Garden Porn

So far it is bits and pieces and a couple of design concepts

2012-01-22T11:54:00.001-08:00

I was invited to install a small 4x8 garden space at the 2012 San Francisco Garden show that will be open to the public in late March at the San Mateo Event Center.

At this time I am exploring a variety of design concepts , doing cost analysis studies , gathering found objects and puttering in the studio and greenhouse.

I’ve narrowed it down to 2 options and I’’m leaning toward # 2 because it has a simple overhead arbor and judging from past shows, the lighting is lacking in design so I will need to design my own lighting system.

option 1 - probably not

From 2012 garden show

option 2 - potentially yes.

From 2012 garden show

The space is small 4x8 .
Color , texture and visual impact is paramount.
the background color :

From 2012 garden show

A little sculptural interest

From 2012 garden show

Horticulturally I will be emphasizing Bromeliads adaptable for the Bay Area, succulents and orchids.
A small vertical window of bromeliads , orchids and perhaps a nepenthe will be set into the back wall.

From 2012 garden show

So many plant choices !
Inside the greenhouse

From 2012 garden show

evolution with glass

2011-12-21T14:09:00.000-08:00

It has always been a dream of mine to design with glass.

It was during my last two years in a high school drafting class that I started working on a house design that had a glass stair case and a sunken glass living room. ( yes it was the early 70’s when sunken living rooms were all the rage ) .

Photo from Hospitality Design

From October 31, 2011

My high school drafting teacher , Mr. Nolan, didn’t tell me that my glass house design was impractical or unattainable . Instead he encouraged me to continue to design and handed me an application to Harvard’s Graduate School of Design summer program in architecture

Nervous and armed with an immature portfolio I headed off to Harvard in 1976.
In a rather odd turn of events I did not get into the Architecture department as I had hoped , instead I was placed in the Landscape Architecture program.
Inside Gund Hall - my desk was on the second floor about where that jacket is hanging.

From October 31, 2011

Outside view of the GSD

From October 31, 2011

Link to the GSD website
http://www.gsd.harvard.edu/#/news/all-news/feed.html

It’s been 35 years later from that first class in L.A.(landscape architecture) and I am still intrigued to design with glass.

Working with recycled broken glass

From San Francisco Garden Show 2008

A Burle Marx influence.

2011-12-08T16:39:00.000-08:00

Twenty some odd years ago I was influenced by the work of Roberto Burle Marx, (1909-1994)
He was Brazil's most influential landscape architect and is internationally recognized as the "creator of the modern garden." Mr. Marx is also recognized for his discovery of many native Brazilan rainforest plants. One of my favorites is Tibouchina , which I often use in my garden designs here in Northern California.
Below is a photo of a garden wall that Mr. Marx designed using discarded and collected building shards.

From Water fountains in the landscape

Below is a garden that I designed for the 1990 S.F. Garden Show. I was inspired by the wall that Mr. Marx had created in his garden in Brazil.
I came across these old photos today while cleaning out a bookshelf.

From Water fountains in the landscape

Terrariums. Simple and fun.

2011-10-18T11:29:00.001-07:00

Ever wondered how to make a terrarium ?
The folks at POTTED - http://www.pottedstore.com/our-blog/ have a great tutorial that is easy to follow and will offer lots of inspiration.

I vaguely remember making a terrarium back in the 1960’s with my mom. We used a small oval fish tank and colored aquarium gravel. It was probably pretty gaudy looking when we finished but it remains one of those memories where as kids we were encouraged to create arts and crafts without any derogatory judgement.

I tried my hand at making a terrarium a few days ago.
I used a glass domed cheese serving dish , a glass vase and a small glass candle votive holder.
Inside the containers I placed moss, shells, succulents and some willow branches.

It was pretty simple to make and I am inspired to try making a few more for the upcoming gift exchange season.

From terrarium

New ON LINE Garden Lifestyle magazine : LEAF

2011-10-17T09:57:00.000-07:00

The debut issue hit the web waved on October 17 2011.
The cover shot is a beautiful photo by Saxon Holt shot of a garden designed by Topher Delaney.

I think it is rather fitting that Topher made the cover issue, She is after all, a female landscape design trailblazer that has done much over the course of her 30 year career in brining to the forefront the field of site specific sculptural landscaping.

Open publication - Free publishing - More design outside

and check out page 66 - an outdoor fire sculpture that we designed for a family in Squaw Valley
http://issuu.com/leafmag/docs/leaf_previewissue/63#share

Dalbokia land 2011

2011-09-22T09:14:00.000-07:00

And now for some XXX porn for your garden lust pleasure.
Garden Porn bring you Dalbokia, also known as Dalbokia land.
A subtropical hillside paradise nestled in the oak studded hills of Marin county CA.

Entering threw the Balinese wood gate sets the emotional tone. Your blood pressure will immediately drop, stress melts away and a feeling of calm embraces the body and mind.

From Dalbokia land aug. 2011

Slowly wander down the palm lined path taking in the jewels of the understory plantings. Ruby red aeoniums sparkle next to sapphire blue senecio. Stalks of amber colored grasses beckon you to explore further down the path.

From Dalbokia land aug. 2011

Come around to the heart of the garden where friends frolic in the warm healing pool waters

From Dalbokia land aug. 2011

After a soothing dip, recline restfully while overlooking the sanitas por aqua.

From Dalbokia land aug. 2011

The owner of Dalbokia lends a helping hand to a young explorer discovering koi fish for the first time in his life. Prized moments.

