Municipal flower beds are a big thing in France. Often, as one enters a town there is a sign proclaiming it to be a “ville fleuri” – a flower city. It seems that every city and town competes to see who can create the most original and extravagant flower beds. By July, these beds willContinue reading “Municipal flower bed installation, France”
Author Archives: mike
Let there be light – a mulberry gets an overdue trimming
Correctly pruning a mulberry leaves a natural looking tree with an open structure and wide canopy.
Small patio remodel: concrete work
This patio is the focal point when looking from the house. Formerly cracked old concrete, it will be warm colored flagstone banded with integral color concrete. A fountain on a pedestal will add movement and sound, and the overall effect will bring the Spanish look of the house and existing patio all the way toContinue reading “Small patio remodel: concrete work”
Garden update, one year later
Quite a bit happens in a year. Some plants fail, either totally or partially. Others grow; some re-seed and fill in bare areas. Some decide to conquer their entire section of the garden and have to be dealt with.
Transforming a cherry tree from landscape to furniture & art
Long ago, someone planted a tiny, spindly tree. It grew. A puppy chewed off much of the bark. The tree survived. It grew, and grew, and grew until it spread over the pool, the roof, the patio. Its trunk thickened until nobody could see the pool from the house. Sadly, it was time for theContinue reading “Transforming a cherry tree from landscape to furniture & art”
Celebrating landscape architecture month
The local chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), of which Annette is a longstanding member, gathered at the state capitol to inform people about the profession. It also happened to be the birthday of Frederick Law Olmsted, considered the founding father of landscape architecture in the United States, so they placed aContinue reading “Celebrating landscape architecture month”
Blue Eyes, Blue Again
When Blue Eyes arrived, he (or is it she?) lived up to his name. The “eyes” in the rusty metal were indeed blue, albeit a deeper and less florescent hue than today. Over time, rust creeped, blue fled and Blue Eyes became Rust Eyes. We don’t know if the piece’s artist, Vern Peasenell, would approve,Continue reading “Blue Eyes, Blue Again”
Gnome Rejuvenation
Has your gnome lost his color? Has the twinkle faded from his eyes, the rose from his cheeks? You can recolor him, better than he was. Cleaner, brighter, gnomier! All it takes is a small flat brush and a small round one. I used artist’s acrylics, deciding not to worry about the paint fading becauseContinue reading “Gnome Rejuvenation”
Land Art… or just a pile of rocks?
In Provence, a borie is a shelter made of stones, up to a few meters tall. They look like this, only larger and made of gray stone instead of lava rock found in the back yard. An eight foot tall stone hut would look strange in the front yard, and in any case the realContinue reading “Land Art… or just a pile of rocks?”
Daffodils & bulb covers
These miniature daffodils grow on the South side of a mound facing the house, sprouting from low ground covers to bloom, grow and die down again until the next blooming season. The only care we give them is to scatter pet-safe snail bait, formulated with iron phosphate. Left alone, the snails will happily chew offContinue reading “Daffodils & bulb covers”