Author Archives: mike

Remaking a web site adaptive

As fate would have it, just after our web site leapt into the world of smartphones, tablets and a virtually unlimited array of screen sizes, the software company we used to create it died. This was no slow death, where development stops and the software gradually becomes obsolete. This was sudden death, where even theContinue reading “Remaking a web site adaptive”

Making a web site adaptive.

Time waits for nobody, and technology is even more impatient. Our web site was not responsive, then it wasn’t adaptive. Now it’s adaptive, mostly. This means that beautiful big images now adapt to teeny tiny phone screens. Not only did the site need a whole new set of icons for better visual identity, it neededContinue reading “Making a web site adaptive.”

Flannel Bush (Fremontodendron sp.)

These California native shrubs create quite a show when in bloom, but they require a lot of room to spread. The benefit? They’ll grow without summer water, and actually don’t want any. These flannel bushes are growing in a field without irrigation, and this year they really seemed to appreciate all the rain they received.Continue reading “Flannel Bush (Fremontodendron sp.)”

Trimming the meadow

The goal is to remove last year’s vegetation before it starts to grow back. The asters’ seeds have long since been picked over by the finches, and the sedges have not yet begun their spring growth spurt. Likewise, the grasses and other plants are just beginning to think about emerging from dormancy. It’s trim backContinue reading “Trimming the meadow”

Elements of design in nature | elements of nature in design

Line, form, color, texture, contrast, pattern, repetition, movement. All elements of design to consider when creating a built landscape. Finding and studying them in nature helps us recreate them in gardens and understand natural relationships of elements of a harmonious concept. These scenes juxtapose chaos (willow branches), pattern (grasses, water plants), direction (some willow branches,Continue reading “Elements of design in nature | elements of nature in design”