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Ross NW Watergardens Our company has spent more than twenty-five years designing and building residential landscapes throughout the Portland metro area. With over one thousand completed gardens and a strong record of five-star reviews, we approach every project with professionalism and care. From the first point of contact to the final walkthrough, we remain fully engaged to ensure the outcome meets your expectations.

We provide comprehensive landscape services, including design, garden installation, patios, walkways, walls, pergolas, irrigation systems, lighting, and water features. Our background in Japanese-inspired landscapes and stone masonry informs our work at every level. With a stable, experienced team, we are able to maintain consistent quality and attention to detail. Each landscape is built to offer lasting beauty, functionality, and enjoyment.
Served areas
  • Portland, OREmpty heading, Lake Oswego, OREmpty heading, Dunthorpe, OR, Clackamas, OR, Beaverton, OR, Gresham, OR, Hillsboro, OR, Damascus, OR, Gladstone, OR, King City, OR, Milwaukie, OR, Oregon City, OR, Sherwood, OR, Tigard, OR, Tualatin, OR, West Linn, OR, Wilsonville, OR, Happy Valley, OR, Vancouver, WA, Ridgefield, WAEmpty heading, Camas, WA
Business details
  • Year established: 1999
Highlights and features
  • Custom landscape design and full-service garden installation experts
  • Japanese-inspired gardens, modern landscapes, and serene water features
  • Over 25 years landscaping experience throughout Portland metro area
  • Koi ponds, stone patios, lighting, and irrigation systems
  • Designer-led process from first concept through final walkthrough
  • Highly experienced team with decades of collaborative craftsmanship
Payment methods
  • Cash
  • Debit cards
  • Credit cards
Services
Landscape Design Successful landscapes are guided by intention and experience. We begin with a consultation to understand your space, lifestyle, and objectives. Our design process is approachable and well-defined. This first meeting allows both sides to decide if the partnership is the right fit.
Water Features A thoughtfully designed water feature can redefine a landscape, and we have spent decades refining that craft. We offer complete design, installation, and maintenance services for ponds and water features of all sizes. Every project is built with proven systems, natural materials, and an emphasis on durability and beauty.
Low Voltage Lighting Our low voltage landscape lighting services are built on experience, precision, and long-lasting performance. We carefully illuminate gardens to extend usability and reveal new visual perspectives after dark. Each system is designed for efficiency, reliability, and durability. With quality fixtures and expert installation, our lighting solutions deliver decades of dependable operation with minimal upkeep.
Landscape Design Build We provide complete landscape design and build services delivered by one dedicated team from concept through completion. As a licensed landscape contractor, we focus on creating outdoor spaces that balance beauty, craftsmanship, and long-term performance. Every project, whether traditional or modern, is executed with consistent attention to quality and detail.
Irrigation Systems Our irrigation philosophy focuses on sustainability without sacrificing plant health. New and established landscapes alike benefit from well-designed sprinkler systems that provide consistent supplemental water. We design and install efficient systems that outperform hand watering, support long-term garden vitality, and can be temporary or permanent depending on your landscape needs.
Paver Patios Our company delivers custom paver hardscape installations that support a wide variety of outdoor styles. Interlocking pavers are selected for their performance, adaptability, and visual appeal. By combining experienced design insight with skilled construction, we create outdoor spaces that function effectively and complement their surroundings.
Stone Masonry We approach stone masonry as a long-term investment in quality and craftsmanship. Our patios, walls, and stone elements are designed to withstand time and use. Stone naturally improves in appearance as it ages. The initial expense reflects the durability, artistry, and lasting presence of expertly built stonework.
People
Ben Bowen
Ben Bowen
Ben, our landscape designer, is usually your first contact with Ross NW Watergardens. He will meet you for an initial consultation, work up any proposal needed, and remains your primary contact through the whole design and installation process.