From Dalbokia land aug. 2011

Object d' art are found throughout the garden, tucked in foliage, sprouting from tree ferns and growing out of tree trunks.
This peice shown below is by Marcia Donahue

From Dalbokia land aug. 2011

A cluster of pots obscures the surface of the driveway,

From Dalbokia land aug. 2011

Feeling like exploring the garden, take a stroll threw the thoughtful vignettes and evocative foliage

From Dalbokia land aug. 2011

The owner of Dalbokia land is Davis Dalbok.
He is a highly respected designer of evocative spaces, both inside the home and out doors in the garden.
His large atelier known as " Living Green " is located in the heart of the Design District in San Francisco
A successful buisness man , a perennial party host that makes everyone feel special and a spirital man who with his own hands has has helped many people in poorer South East Asian countries build temples and communities for spirital devotion.

It's almost a wrap.

2011-08-28T20:22:00.000-07:00

We’ve been working on this stone project for many months now.
It is finally coming to an end, much to the delight of the owners who have been patient throughout the entire spring and summer.

Here are a few progression photos.

a portion of the construction plans:

From Oranje project

the site

From Oranje project

the steel for the flat work- stripping the veneer stone off the existing wall. new slatework

From Oranje project

building the fireplace

From Oranje project

granite counter tops and bar tops installed

From Oranje project

Arbor going up. - Still some stone work to do such as the hearth, spark cap, plinth cap.

From Oranje project

the wrought iron decorative inlay work is still at the fabricators. It will go into the bluestone panel and a pair of wrought iron doors are being made for the firebox.

From Oranje project

plinth cap and hearth still to come

From Oranje project

hopefully we’ll be done by Labor Day.

more later.

Master plan for a wine country garden.

2011-08-16T18:23:00.000-07:00

This Sonoma job was installed two years ago. We designed it in collaboration with the homeowners and the homeowners installed with their building contractor.

I think the garden has grown in enough to show you a few photos of the project.
This was a master plan project.

Below is a over head shot from Google maps - it gives you a good idea of the lot layout and the various elements such as the location of the house, tennis court , pool, bocce ball court , rose garden, patios and vegetable garden. It must of been taken just as the hardscaping was wrapping up.

From Sonoma - Freudbrgr

Entrance border

From Sonoma - Freudbrgr

Copper post and wood arbor with Climbing Josephs Coat rose

From Sonoma - Freudbrgr

Beautiful touches by the homeowner , she has a great eye - this is by the front door

From Sonoma - Freudbrgr

Pots found at Artefacts Salvage in Sonoma - soon to be planted

From Sonoma - Freudbrgr

Arbor to the rose garden from the bocce ball court to the pool

From Sonoma - Freudbrgr

Pretty nice growth on those climbing Iceburg roses for just 2 years.

From Sonoma - Freudbrgr

Picnic bench on dining terrace designed by owner in collaboration with John Lamos, a local sculptor
BBQ in the back ground - the stone for this was recycled from a demolished area in the old garden.

From Sonoma - Freudbrgr

Sitting sculpture by John Lamos in collaboration with the talented homeowner, did I mention she was beautiful too ? A professional model. Some people have all the luck ;-)

From Sonoma - Freudbrgr

The vegetable garden - raised stone planters are made from tumbled bluestone that was on site . An old patio was demolished and recyled back into the garden as planter boxes.

From Sonoma - Freudbrgr

Bocce ball court

From Sonoma - Freudbrgr

Fountain in the rose garden

From Sonoma - Freudbrgr

Raising a garden project

2011-08-09T11:45:00.001-07:00

We’re currently working on a raised garden project in Marin.

It is being constructed in the capable hands of ‘Peaceman’,
It is the first time that I have had the opportunity to work with this craftsman and it has been a pleasure.

Eventually the ground surface will be a combination of brick, bluestone and crushed gravel.

From August 9, 2011

The existing redwood deck will be reworked to accommodate a bbq.

And a fountain and a series of arbors will be installed.

From Figone

From Last Import

Time for a nap.

2011-07-26T18:59:00.000-07:00

During these long warm summer days, a nap is in order .
A few napping areas that we've designed and installed over the years.

Jasmine vines bookend this hammock structure.

From Nappy nu time

Lounging with a view

From Nappy nu time

Napping by the pool ( Napa, Mill Valley, Kentfileld, Novato)

From Nappy nu time

Nappy nu time by the spa

From Nappy nu time

Napping in the shade of the redwood

From Nappy nu time

LeCorbusier designed a chaise just for napping

From Nappy nu time

We didn’t design this napping area. This Balinese ‘bale’ was in the courtyard in with my room at the resort, Tanjung Sari .

From Nappy nu time

Napping at the S.F. garden show in 2008
( thanks for the photo Kell)

From Nappy nu time

Napping at home in the Pina Colada garden

From Nappy nu time

Sweet Dreams.

Danger Danger Will Robinson.

2011-07-19T09:39:00.000-07:00

It’s been a while since I’ve posted.
We’ve been busy building projects and working on plans this summer, which is a good thing.

I usually write about something I find creative , artistic, innovative and interesting, along with posts about our own projects.

This morning I came across a blog post that alarmed the structural shit out of me.
The design was aesthetically charming , creative and interesting but the project was constructed so poorly that it screamed “major law litigation” and HUGE SAFETY HAZARD.

Project depicted below:
- no footing, no reinforcement, and glued together with liquid nails. (!!)

From wave garden pt. richmond

What made this blog post very alarming is that it was providing the construction specifications for building the wall and lots of people were responding that they were going to ‘try this in their own back yard’.

It is exactly this type of practice that truly hurts the profession of landscape design : A landscape designer providing construction details that are WAY beyond their skill and legal liability level.
No wonder the LATC has their panties in a knot when they see work like this.
This reflects very poorly on the profession of landscape design and should never be done.

Sure , go for the pretty pictures, show the finished project, but DO NOT provide construction directions when the project is way beyond your professional skill level and liability.

I’m not a structural engineer, but because all of our design and construction projects are run threw a structural engineers office for the planning, building and permitting departments approval , I can say with certainty that this is one wall that requires structural engineering.
Actually any wall that is taller than 48 inches from the BOTTOM of the FOOTING requires a permit and building review in California and any other progressive state with a building and planning department that observes a UBC : Unified Building Code.

