helps keep your property clean through the winter. We use plants conservatively in a xeriscaping job instead of just packing a property with greenery. If you’ve ever had to clean up the black mush left by leaves, pine needles and dead grass you’ll understand the advantages to using greenery conservatively.

By using stone, gravel, hardy root systems and integrated hardscaping such as retaining walls, xeriscaping also helps manage soil erosion. This is a big concern in our climate, because rapid temperature changes can cause equally fast erosion. Xeriscaping manages your soil so that it will stick around through the winter and spring thaw.

Xeriscaping takes water runoff into account more than traditional landscaping. Standard landscaping is most concerned with protecting features from erosion, but xeriscaping examines the water volume you actually expect and maps its progress. Just tell us about typical snow and ice buildup patterns on your property and we can “tune it” to compensate, helping you prevent flooding or stagnant areas.

Oh, one more thing: Good xeriscaping jobs look nice all year round. They don’t rely on plants to do the visual “heavy lifting.” We’ve all seen great landscapes that turn into depression pits as soon as winter hits. We want to give you something better, so give us a holler to get started!