LUCIOLE DESIGN JOURNAL

Remote communication

Mood board composite of landscape materials

In this time of COVID-19, we can’t meet directly with clients. Luckily, we have a lot of communication methods available as long as we have internet access and electricity. For commercial projects, we get base plans from the architect or engineer, complete our work, and send it back for inclusion in the plan set as a PDF file. For residential clients, we create PDF files with material “boards” to discuss via e-mail or video chat.

A residential project

Site plan

This plan shows relationships between areas, size of features, tree locations, plant massing and how the hardscape materials fit together.

This plan is to scale. Including a graphic scale allows clients to see how large things are no matter the size at which the plan gets printed.

Boards

One board shows the pool treatment, with two types of pool tiles, a tile cap for coping and the proposed scupper.

The other shows plants and hardscape to convey an image – a “mood” for the Mediterranean theme of the garden.

A commercial project

Design files arrive by email

The engineer or architect sends scaled files in a computer-aided-design (CAD) format.

We then adapt these files for use in landscape drawings, in this case slicing up long linear planting areas to better fit them on the page.

Landscape drawings added

Once we’ve set up the sheets (pages) in the plan set, we add the landscape elements: hydrozones, planting and irrigation plans, legends, notes, schedules and details.

We check the plans, output them as a single multipage PDF file and send it back to the client for inclusion in the submittal set.

With the coronavirus closing offices, suppliers and pretty much everything but “critical” businesses, it’s unclear how the submittal process will work. It’s possible for agencies to review directly from PDF files with markups, but only if their people know how this technology works.

By having plans ready, at least things can start a bit more quickly once the pandemic has run its course.

It’s all about the views!

A series of superimposed view paths cross the back yard in two directions: fire, water, landscape, entry. Fire from the master bedroom to the fire pit, water from the house to the golf course pond, passing over the pool and spa, landscape from a sitting place under a tree to a formal citrus orchard.

view of swimming pool and spa by Luciole Design

Be bold!

The style: modern, dramatic, bold. And comfortable, too. Sitting areas adorn most areas to encourage strolling, sitting, socializing. Wetter areas mix spiky gray rush with colorful hardy geraniums. Drier areas show off red yucca, agave, lomandra, dianella and ornamental grasses. The citrus orchard will become a square of trees to anchor one end of a path, while a shade tree at the opposite end beckons you to sit and relax.

A sculptural backdrop will flicker in the flames of the fire pit, blocking views to the pool equipment and neighbors, and needlelike Italian cypress will rocket over a concrete screen wall flanking the fire pit. Flowering trees scattered around the garden will bring color overhead to complement the soft greens and grays of the foliage beneath.

Pick a path…

The fire axis runs from the master bedroom, over the spa and pool and terminates at the fire pit. There’s a see-through fireplace in the bedroom, so you look across water reflecting fire from either point.

The water axis runs out from the house, actually through the house: the front path lines up with the pool, with a secondary water axis running from a dining room over the spa. If that weren’t enough, it continues off the property to a pond in the adjacent golf course.

And entertain!

This garden, with its interlinked spaces, gathering areas and generously sized gas grill is made for entertaining. Soft lighting brings a subtle glow to the landscape as twilight seeps over the golf course. Shimmering light from the pool and spa counterpoint warm firelight rising from the sunken fire pit. The main patio is next to the house, extending the home’s entertainment space into a generous outdoor room. On cooler days, the dining nook’s bay window brings the landscape into the home.

The pool was filled only days ago. The sculptural reflector/screen behind the fireplace is still in fabrication. The plants need time to grow, and the entire space will develop a lived-in patina that contributes to feelings of comfort. We’ll return as time goes by to celebrate the garden’s movement towards maturity.

Garden flowers for Valentine’s Day

Forget roses. This is what blooms naturally around Valentine’s day. Manzanita feeds the hummingbirds, daffodils brighten up the garden, and oxalis throws a splash of yellow green over verdant green leaves.

A Winter Bouquet

Daffodils

Just plant the bulbs in fall and you’ll have daffodils for years to come. These are way overdue for division: we need to dig up the bulbs in fall and give them more space to grow. We’ll probably have enough to make a solid wall of color once they’ve gotten over being moved.