This wall is over five feet tall . It has no footing and no reinforcement . It is a major safety issue and law suit waiting to happen.

Again, I love the aesthetics of this project and I think its creativeness should be shared BUT providing construction instructions is professionally irresponsible especially when these building instructions are so poorly engineered that this un-reinforced concrete wall could easily kill someone in a blink of an eye.

One of our summer projects 2011

2011-06-17T10:15:00.001-07:00

Well it took a while to get started due to the wet rainy spring and a needlessly drawn out permit process, but we are on our way to building a new outdoor environment for a lovely family in San Rafael.

Here are a few progression shots.

Starting with a detail from the plans :

From Oranje project

Before shots
The existing pink flagstone patio was cracking apart - it had to go. It was becoming a safety hazard and pretty unsightly. Fortunately we were able to save a lot of the flagstone and offer it for a discounted sale through American Soil and Stone in San Rafael. Someone got a great deal !

From Oranje project

location of the new fireplace

From Oranje project

We took off the pink flagstone on this round patio and resurfaced it , so it will match the rest of the new stone

From Oranje project

Building shots
The new resurfaced round stone patio

From Oranje project

laying out the steel

From Oranje project

The block work and new stone work

From Oranje project

detail of stone

From Oranje project

Fill in the blanks.

2011-06-02T21:13:00.000-07:00

As my friend and landscape designer Alida Blair recently said : “ In order to have great plants and planting schemes you need to create the spaces for them to reside in. “

Creative path work is one way to outline your planting spaces.
From there you can fill in the blanks, and if the chance should arise, instil some vertical interest by sculpting the grade.

Below are pix’s showing some blank spaces , the out line of paths and the space in between that was filled with plants.

From Before and After

From Beach House

Before the planting this was a barren slope of native grass.

From Heather Garden in Gualala CA

Before development, this was a slope covered with brambles.

From California Gardening

Cutting across and up a native hillside , the path of stone defines the planting spaces

From portfolioMay08.jpg

A drought tolerant planting with a stepping stone path dividing the space

From Alexander Valley

Low retaining walls , flagstone and a set of stone steps outlines the planting spaces.

From Hillside development

Blank slate development

From Paths

Tis the season of garden tours and trips.

2011-05-23T09:04:00.000-07:00

Last week the S.F. Bromeliad Club and the S.F Cactus and Succulent Club had separate field trips.
The Brom club went to the S.F. Conservatory and the Succulent club hired a bus and took us down to visit the cactus garden in Stanford, the Rodin sculpture garden , wine tasing in Gilroy and then plant shopping at Succulent Gardens Nursery in Castroville.

Here a a few photos from each tour :

A Medinilla magnifica at the Conservatory

From New Album 5/23/11 8:35 AM

Bromeliad

From New Album 5/23/11 8:35 AM

Nepenthes

From New Album 5/23/11 8:35 AM

Bromeliad arrangement in the entry foyer

From New Album 5/23/11 8:35 AM

Part of a special exhibit at the conservatory was author Amy Stewarts Wicked Plants show.
It was a hoot ! Lot of wicked poisonous plants set to a story line.
This photo shows the gift store swag.

From New Album 5/23/11 8:35 AM

I was interested in this deadly plant because I’ve seen it covertly growing in a nursery . It wasn’t for sale. It was being grown by one of the nursery workers for his own usse.

From New Album 5/23/11 8:35 AM

My own wicked plant growing in my garden in Novato

From New Album 5/23/11 8:35 AM

Across from the Cactus garden at Standford there is an Andy Goldsworthly stone sculpture

From New Album 5/23/11 8:35 AM

A few hundred yards away is the Rodin garden

From New Album 5/23/11 8:35 AM

Owner of Succulent Gardens in Catroville, Robin Stockwell

From New Album 5/23/11 8:35 AM

One of the greenhouses

From New Album 5/23/11 8:35 AM

I bought a few plants and potted them up for the garden at home

From New Album 5/23/11 8:35 AM

5th Annual Marin Eco Garden Tour

2011-05-16T12:36:00.000-07:00

On May 14, 2011 the 5th annual Marin Eco Garden Tour took place.
My garden, 'The Pina Colada Garden' was a participant this year.

Below are a few photos taken during the tour.
Enjoy.

enter across the mosaic path

From Pina Colada May 15

past a grouping of pots

From Pina Colada May 15

The front foliage border

From Pina Colada May 15

With a stone sculpture by Suzanne Biaggi tucked into the border

From Pina Colada May 15

Around the corner, entering into the shade garden a simple fountain

From Pina Colada May 15

The back garden

From Pina Colada May 15

A small area in the dining area

From Pina Colada May 15

To the greenhouse

From Pina Colada May 15

Details along the way

From Pina Colada May 15

The Wave Garden in Pt. Richmond CA.

2011-04-10T16:34:00.000-07:00

The Wave Garden

The Hortisexuals visited The Wave Garden in Pt. Richmond on Sunday April 10.
A collaborative effort between the owner of the property, concrete artist Victor Amador and plantswoman Kellee Adams, a steep hillside over looking the San Francisco bay was organically built with undulating concrete walls and planted with an abundance of Mediterranean adaptable plants.
Beautifully sinuous hand wrought railings of iron slink down the hillside.
Bronzes sculptures punctuate the terraces.

enjoy the warm sunny tour.

From wave garden pt. richmond

Leucadendron Jester

From wave garden pt. richmond

Leucospermum cordifolia

From wave garden pt. richmond

An entry gate

From wave garden pt. richmond

Gate latch

From wave garden pt. richmond

Railing detail

From wave garden pt. richmond

Many bronze sculptures throughout

From wave garden pt. richmond

Sculptural plants - A Banksia - variety unknown

From wave garden pt. richmond

San Francisco Garden Show Review - 2011

2011-03-24T11:39:00.000-07:00

The San Francisco Flower and Garden Show is now open for your viewing pleasure.
It is located in San Mateo from March 23- 27 2011.

