Landscapes, unlike buildings, aren’t really complete until many years have passed. They go in the ground only as potential, the design something that will complete itself with time. The plants will grow, surfaces will acquire patinas, unexpected things might happen. These photos were shot around January of 1999. It’s now January 2016, seventeen years later.Continue reading “Design for time”
Author Archives: mike
Autumn in the Central Valley
Did autumn come late this year, just as everything else arrived in advance? It’s been a warm year, and cooler temperatures were late to arrive, waiting until mid-November to put on the chill. With low temperatures finally hitting the high 30’s (high fives in celsius, more fun to say) the leaves flipped their color switchesContinue reading “Autumn in the Central Valley”
Flaming fall color
Staghorn sumac produces exceptional fall color, if you’re willing to chase down suckers and prune every year.
Comfort Lounge: a state of the art back yard for entertaining
An industrial chic back yard that’s perfect for entertaining.
Water the birds, too
California’s drought replaces regular water with bare creek beds and depleted reservoirs. For small birds, staying clean and hydrated can be a challenge. Here’s how to help them out. Designing a water feature for birds transforms a decorative garden feature into a survival aid. With food and water available in the same area, small birds saveContinue reading “Water the birds, too”
Lawn gone? These plants will spice up your new landscape!
We’ve been visiting Mountain States Nursery’s booths at conferences around the Southwest, everywhere but Sacramento, dreaming about exotic plant shapes, colorful flowers of all shapes and sizes to try back home… After concluding that getting their plants in Sacramento was basically Mission Impossible, we walked into our local landscape trade show to see a Mountain States booth.Continue reading “Lawn gone? These plants will spice up your new landscape!”
The meadow at it’s messiest: butterfly paradise
After summer’s growth, the asters have come into flower, bringing clouds of hungry butterflies. This is when the meadow is tallest, where it starts looking wild and unkempt. Asters arc in all directions, visited by multiple species of butterflies: skippers, buckeyes, blues, sulfurs… Beneath the asters, native goldenrod blooms following earlier waves of flowers nowContinue reading “The meadow at it’s messiest: butterfly paradise”
Landscape amenities, France
Landscape elements around France: walls, planters, benches, water features
Staring at the ground in France: paving surfaces
Although this wasn’t the main goal of our sabbatical in France, it was definitely part of our explorations. France has a lot of public spaces and often budgets that allow interesting work to be done using native stone and other materials. The goal was to find patterns and materials we can adapt to our designsContinue reading “Staring at the ground in France: paving surfaces”
Gerberas, hydroponics and photo processing software
Those beautiful Transvaal Daisies you see in the florist probably didn’t grow in soil if they were produced in California. They’re cultivated in a special hydroponic growing medium, wetted regularly with a nutrient solution, and kept in the perfect conditions inside a greenhouse. The result is spectacular, at least until the flowers are harvested forContinue reading “Gerberas, hydroponics and photo processing software”