Ben is a third generation landscaper and has been working in the family business since 2003.
Reviews (14)
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Bert Boyer
Jan 20, 2026
Ben met with us and provided a very competitive pricing estimate for our project. In fact, it was 4 times less than one other Portland landscape design firm! We could not be more pleased with the quality of the lighting (lifetime warranty) and the outstanding service.
Elliot did a phenomenal job installing path and garden lighting at our house. He was very meticulous with installation details and communicated well with us to design path lighting exactly as requested.
Please give them a chance to bid on your next project. You will not be disappointed!
Natasha Bramley
Nov 11, 2025
My backyard was a shambles when I started my hunt for someone who could match my esthetic and meet my expectations. My search led me to Ben and Ross NW Watergardens and I could not be happier with how things turned out. From conception to finish, Ben and his team were a joy to work with- they are professional with an amazing eye for design and details. Every request of mine was fulfilled, their finishes are exquisite, everyone on their team left the workplace tidy and safe for my small dog at the end of the day and they started and finished when they said they would. It is clear that this is more than a job for the proprietor, Ben- it is a passion. I absolutely love my new garden and am looking forward to many happy years enjoying it.
Aspen Pippin
Sep 13, 2025
We asked Ross NW Watergardens to propose a replacement design for our aged waterfall with small pond to both reduce the water feature's maintenance (lots of tree debris fall) and aesthetically upgrade it for a more natural, integrated and non-linear appearnce. Ben guided us through the proposal review process over a couple of weeks and several iterations to arrive at a natural flowing pondless design solution to meet all of the design objectives identified for a very competitive price.
Arthur Knaupe
May 11, 2025
Ben and his team couldnt have provided better service. In 2023, they managed the full overhaul of our backyardremoving overgrown bamboo, an old privacy fence, and a previous concrete patio. They then installed a beautiful new paver patio, landscape lighting, plantings, and fencing, handling every step seamlessly.

Even two years later, theyre still incredibly responsive and helpful with questions about maintenance. We couldnt have asked for a better design or a more professional, reliable team. Highly recommend!
Jamie Skreen
Oct 30, 2023
We were beyond impressed with Ben and his team, Jose and Consuelo. The water feature they created for our home was beyond amazing. We love seeing and hearing it every day. Bens design was phenomenal, and Jose and Consuelo paid excellent attention to detail and made the feature such high quality. Highly recommend them for whatever project you are doing! They are so talented.
Jack D.
Nov 03, 2022
I found Ross NW Watergardens after researching Japanese gardens and deciding to have one installed in our backyard. From the moment that I contacted the company I knew that I had made the right choice. Ben responded to my inquiries very quickly and we arranged a meeting to discuss possibilities. After the initial meeting, Ben sent us a proposal for our consideration. Upon finalizing the plan after our input, a date was set to begin the work. Due to a heavy schedule the actual work began about a month after our target date. The wait was worth it!!
The installation crew led by Efrain was excellent. They were efficient, neat and very talented. Efrain's work on our patio as well as his execution of the garden design was above and beyond our expectations. We are absolutely delighted with the results!
Given the cooperation and care exhibited by both Ben and Joe Bowen as well as the talent and expertise of the installation crew, I would highly recommend Ross NW Watergardens.
Josh Rosen
Sep 06, 2021
Ben and his team were truly amazing to work with. We love that it's a local family business. From the start, the process and communication was straight forward and we appreciated their expertise to bring our backyard vision to life. They went above and beyond and were super flexible due to a few weather hiccups out of anyone's control. We highlight recommend them and will be using them for any future projects. Thanks!
Diane Lieppman
Dec 02, 2020
After completing a whole house renovation, we were ready to embark upon a landscape makeover to match our contemporary/Asian themed home. Our mission was to find someone who could design and install landscaping to tie our house and yard together.

After interviewing two other landscape designers, we found our perfect match with Ben Bowen and Ross NW Watergardens. Ben met (and exceeded) our list of desires for our yard, starting with his keen ability to envision what we could not imagine. He quickly saw through the existing, worn-out mish-mash of trees, plants and grass that had been cobbled together over seventy years of planting. After accepting his thorough proposal, which confirmed all that we had discussed, his crew went to work.