This year the show gardens were thoughtful in their design approach with consideration towards our current down turned economy , otherwise known as the ‘cone of doom’.
This translates to nice safe design with an eye toward recycled and affordable materials and the inclusion of the current trend of ‘grow your own food for Christ sakes!'.

The few gardens that appealed to my sense of quality construction, unique design and well balanced proportions are as follows :

Outdoor Environments got my vote for highly detailed construction craftsmanship.
The cubic arbor constructed out of richly oiled ipe wood displayed clean and tight lines.
The joinery was pure perfection.
Artfully placed across one corner was a swag of ceramic sculpture work by local artist Marcia Donahue.

From San Francisco Garden Show 2008

For looking outside the Pi r squared box ( that was the name of the exhibit ) Jeffery Gordon Smith wowed us with an organic formed vignette that used a variety of upcycled materials.
A giant orange tea cup ( a hot tub ) sat prominently in the center of the garden. I loved the shape, form and color but was horrified that it used environmentally assaulting wood heat to power the tub. Can you imagine the amount of highly polluting wood smoke it will create just to take a 20 minute soak ? ! Major points off for this eco offending energy polluting appendage. If they made a clean burning gas or electric tub in this shape, he’d gain back some eco- conscience credibility. His exhibit won lots of awards and shared ( a first ) the grand poobah prize of the Golden Gate Cup - Best in show award. ( note the 2008 winner.. .. a shameless plug )

From San Francisco Garden Show 2008

From Mar 24, 2011

Brian Swope of Terra Seca design is a perennial favorite designer of mine. He never fails to shy away from pushing the limits of design. This year his rock wave garden was impressive. Undulating waves of stone criss crossed over one another with drifts of tufted grass riding the waves. Unfortunately the lighting designer for the show did his exhibit no favors in using the incorrect light to highlight his design craftsmanship. The disturbing yellow lights killed the life out of the plants. When will the show hire a great theatrical lighting company like they use to do when they worked with Holtzmueller Lighting at Fort Mason ?
Good design deserves decent lighting .

From San Francisco Garden Show 2008

The artfully sculpted stonework from “A Lost Art Stonework & Design” company featuring Douglas Bryants creative handcrafted craftsmanship was quite impressive, especially when you consider he had only 3 days to construct his wall . I’m looking forward to hiring this young talented man in the future should such a opportunity present itself.

From Mar 24, 2011

One of my alma mater’s , Filoli, ( I did one of my Horticultural Internships there ) won the Golden Gate Cup Award for its beautiful rendition of a slice of California living. In true traditional flavor, Filoli festooned its exhibit with a beautiful show of spring daffodils blooming amongst exquisitely set native boulders. The well known and loved Dovecote was brought into the garden but the designer, Lucy Tolmac, spiffed it up with a modern twist by covering it with a veneer of savory succulents.

From San Francisco Garden Show 2008

From Mar 24, 2011

Well that’s enough verbiage for now. Here are a few more images from the show.
If you can, I hope you can make it down to the show. I’m sure you’ll enjoy yourself.

From Mar 24, 2011

Bromeliads at the Pacific Orchid Expo.

2011-03-06T11:00:00.000-08:00

Today, Sunday March 6, ‘11 is the last day of the San Francisco Pacific Orchid Exhibition held at the airy Fort Mason Wharf building.

Yesterday I volunteered to help the San Francisco Bromeliad Club - LINK _ http://www.sfbromeliad.org/ with their sales booth and was so happy to have had the experience to work side by side with my club members and see some of the extraordinary orchids and orchid garden vignettes.

The exhibit that most caught my eye was designed by Davis Dalbok of Living Green , a luxuriously beautiful showroom in the design district of the city that ‘brings you an eclectic selection of artefacts, specimen tropical foliage and objects that reflect the wonder and simple beauty of Nature’.

From academy

Trailing right behind Davis’s exhibit was the profoundly prolific explosion of fantastic foliaged bromeliads exhibited by the Bromeliad Club designed by member Peter Wan.

From academy

Many of the bromeliad species in this exhibit can live comfortably outdoor in the San Francisco Bay area. Some may have to retreat to a green house or under an overhead eave during one of our occasional winter cold snaps, but for the most part many bromeliads do well growing outdoor in an area with bright warm light ( not blazing hot sun )

From Pina Colada

And the Bromeliad Society booth has “THE IT” new hot plant of the year : Tillandsias, otherwise wise known as ‘air plants’.
Tillandsias are all the range this year. It started with interior decorators putting Tillandsias in a glass vase evoking the idea of a terrarium.
Now you see Tillandsias hanging in small glass globes in boutique nurseries across the US priced in the 25 to 40 dollar range.
The secret is, most Tillandsias are actually a fairly inexpensive plant. We had blooming Tilladsias priced in the 5 to 10.00 range.

From Pina Colada

One can pick up a glass orb in Chinatown for $ 2.00 or find a glass vase at a second hand store or Pier One imports in the 10.00 range.
For less than $ 15.00 you can have a beautiful terrarium of your own without spending a lot of money.
Place a small bit of moss or a few small rocks in with your Tillandsia glass vase and you’ll be sporting the same designs that grace the pages of Garden Design, Architectural Digest and Elle Decor for a fraction of the price but to big design effect.

A steep hillside vegetable garden terraced in Marin.

2011-02-28T14:09:00.000-08:00

About 10 or 15 years ago Fine Gardening Magazine ran an article on developing a vegetable garden on a steep site.

I had just finished such a garden and was happy to send them the plans and some photo’s of the garden which they published.