Manzanita

This is Arctostaphylos ‘Louis Edmunds’. It’s native to California and generally does great in gardens as long as it has decent drainage and not too much water. Since there’s not a lot in bloom yet, local hummingbirds seek out the flowers.

Hellebores

Growing in a neglected area north of the house, these do reasonably well. They’d still be happier in France or Seattle where summers are cooler. These have two views: one is the flower in its full glory as seen when lying on your back looking up (or the photographic equivalent). The other is from the top, where you can’t appreciate the flower’s markings.

Oxalis pes-caprae

This is a weed from South Africa. It spreads by little tiny bulblets, so anywhere soil with bulblets goes, there go the plants. We’re lucky, though – it does not set seed here in California, at least. Still, as weeds go this is an attractive one!

The groundhog was wrong

The groundhog is a long way from here. He also probably would have preferred to rest comfortably in his hole, rather than being rudely dragged out by some human in a ridiculous costume. Still, humans decided that we’ll have an early spring, the groundhog’s true prediction unknown because he never voluntarily came out. If he had slept in his nest as he no doubt intended, he would not have seen his shadow!

Here, we use daffodils to see if spring is early or late. Or about the same. This year, it’s late: no daffodils open in our yard. Other yards don’t count, just like other groundhogs don’t count.

What’s blooming

Adjusting a design

Plans are not always accurate. And even when they’re spot on, that doesn’t mean that the hardscape will go in per the plans. The result: planting areas may have more space, or less in this case. Doing an as-built survey is a major undertaking when everything has shifted. The solution? Vignettes.

This wall got wider and moved out into the planting area
The solution uses smaller plants to fill in
The front yard…
Front concept with plants
This area became narrower
Planting simplified, strawberry tree added for privacy

Vignettes are quick looks at how the plants can go into the new design, based on photos taken after the major elements are installed, just before it’s time to plant. They’re done during a walk-through of the site, where other things are checked as part of the process.

They’re not an ideal solution, since quantities have to be adjusted on site, with the original planting plan as a guide. Since the planting areas shrunk due to drainage issues, some species were eliminated for a cleaner look. This is definitely a case where the design is more art than science!

This walk-through found irrigation valves for drip stations missing necessary filters and pressure regulators. Without filters, the emitters are more likely to clog, and without pressure regulators barbed fittings may pop out.

Mobile Landscape Design on site

Conceptual landscape plan by Luciole Design

Running around a site waving your arms and explaining the wonders you’re proposing is fun, but does not work well for sharing concepts or remembering all the ideas discussed. This is especially true when we’re presenting alternate concepts that emphasize one aspect of the program over another. This is where mobile design shines.

stencils

site plan

We start with some basic measurements, if the space is not too large (you can only measure so much during a concept). From this, we use an iPad app to create a base plan to scale, so what we propose will fit in the space and have the right size and proportions.

Then, another app for conceptual design. There’s also an app for notes.

All of these apps output pdf files that go into the Cloud so they’re waiting for us at the office (or get uploaded when we’re back)

rough concepts

The conceptual design app is where we have some fun. It’s really fast, and by creating custom stencils we can streamline repetitive tasks and concentrate on the design over the graphics. All these things are custom colored and copied – and since they’re kind of hand drawn the concept plans don’t look computer generated.

These stencils work for titles, annotations, trees, shrubs, paving patterns, stipples and textures, north arrow, scale, site furnishings like tables and chairs. They work for perspectives and elevations, too – there are people to give a sense of scale, side views of trees and plants.

consult sketchbook

Back in the office, we take the pdf files created on the iPad and combine them into a letter size sketchbook, output that as a pdf file, and send it to our client.

So far, this system has worked well. Some people are happy with the consult sketchbook, some have even built from them (although a lot of detail needs to be added, since they’re concepts not working drawing).

For those who opt for working drawings (detailed landscape plans), we already have a CAD base plan from the consultation and can jump into larger drawings with only a few additional measurements, most often site elevations that require a transit.

SOFTWARE USED, conceptual stage

This stuff changes constantly, so it’s a continuing quest to find what works, what got a bad update and what’s new that can work even better.

There’s a lot of “abandonware” out there, too. Great ideas that come out, get a few updates and are, well… abandoned with only rare updates and no new features.

