Provence in Sacramento

When you can’t get away as much as you like, create your destination where you live. You can play pétanque, dip in the pool, relax on the deck, entertain, enjoy a glass of Côtes-du-Ventoux with your friends. No arduous plane trip required! Maybe you can even speak a bit of French… Materials: Zellige tiles inContinue reading “Provence in Sacramento”

Butterflies in the garden

Our butterfly bush gets numerous visitors as butterflies emerge. The garden also gets the occasional dragonfly who snatches small flying insects in the air and devours them. So far, we’ve had about six species of butterflies and three species of dragonflies. butterflies Butterflies have scaly wings, hence their name in Latin, lepidoptera. So if oneContinue reading “Butterflies in the garden”

Concept for a sloping site

We’ve been busy doing consults. They’re not affected much by social distancing since they’re outdoors and we email back the drawings. Staying home in a wonderful new garden space is not a bad thing! New Style A bold, modern desert look is up next, transforming an ordinary suburban landscape into a bold, water conserving statement.Continue reading “Concept for a sloping site”

Remote communication

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 asContinue reading “Remote communication”

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. BeContinue reading “It’s all about the views!”

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:Continue reading “Garden flowers for Valentine’s Day”

Mobile Landscape Design on site

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 siteContinue reading “Mobile Landscape Design on site”

Smooth WordPress sailing again!

All is well, after some stormy passages where it looked like this blog was heading for Davey Jones’ locker! This started with a simple message about old, slow PHP. Then I noticed I could use SSL and get rid of the scary browser messages about being a potential threat to humanity. Too bad clicking thatContinue reading “Smooth WordPress sailing again!”