The steep downward facing slope was terraced into 3 main tiers.
This project was a collaboration between myself and Matthew Farnsworth Landscape Contractor. http://www.farnsworthlandscaping.com/
We used rough redwood boards to form the raised terraces and also built in a double compost bin, storage for a lawn mower and long handled tools.
We also built in a simple cold frame and a potting bench.
The path that leads to the fenced in vegetable garden is lined with espaliered apple trees and the arbors are planted with Thompson seedless grapes.

Below is the illustration :

From Potager Gardens

1. Double compost bins
2. Lawn mower storage
3. Long handle tool storage
4. Raised vegetable bed
5. Upper raised vegetable bed with built in seat
6. Lower level fruit trees
7. Cold frame - get an early start on veggie seedlings
8. Potting bench with sink and storage
9. Cut flower bed.

A photo of the work bench, raised bed with squash, the cutting garden and the grape covered entry arbor.

From Potager Gardens

This garden is now going into its 16 th year . The property has changed hands but I can still see the garden from the street and it is still pushing out food, flowers and herbs at a steady rate. It’s nice to see that it has been a valued resource over all these years.

Patrick Blanc at The Academy of Science S.F.

2011-02-11T10:27:00.000-08:00

Every Thursday evening The Academy of Science in San Francisco http://www.calacademy.org/ opens its doors to adults only for “date night”.
There is music , drinks, special seminars and of course, the fantastic Academy its self in all its stunning glory.
Last night , Feb. 10, The Academy hosted a special seminar featuring horticulturist extrodinaire Patrick Blanc and his new American vertical garden project, the Drew School.
Lots of San Francisco’s ‘hort-i-ratti’ were there mingling amongst the rain forest.
Members of The Hortisexuals ( who were extraordinarily well behaved despite all the alcohol ), a good showing from the local chapter of the APLD, Professors from Harvard and Berkeley , the Editor from our beloved Pacific Horticulture Magazine and passionate gardeners, designers and landscape architects from around the Bay Area were in attendance.

I was fortunate enough to know the local horticultural consultant David Feix , who is working in concert with Roma Architects,http://roma.com/ The Drew School http://www.drewschool.org/ and Patrick Blanc http://www.verticalgardenpatrickblanc.com/ on this exciting new project.
David, always the generous host and consummate gentleman introduced me to Patrick Blanc head gardener Silvan.

David and Silvan:

From academy

It was a wonderful opportunity to meet , speak and walk around the rain forest with these two most knowledgeable men.

Silvan checking out one of the Academy’s vertical gardens:

From academy

A bromeliad in the rainforest:

From academy

Blue legs, red body frogs:

From academy

In the water tunnel:

From academy

The talk by Mr. Blanc was insightful and his enthusiasm for vertical gardens contagious.
I left the evening inspired to try my hand , yet again, to attempt growing another vertical garden.

A unique designed living wall at the entry to The Moss Room - a restaurant within the Academy ( a great place to grab a bite to eat before the Academy opens its doors at 6 pm :

From academy

Innovative Underwear. A sustainable approach.

2011-01-04T13:35:00.000-08:00

A lush oasis awaits you in your underwear.

Join the vertical garden revolution and be sustainable at the same time.
Use your underwear as Wooly Pockets.® http://www.woollypocket.com

Easy peasy pie.
Simply slip out of your knickers, sew up the legs , nail to a wall, stuff with soil and plants and voila’ : You’ve got a new kind of wooly pocket .

A wooly pocket that anyone can purchase and plant :

From Untitled Album

Recycle , Reuse and Rejoice! . The Sustainable muffless brief:

From Untitled Album

An added extra bonus - Use men’s underwear for that added extra opening in the front.
Be inventive when it comes to planting.

Kids just want to have fun.

2011-01-01T22:12:00.000-08:00

I was organizing my photo files and came across this memorable garden.
It was designed over a decade ago, so that would make the child that played in this garden a young teenager now. I wonder how this space has transformed and how it is used now ?
Does the young teenage boy still visit his fort ? Does he skateboard now ?
Does his parents still grow vegetables in their small raised garden ?
It’s been a few years since I last bumped into these folks.
Wow, how the time does pass quickly !

I worked with this young family to carve out a flat usable space on their steep Marin hillside so that they could plant a few vegetables, watch their son learn to ride his tricycle and enjoy a place to relax in the sun.

This was truly a collaborative project. With the husband building his sons play fort , gate and storage structure while the contractor worked on the grading, plumbing , terracing, masonry and mosaic work.

Below the entry to the play yard showing the gate, playhouse and the tricycle riding ring.

From Untitled Album

The raised stone planter provides just enough space to grow a few vegetables and herbs along side of the tricycle path.
A small patio adjacent to the storage shed gives Mom and Dad a place to sit and watch over their son.

From Untitled Album

On hot summer days the fountain could be turned on while the the kids would run and ride their bikes through the stream of water emanating from the mosaic swirl

From Untitled Album

Why are there no beacon/GPS clips on the ski slopes?

2010-12-29T13:00:00.002-08:00

Way off the topic of gardening today, but due to the recent deaths of two local people snow skiing I got to wondering : Why don't ski resorts 'build in' beacons and or GPS devices into the skiers lift ticket ?

In the early 90's I was fortunate to go snow skiing in Switzerland. I started out skiing with new found friends but out paced them and went off on my own. It was a dream of mine to ski Zermatt and the Matterhorn and I wanted to 'really ski'.
When I attained my ski lift ticket I was handed a beacon. It was the size of a Bic lighter and I thought it was a pretty good idea.
How little did I know at that point in the morning how important a beacon could be.
Several hours into my joyous day of skiing on top of the worlds most beautiful glacier I found myself dangling 15 feet off the ground while taking a ground based pulley lift up the glacier. Part of the mountain had slid away. I didn't know if I should jump off the tow bar that was now wedge up my butt crack or hold on for dear life. I ended up jumping off when the the tow bar came closer to the ground. It was a good feeling to feel the ground beneath my skis.

