DEEP IN A ravine on Bainbridge Island, at the end of a long gravel road, is a leafy oasis carved out of a fir and cedar forest. The wet, shady property might discourage anyone hoping to grow a variety of ornamental plants, but not garden designer Tish Treherne and her husband, Adam Michel.

Despite all the towering conifers, this isn't a typical, quiet woodland garden. It's a much bolder, brighter and more highly designed space than you'd expect to find growing on the edge of the woods beneath the trees.

Treherne has taken a narrow piece of property, limited by dry shade in some areas and serious water runoff in others, and paid such close attention to its conditions that her garden is a study in right plant, right place. She's triumphed by improving the soil, repeating plants that work, and placing stately pots, empty and planted, as focal points.

The garden wraps around the couple's modern home, designed by island architect Miles Yanick. Wide windows frame views out into the garden. Treherne pushed plantings away from the house to allow as much light as possible to pour in the windows. Glass doors, stone terraces and gravel pathways link house to garden. Roof water is directed into a reservoir that helps the plants compete with the towering Western red cedars, which suck up water like giant straws.

Treherne gives plants a head start by mounding up planting beds with a deep base layer of sandy loam topped with several inches of compost. This helps drainage, discourages weeds and creates topography. "Under established trees this can be tricky to do without damaging the root system," she warns. "But at least a thin layer of compost is possible as long as it's feathered back to the base of the tree."

Fixing the soil was relatively easy compared to deterring the deer. After building a wire fence 7 feet tall around the garden, Treherne discovered deer scrambling beneath it. "I found out my herd likes to crawl," she says, a problem solved by securing the fence's bottom edge with long landscape pins.

Treherne chose super-sized, highly textural foliage plants so that her warm, bright color palette is not only dramatic but lasts over many months. Being from Southern California, Adam Michel has problems with gloomy weather; hence the garden's golden-toned gravel paths and the abundance of yellow, gold and chartreuse-leafed plants to give the illusion of drawing sunshine down into the garden. Red Japanese maples contrast with the many shades of green, their filigreed leaves lightening the bulk of all the large-leafed heucheras, brunneras and rodgersias.

Wherever sun filters through the trees, Treherne plants perennials like Astrantia major 'Ruby Wedding' and 'Hadspen's Blood,' ribbons of the little shrub Spirea japonica 'Goldflame' and black and golden bamboo in pots. "I try everything out in my own garden; I'm always experimenting," says Treherne.

A self-taught garden designer with a background in art and biotech, Treherne began designing for others because so many people asked for help after seeing her garden. But she downplays the sophistication she's created beneath the conifers. "Here it's all about the primal forest," she says. "Really, most of the maintenance is just cleaning up after all the big trees."

Valerie Easton is a Seattle freelance writer and author of "The New Low-Maintenance Garden." Check out her blog at www.valeaston.com. Mike Siegel is a Seattle Times staff photographer.