Ben did an excellent job of communicating with us from beginning to end. The project came in within budget and was completed in the 3-week timeframe he had promised.

His knowledge of plants, trees, boulders, landscape lighting, irrigation and other landscape details gave us confidence during the undertaking. The quality of all materials used was top notch, including healthy, happy plants, grasses and trees.

Ben was always available when we had questions, and we knew that he had our back should anything go awry. The entire crew at Ross NW Watergardens was knowledgeable, efficient, hard working, and respectful of our space while there.

We would not hesitate to recommend Ben and Ross NW Watergardens to anyone looking for landscape design and/or installation.
Joel Rotert
Jun 04, 2020
Ben and his team are hands down the best contractors to have worked on our home since we moved in. Our experience includes at least 10 different groups over the last 5 and a half years for a variety of large and small projects.

Why so exceptional? A few key reasons:
* excellent communication at all phases
* top quality work: both design and execution
* reasonable quote & adhered to, if not slightly under
* timely once the project started
* respectful, thoughtful team on site

Our project was modest (small backyard leveling, sodding, simple landscaping and minor hardscaping) but Bens design guidance and his teams skill helped them overdeliver. We couldnt be happier with the end result, it turned out much better than we ever envisioned.

We cant recommend the Ross NW team highly enough!
Tristan Waddington
Dec 16, 2019
I worked with Ben at Ross NW Watergardens to clean up a tight area that was overgrowing with weeds behind my home.

Out went the existing plants, pavers, and an old concrete pad. In went a new weed barrier, quarter-minus gravel, and some nice 24-inch pavers.

Ben's team also did a significant amount of work around my front yard. Taking out existing plants, part of the lawn, and installing a new paver patio.

Ben was very responsive throughout the entire process. He followed up promptly to my questions and was present on site when needed.

The team did terrific job and kept things nice and clean throughout the ordeal.

I wouldn't hesitate to work with Ben and his team again in the future.
Patrick G.
Nov 12, 2019
Ben and his team did an amazing job building a walkway on the side of our house from the driveway to the back. They also installed a french drain system to deal with a drainage issue along the length of our backyard. The work was done quickly and professionally. I have used them in the past, and will use them for future work. Thank you Ben!
Christine Ulmer
Mar 23, 2019
My husband and I visited Japan several years ago. After he died I wanted a visual reminder of what he loved. I met Ben armed with Japanese landscaping design books complete with post it notes. In a 15 minute conversation I knew he was the person for the job. A careful listener and great communicator who responded quickly to my questions and frets. I am looking at my back yard with three huge boulders (mountains) against a huge grey gravel "lake." I have graceful planted mounds on what was my flat yard. One of the two large stone paths that spread across the yard leads to a boulder "seat" beside a Japanese lantern. He suggested gorgeous black grasses that echo the black trim on the house. My front door is orange and looking through the glass in it and simultaneously through the glass back door one sees a beautiful weeping tree with orange bark. The crew was fabulous to deal with..very professional and hard working. Every day is a comforting reminder of my husband.
Alexander Basek
Dec 11, 2018
Ben is a master. We are so happy with how our landscaping turned out. He stuck with us over a long renovation, never got flustered by anything going wrong, and, of course, helped plan and install an incredible front and back yard for our house. We could not recommend him highly enough. Worth every penny.
Mc
Aug 05, 2018
Ross NW Watergardens did an amazing transformation of my homes landscaping. Ben was very knowledgeable and listened thoughtfully to my ideas for the landscaping. He made great suggestions and was able to answer all my questions. The crews that Ben assigned to my project were professional, courteous and very hardworking. When an unexpected issue came up, Ben was on it right away and was totally committed to resolving the issue in the best possible way for me. I highly recommend Ross NW Watergardens for their knowledge, skill and integrity.