Later on that same day I felt the oddest feeling. I was skiing across the mountain but the snow in front of me was moving. In a blink of an eye I realized I was in an avalanche. Out of shear luck I skied down and across with the slide and ended up on my butt surrounded by a foot of snow that was not moving.

I was totally dazed. My heart was pounding and my nervous system was freaking wacked out.
As I surveyed the site I visually found the ski lift and headed for it, following it down to the small hut that was stationed next to the load up ramp. No one was there. ( WTF ! ) I then took the trail back down to base camp. Along the way I noticed that something was glowing - the beacon.
I got to the base camp and was asked some questions and was accounted for.
I sat down, ordered a hot drink and decided I had enough skiing for awhile.
When leaving I handed over the now silent lifeless beacon, knowing that it may have saved my life if the snow had decided to roll a little differently.

I can't help wondering if the two skiers who recently lost their lives would be alive now if they had a gps beacon that would lead rescuers to them before they had died. The technology is there, why isn't is being used ?
If you ski alone or in sanctioned out of bounds areas, please take your cell phone or investigate getting a beacon.

Photo taken at base camp, Zermatt, Switzerland.

From Untitled Album

2010-12-29T13:00:00.001-08:00

The garden show (marketing) comes back around.

2010-12-21T12:02:00.000-08:00

A couple of years ago we did an exhibition garden in San Francisco.
The design installed was a simple spa and meditation garden surrounded by a raised planter of bamboo.

From San Francisco Garden Show 2008

Today I’ll be meeting with a client who is in business negotiations to construct a new
spa , tea garden and retail boutique.

From San Francisco Garden Show 2008

This project sounds incredibly exciting to me and came to our office via the show
garden that we designed and installed a few years ago.

If all goes well this will be the second project that is not specifically residential that will be installed in 2011.
We are looking forward to the design installation of a new large outdoor dining area for an exciting new restaurant and entertainment venue in Marin next year.

My humble garden design roots got its start up on the Mendocino coast where I worked for small resorts and bed and breakfast inns perched on the edge of the powerful pacific ocean, installing, designing and maintaining gardens.
I’m looking forward to this type of design again that is open to the public that is meant to evoke resonant emotional responses and inspire people to spend quality time in these spaces.
Below, St. Orres Inn in Gualala, Mendocino county. photo taken in the early mid 80's.

From Untitled Album

You wear that boa well.

2010-12-13T13:12:00.000-08:00

I was recently reminded of a fantastic trip I took with The Hortisexuals a few years back to L.A.
I decided to post a few photos from that trip showing some of the different gardens, landscape architecture, sculpture and horticultural delights.

This first grouping of photos shows some of the horticultural delights that caught my eye.

This bamboo vulgaris Vittata is a favorite. I have it planted in my yard but it enjoys a much more tropical climate than I can supply. Here it is loving the LA warmth.

From Untitled Album

Another plant that I adore but I just don’t have the warmth for it to perform to its potential perfection is the Giant Bird of Paradise , Strelitzia : Exotic !

From Untitled Album

Always a crowd pleaser, Agave attenuatta is another succulent favorite.
Here it is at a private garden and again in the Norton Simon museum garden
It makes a rather nice boa, don’ you think ?

From Untitled Album

Norton Simon Museum grounds

From Untitled Album

Euphorbias do well in my northern California garden

From Untitled Album

As do Ensete ventricosum Maurelii , red banana

From Untitled Album

And Geramium madrense and tillandsias. The silk floss tree, Chorisia/ Ceiba, doesn’t thrive in my area.

From Untitled Album

I love this bamboo fence and the surrounding mexican weeping bamboo , Otatea acuminata aztectorum

From Untitled Album

We had the opportunity to visit Jay Graham’s garden in Malibu. This is his staircase down to the lower garden and stable.

From Untitled Album

More photos of LA to come later showing sculpture , art and gardens.

Wholesale, retail, semi wholesale nurseries.

2010-12-09T13:31:00.000-08:00

A word about nurseries

Coming from the perspective of a landscape designer who has been in the business for a few years who has worked in commercial, educational and retail nurseries as well as being on the purchasing end.

I patronize both retail, wholesale and semi-wholesale nurseries.
Each has their strengths and weaknesses.

I receive copious advertisements from my favorite garden nursery retailers.
I appreciate their cheerful colorful and very descriptive marketing blurbs.
These ads come in the form of email announcements, snail mail post cards/ newsletters and if I have linked to them via a social media site I also receive their advertisements on Facebook.
It’s nice to know when they are having a sale or just received a new shipment of whatever.
This marketing info comes to me on a weekly or monthly basis.
This marketing blast is reaching out to my 'retail buying' self. Not my wholesale buying self.

On an annual , quarterly and in some cases on a monthly basis I receive marketing information from my wholesale nurseries and or my plant brokers.
Their marketing material is usually in the form of their current availability list .
Most of the time there are few if any lovely photographs but plenty of hard core horticultural info.

Bottom line, a retail nursery markets different than a wholesale nursery because they have completely different customers.

For those who are not familiar with doing business with a large scale professional wholesale nursery the experience is quite different from retail shopping.

Photos : Strictly wholesale Nursery SweetLane Nursery in Santa Rosa CA :

From Untitled Album

First of all you have to be qualified to purchase from a wholesaler. This means having a resale license, a C-27 license , your landscape architectural license or have an established design and or design and build firm.
Bottom line, most wholesale nurseries do not want unqualified unlicensed gardeners in their nursery.

Most times you drive your truck down the lanes to pull your plants. Some smaller wholesale nurseries will have automatic electric carts for you to drive and a few of the smaller nurseries have nursery carts.
Usually I drive my truck or take the electric cart along with a clip board to list the plants that I want loaded and delivered to the job site.
Only occasionally do I Ioad my truck with plants. My Toyota pick up can hold only 80 one gallon plants and that is a pretty small amount of plants to buy when doing a garden installation.