The worst ever bad update was AutoCAD Mobile, whose developer decided to remove pretty much every useful function for our purposes (drawing, editing…) to run off and make us all unwilling beta testers, even though we’re paying for their app.

So we’re looking for an alternative that does what we want and does not cost a fortune. Needless to say, we won’t be using any more Autodesk products!

It’s strange, but there seems to be only a handful of app developers that want to partner with their users in the long term. Apps get abandoned, price structure changes to expensive subscriptions that don’t really add any value, they don’t keep up with iPad OS improvements like file structure…

iPad

Morpholio Trace for concepts and sketches, Notability for notes, Procreate (if we want to be fancy) for illustration or fancier plan graphics, Vectornator for stencils.

Occasional use: Archisketch, Artstudio Pro, Concepts (difficult user interface!), Affinity Designer, Carbo…

Desktop

Affinity Publisher to put it all together, PDF Expert to adjust pdf file size if needed.

This just proves you can’t do everything on an iPad. You need big files, processing power for 3D rendering, and other big stuff that iPads can’t do (yet?).

We use even more apps for working drawings: database, CAD, photo cataloging…

Developing concepts with 3D modeling

Rendering of proposed water and fire features

Using 3D modeling is the step done after the initial concept gets sketched out on the iPad. This is where things get fine tuned in three dimensions, surfaces selected and verified, views examined and everything honed and ready for working drawings. Modeling the site after sketching it lets us look at sun and shade through the year, apply actual surfaces like the tile and virtually walk through the space.

Urban Patio

This is what happens when you downsize: every square foot needs to count. Just to make things more difficult, there’s a four foot setback at the rear that doesn’t allow screen planting. So away goes another hundred square feet!

Putting everything on a diagonal helps the spaces flow so the garden looks less like a bento box (sans tempura).

The curving seat wall runs through the fountain and wraps around the firepit – so hot and cold weather are covered. Tall, narrow plants go between the wall and the setback to screen the adjacent house (the real wall is even taller than I modeled it!).

Folding bistro furniture can be stored on hooks in a small utility area, making the space modular and adaptable.

New Back Yard

Another small urban space with an ambitious feature list: new pool, dining area, plants, portable spa, basement access stairway, and more decks because the house’s finish floor is almost two feet above grade. Oh, and there’s very little fall to the street for drainage.

The way to make these things work is to overlap spaces: posts rise from walls, planters are also seat walls, and strips of artificial turf replace channel drains around the pool. The basement access is a “lookout” from the deck that unlocks and folds away for access, but no longer looks like a ramp to nowhere.

These renderings also show how the sun will fall at a given date and time, a way to check that the shade structure does indeed shade the windows. They’re not ultra high resolution, since that slows things dramatically where the point is to modify, check, repeat until everything looks good.

A Trio of Concepts

These drawings show what happens when you take an iPad, stylus, laser measuring tool, some good apps and hours of practice, put them together with design ideas and run amok. They’re mostly completed in the field, with a few minor touch-ups in the office. The pieces get put together into a single pdf file, letter size, so we have a record of what we proposed, with an initial design program and site analysis notes.

The laser gives a base plan to scale, drawn in a CAD app, exported to a concept development app, sketched, annotated and formatted to print on letter size paper. The original CAD file is archived in case the project moves forward to plan development on the desktop CAD system.

These concepts are a mix of experimental techniques in iPad apps and actual concepts done for clients. Or testing done over actual base plans, since testing apps is better done in the office than in front of a client! Once the new techniques are proven, we use them in the field. So far, they’ve sped the workflow a lot!

Sustainable living

This garden came from a native plant collector, so it wasn’t really designed for anything but walking through. There wasn’t even a good place to sit and watch the hummingbirds.

We reorganized the spaces, added a vegetable garden and places for outdoor living. We simplified the planting palette, massing the more successful varieties and removing half-dead plants (typically coastal natives from far away).

Entertainment

The house is almost two feet above the ground. Inexplicably, so is the large studio/shed in the back yard, so getting in and out is harder than it needs to be and space is lost with steps.

The solution to the looming shed was to add a low deck to visually drop the studio and link it to the main outdoor room.

Contemplative garden spaces occupy the corners, sitting at ground level. The multiple elevation changes separate the spaces and make the garden more dynamic.

