California is in a drought, and it looks like this is not going to be a rare event going forward. So we’re getting selective. This means losing potential clients, who may not share these values. “I don’t want your values in my backyard!” anonymus caller No, that did not go well. Never mind that they’reContinue reading “Did we become snotty tree huggers? Or just insist on designing for the future?”
Category Archives: Plants
Australian garden by the sea, 2005.
A water conserving exotic garden in Oceano attracts hummingbirds
Retrospective: An early design
Endings. Beginnings. New Year. Time to run a retrospective series, telling stories of design across a not-so-epic scale. Hopefully you’ll be amused, entertained and enlightened. It started with a party in 2000 We came into this project after meeting an architect at a party, who was working on a custom house, very clean, very chic.Continue reading “Retrospective: An early design”
Heat wave flowers
If it’s 108º F, you move out of the sun. But if you’re a plant, you’re stuck. Unfortunately, every summer in Sacramento seems to have more and more days of blasting triple digit heat. This time, it’s different: it rains, too. Last night, lightning ripped across the sky, rain pelted the landscape and yet theContinue reading “Heat wave flowers”
A tapestry of colors for a front yard
Low-growing plants create a tapestry of color, punctuated by bold agaves, backed by taller shrubs and trees. It’s a great place for hummingbirds and pollinators, too. This garden has been growing for several years now, and has moved into the phase where maintenance centers on keeping the plants in bound as opposed to letting weedsContinue reading “A tapestry of colors for a front yard”
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”
Staying home… in the garden
Between working remotely on projects, our garden is the place to go. There’s always something happening if you look closely enough. Every day is different: new flowers in, old flowers out. Different birds. Strange insects and spiders that appear as you sit and watch the plants.
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”