Photo: Sweetlane Wholesale - rows upon rows of mugo pines.

From Untitled Album

Then there are the retail / semi- wholesale nurseries. These are usually small to moderately sized growers that have a retail store and a separate window for semi-wholesale customers. These nurseries offer a volume discount to those who are regular customers who may or may not have their licenses. They generally offer 25 to 50 percent off the retail price.
That can be a great deal of savings, especially to those who do not have the ability to purchase directly from a wholesaler.
This type of nursery often uses the same type of retail advertising that a retail nursery uses because they are sharing and targeting to the same type of patron.

A wholesale nursery does not want a retail customer to come to their wholesale nursery.
They sell their plants to an Independent Garden Center ( IGC) and often the marketing of the plants is left up to the IGC.

The IGC and the Wholesale nursery have to walk a fine line because often times the IGC does not want the public to know who they are buying their plants from and or the Wholesale nursery does not want to get calls from Jane Gardener looking for one or two plants.

That is why a wholesale nursery and a retail nursery market their wares differently.
They have different markets.

This leaves the wholesale marketing up to the retail nursery. In some cases some wholesale nurseries are ‘branding’ themselves, such as Monrovia and Proven Winners.
This is a smart idea but once again, they are walking a fine line because they do not want to have Jane and Joe Home Gardener calling their wholesale facilities looking for one or two plants but they want Joe and Jane to buy their brand plant from the retailer.

This puts advertising and marketing for the wholesale nursery in a unique spot.
They need to get their brand name out there but they have to rely on the retail nursery
to do the actual selling of their product.

It’s not as simple as selling Coca Cola or Colgate toothpaste. Each company makes their own specific brand.
But with nursery stock, if a plant is no longer under patent registration, anyone can sell an agapanthus or agave and to most consumers it doesn’t matter what ‘brand’ or company is hosting that plant, the only thing that matters is the low price.

Comparing a retail nursery business to a wholesale nursery business is like comparing apples to elephants.

Season's Greetings from Kermit

2010-12-07T20:19:00.000-08:00

I received a nice phone call today from one of our stone suppliers, Bay Area Bluestone :
http://www.bayareabluestone.com/index.html
They asked if they could use an image from one of our landscape installation projects for their Christmas card this year.
Absolutely !
Seasons greetings to all.

( all that is missing is a red bow on one of the frogs ! )

From Water fountains in the landscape

Dasylirion longissimum (Mexican Grass Tree)

2010-12-01T12:14:00.001-08:00

From Untitled Album

- From the San Marco’s website:

Large plant native to northeastern Mexico with glaucous-green stiff unarmed grass-like 6 foot long leaves. The leaves radiate symmetrically out of a large woody trunk that can slowly but eventually grow 6 -15 feet tall. In the summer, a nine foot tall spike of small white flowers emerge from reddish buds. Plant in full sun to light shade. Drought tolerant and cold hardy to at least 15 ° F. A great container plant or focal point specimen in the garden. The older, bottom leaves can be trimmed off to expose the trunk. Also known at the Longleaf Sotol this plant has long been included in the Agave family (Agavaceae) but is now considered to be in the Nolinaceae family with Nolina and Beaucarnea. The specific epithet for this plant in reference books has gone back and forth between Dasylirion longissimum and D. quadrangulatum. In the most current reference we have available, the Illustrated Handbook of Succulent Plants: Monocotyledons edited by Urs Eggli (2001), the contributor for this section, Dr Colin Walker, lists Dasylirion longissimum Lemaire (1856) as the correct name with Dasylirion quadrangulatum Watson (1859) as a synonym.

We’re in the midst of a project located in an Oak forest in Marin County.
In choosing the plants for this garden we were empathetic to the existing surrounding landscape and keeping the garden low in maintenance and low in water use.

Two 15 gallon specimen Dasylirion longissimum where chosen as sentinel plants for either side of the entry stair way.

Other plants such as cistus salvifolia, arctostaphylos, coleomena, euphorbia , rosemary and lavenders were planted to work in harmony with the site.

From Untitled Album

Edible Herbal Landscaping

2010-11-19T14:35:00.000-08:00

I’ve shared photos of this edible herbal garden before but haven’t really discussed it much.

This house and garden was designed in unison 11 years ago in Marin County.
The homeowner desired an Mediterranean styled garden reflective of her travels to Italy and France yet empathetic to our long dry California summers.

With this in mind a functional edible and herbal garden was designed.

Four large olive trees laid out in a bosque fashion provides a knitted canopy of shade to sit beneath on a hot summer day. These trees were irrigated for the first year and are now no longer dependent on any irrigation.

From California Gardening

From portfolioMay08.jpg

Herbal infusions of prostrate rosemary and drought tolerant lavender frames the rose gardens.

prostrate rosemary and climbing white iceburg roses. spring flush

From portfolioMay08.jpg

winter

From California Gardening

summer

From California Gardening

An espaliered brown turkey fig tree drips with swollen fruit in August while the dwarf citrus trees are laden with fruit all year round. Creeping thyme clothes the checker board ground.

From California Gardening

When I first saw this valley property in late spring it still had a foot of standing water covering most of the back yard.
To remediate the drainage problem a highly engineered drainage system was designed.
We did not have the advantage of connecting to a sewer system so all of the water that flows into this low lying property is filtered through a surface to subsurface filtration system on site. The drainage troughs are located under the gravel pathways.

From California Gardening

There is a separate raised bed vegetable garden that produces abundant produce year round but the real working bones of this edible and herbal landscape can be found in the softscape layout of the garden.

From Potager Gardens

Marin Hot-tubber

2010-11-09T13:56:00.000-08:00

Marin Hot Tubber

George Bush the Senior once snidely commented ( and mispronouced ) that us Marin residents are ‘hot tubbers’. ( It’s pronounced Ma- rin George. )

Well wouldn’t you be too if you had great year round weather, fantastic views of the San Francisco Bay or had the chance to sit under the ancient canopy of some towering redwoods while soaking in heavenly hot water ?

