Attracting hummingbirds to a garden requires a few simple design elements to create an area they can call home (when they’re not migrating). Their needs are simple enough: water, food and shelter. There’s nothing like having breakfast outdoors while hummingbirds buzz around the garden. In the summer, it will need to be an early breakfast,Continue reading “Six requirements for a successful hummingbird garden”
Author Archives: mike
When art meets invention: a modular grill with mosaic art
No pizza oven? Everyone really expected us to build a pizza oven. Although we’d love one, we didn’t want to spend the time waiting for it to heat up (hours) nor did we want something that only did oven things. We wanted it all: grilling, indirect heat, pit roasting, baking, side heat rotisserie… and forContinue reading “When art meets invention: a modular grill with mosaic art”
Here come the wildflowers!
Drawing plans and designing native plant gardens is one thing. Seeing the plants in nature is another. For one thing, some of these plants aren’t easy to establish, and others are next to impossible to find in any nursery. Looking at how the plants grow in nature, what they’re associated with, and which colors naturallyContinue reading “Here come the wildflowers!”
Five things to consider when removing your lawn
Removing lawn is a good thing if you live in an area where water is limited. You’ll save on your water bill, avoid breathing dust and smog from a mower and gain more color and interest. Here are some things to consider when removing your lawn to conserve water and create a more sustainable landscape.Continue reading “Five things to consider when removing your lawn”
Got Birds? How to bring nature back into your outdoor environment
Imagine every yard with at least some habitat designed in: food plants for bees and butterflies, berries for birds, a variety of plants for foraging. Looking at the typical suburb in a satellite photo, you might notice the dominant plant type: lawn. It might be a great place to play from time to time, butContinue reading “Got Birds? How to bring nature back into your outdoor environment”
6 tips for restaurants who are ready to reinvent their outdoor dining areas
You’ve spent a fair sum of money on your restaurant’s interior. What about outside? A great patio space can help your restaurant become a favorite during the many months when the weather is too nice to dine indoors. Here are six things to consider It’s not just seating. There should be some kind of POSContinue reading “6 tips for restaurants who are ready to reinvent their outdoor dining areas”
The 3 secrets of adaptive reuse that everyone misses
Everyone involved in green building knows the benefits of adaptive reuse. You get a new space from an old building, perhaps not the same function as the original, but something that shares the area’s history and perhaps brings new functions to the surroundings. 1. It’s not just the building. Can the building’s surrounding landscaping beContinue reading “The 3 secrets of adaptive reuse that everyone misses”
Design is everywhere
Being a designer means looking at everything around us. The chair I’m sitting on, the sidewalk, the handle on the frying pan, the smart phone. We’re not really cranky. We only seem that way because we’re asking questions, like, “Why aren’t sidewalks better at treating runoff water?” Designers continually look at how things could work better.Continue reading “Design is everywhere”
Trimming time for the grasses & sedges
Time to trim the meadow: bringing the height down makes room for new growth and eliminates old dead stalks.
First ceanothus of the year! Valley Violet
Valley Violet ceanothus blooms at a time when flowers are scarce, bringing a blue-violet surprise to the winter garden.