Water conservation mural, Fair Oaks Horticultural Center

Years ago, we created a series of water conservation panels for the Fair Oaks Horticultural Center – Water Efficient Garden. It’s still standing! It was a lot of fun coming up with the illustrations and doing the layout for the panels. Annette created a green character to add animation, while the text and diagrams showContinue reading “Water conservation mural, Fair Oaks Horticultural Center”

Transforming outdoor spaces with lighting

One of the best things about landscapes is that with a bit of lighting, you can have two for the price of a bit more than one. All it takes is lighting. This applies to interiors, too – but that’s another subject. The niches shown below are darker than the wall during the day. It’sContinue reading “Transforming outdoor spaces with lighting”

Finishing the sculpture garden

Our job as landscape architects isn’t just to place the sculpture: it’s also to make sure that it’s integrated into the overall design. Since this is a three dimensional piece, we’re thinking of putting a path around it for strolling. It will need to be placed on a concrete pedestal – a place to addContinue reading “Finishing the sculpture garden”

Calepinage

The art of paving patterns Calpinage is something we don’t talk about here in the United States. Maybe that’s because we don’t have a corresponding word. We could say “paving patterns”, but that just doesn’t sound nearly as cool. Calpinage is the art of laying out hardscape patterns, turning boring alleys and streets into texturallyContinue reading “Calepinage”

Municipal flower bed installation, France

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”