Serenity

The owners of this property work long hours, so they need a place to relax when they’re home. This design adds a yoga platform and “secret” garden in a grove of clumping bamboo, a flowering meadow with asters, yarrow and grasses (instead of a sterile lawn), a vegetable area, a dining patio and multiple places to sit.

The spa, already installed, gets surrounded by a deck and decorative screen fence. There’s a new visual butterfly garden that can be enjoyed from the spa, the deck and an adjacent small patio near the vegetable garden.

This kind of work takes constant practice and adaptability since the tools change constantly.

Our main tool is quite flexible, giving a number of options to flesh out designs. It’s also quick to employ and exports pdf files ready to print. But it does not read or write high resolution CAD file formats needed to create plans – so concepts need to be exported, scaled and traced on high resolution base plans in the desktop CAD system.

Other apps let us take notes, annotate photos on site and generally put together concept presentations on site. We do polish things up in the office in a desktop publishing app, just because it’s easier and faster to assemble different element that way.

Speaking of high resolution CAD files, we used to have a good workflow where we produced them on site in an app we thought would only get better with time. Instead, the developer rendered it completely useless, removing the ability to accurately edit plans in the field. Huh? A totally inexplicable move and a nasty one considering that subscriptions can’t be refunded even if the developer removes critical functions! Needless to say, substitute app installed, subscription cancelled, bad reviews posted.

Front yard living space

The plants now separate the spaces as intended: New Zealand flax separates the deck living area from the play lawn under a magnolia. The shrubs now have enough mass to separate the deck area from the street. The dymondia has filled in, as has the germander, softening hard edges and binding the landscape together.

Plants

Germander. This is a good low ground cover with violet flowers in spring. It spreads slowly and generally looks good year round. It does not tolerate wet soil, however.

Dr. Hurd Manzanita. This might be considered a risky choice, but their soil is good, the plant is on a slope and it seems to be doing well. It will eventually become a small tree with beautiful bark.

Dymondia. This low ground cover is actually a daisy from Africa. It hugs the ground, creeping along slowly. Deep roots ensure that it doesn’t need a lot of water.

Purple Smoke Tree. Another accent plant that brings deep purple foliage to the mix. Planted with gray fescue it’s a stylish combination.

Red Yucca (Hesperaloe) from seed

The new fancy varieties may not set seed, but if you have the normal, tall apricot-pink type you should start seeing nice black seeds sitting inside recently split brown seed pods. Good news: they’re easy to start. Bad news: they take forever to flower.

Growing the seeds

Place the seeds in a pot, lightly cover with potting mix, wet things down and place the pot in a shallow saucer with water in it. This will keep the soil moist for the time needed for the seeds to sprout.

You don’t need to scarify the seeds – it seems that moisture alone does the trick (scarifying involves grinding off a protective layer on the seeds, typically by tumbling them in sandy water). Although it might speed germination, I don’t have anything to tumble them with.

Once the plants have grown, transplant them into new pots, preferably deep ones, since these plants want to grow long tap roots right away. Deepot 16, TP4 tree pot, SuperCell or similar deep, narrow pots would be perfect. The roots on our tiny seedlings reached 18″ easily, even though the leaves were small.

Once the plants have grown and the weather is warm again – the seedlings tend to sprout in the winter if started indoors – set them outside where they’ll grow. If you used a deep pot system, you’ll have a head start since the tap roots should be straight and long, allowing them to be planted deep where there’s more moisture.

The plant in the pot is about a year old. Plants in the ground aren’t much better. We had some loss in the ground, since the plants went in an un-irrigated zone and were partially crowded out by spring grasses.

Once the plants are established in a sunny, hot space with good drainage and their roots are developed enough for them to feel comfortable putting out some leaves, the wait begins. We’re guessing it might be five or six years before they’re large enough to flower. Once they flower, they might skip subsequent years, possibly until large clumps form. These are desert plants, so their goal is to get established and ensure their roots are up to par before they decide to spend energy flowering.

Why all the fuss?

These plants are top hummingbird flowers. They use very little water, yet bloom from summer into fall. They’re spiky, bold things with tall flowers that work well at the back of a planting area. We’re seeing them planted more and more often around town, since they take heat and cold well.