Garden Porn: May 2010

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Built in planters in landscape architecture.

The opportunity to design a built in planter often reveals itself during the master planning stage in landscape architecture

A set of steps might require the sidewalls to be a container to afford a sense of balance or structural purpose.

(master plan design for exterior architecture and landscape architecture 2003, Carmel)

From Carmel Valley Estate

A terrace that sits above grade by 18 inches will require a railing but if you install a planter ( which elevates the grade ) then by certain municipal codes you can overt installing the

railing .

(master plan design for exterior architecture and landscape arch. 2000, Marin)

From California Gardening

Sometimes a built in planter is pure artifice adding to the architectural styling of the structure

(master plan design for exterior architecture and landscape architecture 2003, Carmel)

From Carmel Valley Estate

Other times a built in planter will mitigate a steep grade via terracing.

(master plan for exterior architecture and land architecture 2005, Marin)

From California Gardening

(master landscape plan, 2002 Marin)

From portfolioMay08.jpg

(planting plan and partial hardscape plan with Tom Galli L.A. , Marin 2009)

From New Album 6/2/09 4:27 PM

From Water fountains in the landscape

From R E D

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Calm, Cool and Very Collected.

There are just some plants that I must collect.

Even if I don’t have an immediate project or place for the plant to go to, I still crave to obtain it.

And so it was when I saw Phormium Dazzler when it first hit the nurseries several years ago.

I collected several of them , knowing that some day I would have the perfect planting scheme for them to fit into.

Dazzler is dazzling in the lower left corner

From R E D

Then one day last year I came across Eucomis Sparkling Beauty at Emerisa nursery in Santa Rosa.

It too made it into my ‘Ladies in Waiting Collection’ that lurks next to my small greenhouse in the back yard, waiting for that perfect project.

From R E D

Aeonium sunburst is always on my plant collection list. Whenever I see it pop up in the north bay wholesalers I horde / collect it in anticipation that they will be used in a garden project.

From R E D

Cantua buxifolia is perpetually on my Must Collect list. I just found a yellow variety at Annies Annuals and can’t wait till it blooms. Though I think it is going to be awhile considering that it was found in a small 4 inch size container. Here’s the hot pink variety :

From R E D

Brugmansia Charles Grimaldi is usually easily found during the summer months here in the S.F. Bay area but during the late winter through the mid spring it is rare to find , so I collect and over winter several in my greenhouse.

From R E D

The plant that I am in the hottest pursuit for is Leucadendron Jester. Only a few growers grow this plant and it is consistently out of stock. When I see them in the nursery I’ll buy as many as they have just to have them on hand. I adore the coloration on this plant and it does so incredibly well in our mild winter climate.

From Garden Porn

Sunday, May 23, 2010

S.F. Conservancy Garden Tour 2010

I always look forward to the Conservancy garden tours.

This past Saturday several San Francisco city gardens were open to view and delight.

Below are some images :

My favorite of the bunch was designed by Dat Pham , the garden is called Boyd’s Passage to India.

The garden had pre-existing formal english styled parterre bones . Dat turned it on its head by infusing the rigid boxwood outline with lush subtropical plants that obscured the rigidity and brought a sense of sensuality.

His use of plants and ornament are outstanding.

From AIA garden tour 2009

Bromeliads Galore, Alcantarea , Aechemas, Vrieseas and Neo’s with coleus, beschonaria, clivia and colocasia.

From AIA garden tour 2009

Planters on the upper deck

From AIA garden tour 2009

The second garden that I visited was very precious , a bit too sweet for me with all its miniature vignettes, cherubs and overly diabetic planter beds. It was extremely well done for those who like fairies and lots of tiny Hummel like sculptures.

Pictured is a planter :

From AIA garden tour 2009

Back to some solid Landsape Architecture ,( which is where my tastes lay) and to the garden that Surface Design Inc. designed.

They took a very steep hillside garden and sculpted into a aesthetically pleasing multilayered space that is easily traversed and offers nice views within and beyond the garden.

The use of concrete incised with wood grain is very Skidmore Ownings , which makes sense ( one of the principals worked for Skidmore) but none the less it was a very effective way of softening the facade of the concrete.

From AIA garden tour 2009

Next door to this house was this front yard garden. I don’t know who it was done by but I think it was done very very well. It shares many of the same design attributes as the Tour House, so it could have been done by the same firm, Surface Design

From AIA garden tour 2009

Friday, May 21, 2010

Outdoor Living

BBQ season is upon us.

Memorial day is just around the corner, which traditionally signals the beginning of summer.

Outdoor bbqs , dining alfresco and warm nights with sumptuous libations are in our future !

Picture below are a few scenes of outdoor entertainment areas that we have designed and installed over the past few years in Northern California .

Photo by Lee Anne White

From Outdoor Kitchens and Dining areas

From Pool and Garden Project - The Napa Valley

Photo by Lee Anne White

From Outdoor Kitchens and Dining areas

Photo by Lee Anne White

From Outdoor Kitchens and Dining areas

Evening cocktails anyone ?

From Outdoor Kitchens and Dining areas

From Pina Colada

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

A new year and some new projects.

We have several exciting projects lined up for this year, and for that we are incredibly happy and respectful for.

Last year was a big fat dud, so having a new year with some new energy is very welcoming.

thank you , thank you, thank you !!!!

One of my favorite projects so far this year is a back yard renovation that includes remodelling a pool, the pool coping and surrounding terrace , deck and pergola and the gardens.

In this first image is the original pool after the plaster has been stripped off.

From Pools

In this second image the pool is shown with a new elevated bond beam so as to eliminate a tripping step that use to reside on the old concrete terrace.

We also reconfigured the interior of the pool to include a long bench seat that looks over a spectacular view of the San Francisco Bay and city sky line.

A wading shelf was also installed.