Here’s an abbreviated example of some tub designs we’ve designed and installed.

Sunken into a teak deck surrounded by handcrafted local stone and lush gardens.
Looking east to the S.F. Bay

From Fizzy water boxes

Cloistered under a canopy of old redwoods

From Fizzy water boxes

With adjacent stone lounging terrace

From Fizzy water boxes

Located over a steep redwood ravine, this old style redwood tub is enchanting on a rainy night. ( excuse the knitted line in the panorama of the photograph )

From Fizzy water boxes

Another Marin tub strattling a steep down hill slope. This deck at its highest point is 17 feet above native grade. Looks so easy.... That’s the magic of a good structural engineer. Thanks Welliver Engineers !

From Fizzy water boxes

Set in a densely populated development this backyard design was able to squeeze in a hot tub, pool, outdoor kitchen and fireplace

From Fizzy water boxes

Inspired by my trip to Bali. This is my dream tub. It was designed for the S.F. Garden Show in 2008.

From Fizzy water boxes

Give some thought to Thinking Gardens

2010-11-04T20:02:00.000-07:00

A recent article published in the UK online E-zine , "Thinking Gardens"

Check out the link below. The published article has some photo images to go along with the essay.

LINK - http://thinkingardens.co.uk/articles/aspiring-for-excellence-elevating-the-bar-for-landscape-designers/

Aspiring for excellence: Elevating the bar for Landscape Designers
NOVEMBER 1, 2010
in ARTICLES,FROM THE USA
This is a piece for landscape architects and gardens designers regarding the presentation of their work – though I wonder if the same applies in the UK?

A rap on the knuckles for careless designers from Michelle Derviss

It happens all the time and quite frankly it lowers the bar :

A ‘professional’ landscape designer publishes a ‘finished’ project photo into their online portfolio or on a web site set up for ‘professional’ landscape designers to peruse and interact on.

The photo is poorly composed, It was taken in harsh overhead light, the plantings were installed yesterday and the hoses and black plastic nursery pots are still scattered about the site.

Note to duhsigners : This is not good professional representation of your design work.

It doesn’t put you or your work in the best possible light and lowers the standards for the profession as a whole.

It’s no wonder landscape designers moan that they receive little respect. The bar has been set low.

A photograph speaks volumes and a poorly presented one will tell your audience, be it other designers or potential clients, that you are not ready for prime time playing, at least in the ‘professional’ category.

Look at the real professionals in our industry who are being published, are making waves and have a distinguished following.

Their portfolio images were taken in the proper lighting conditions, ie: early morning light, over cast illuminating light or the golden hour of sunset.

Their gardens are lushly mature, full of beautiful plants and have tastefully arranged furnishings complimenting the softscape and adjacent architecture.

Someone took the time to sweep the site, arrange the chairs, stage the ‘set’ and compose a photograph that puts the designers work in the best possible light.

These are our ‘professional designers’ and you can instantly tell the difference by looking at how they strive for excellence in the profession of landscape design.

If you have poor photography skills , hire a photographer. There are many available at a wide range of rates.

If you feel you can’t afford one then educate yourself in how to take a decent photograph.

And above all, choose a garden that has some age to it.

As a professional you should be keeping in touch with your recent past clients.

Not only does this speak well of you to your clients and their investments, it keeps you connected to one of your growing assets, a finished project waiting to be photographed in the best possible light .

Strive for excellence and bring up the bar by showing potential clients and your peers that you have completed beautiful works of horticultural and hardscape craftsmanship via a well composed and presented photograph.

Michelle Derviss

Organic , No Panic - Direct Deposit Method.

2010-10-22T16:05:00.000-07:00

I call this compost set up "The Direct Deposit Method" .

I designed this as part of an educational exhibit for the 1990 San Francisco Garden Show.

Last week I babysat a friends bunny while they were away on holiday and I received so much joy from having
"Little Gray Elephant" that I am considering adding a bunny to my house hold.

The "Direct Deposit Method" of composting consists of having an elevated rabbit cage with a porous screen flooring.
The high nitrogen rabbit poop falls down into a compost bin directly below helping to activate the heat process.
Fallen leaves, grass clipping and veggie food waste that the rabbit does not eat , goes into the compost bin along with the
rabbit poop.
Easy peasy pie .... fast and easy..... and back into the garden it goes .

From random photos

Artistic endeavors in pruning.

2010-10-16T12:08:00.000-07:00

It’s just all too easy to dismiss or make fun of something that you may not understand.
Horticultural pruning seems to be one of those subjects.

If a heavily sculpted or renovated tree or shrub was seen in a middle class neighborhood one might say it was “butchered, devalued, defaced or just bad horticultural practices”.

But what happens when the same plant is severely pruned or cut back for renovation and it is at a world class horticultural institute ? Then it is not snickered at and upheld as good horticultural craftsmanship

This smacks of ignorance , or at the very least a lack of understanding.

Example :
Is this poor shearing or creative slight of hand ?
One see’s this type of shearing in many middle class neighborhoods.
This example happens to be at Filoli Gardens in Woodside CA

From random photos

How about this ?
This is a type of renovation pruning but some who may not have the experience to understand this type of pruning would mistake it as a hack job.
This is how you renovate a very old Taxus baccata .

From random photos

These are the same Taxus (yews) The light grey sheared tree in the front left and far rear centers are sheared olives at Filoli Gardens. When I worked at Filoli I was involved in a major renovation project of the Taxus hedge in the foreground. We cut it back to little stubs and within 3 months it was leafing out. It took a year for it to completely fill in.

From random photos

A residential middle class homeowner showing their artistic horticultural side is Tsck tsk’ed

From random photos

But this is acceptable . Silly isn’t it.

From random photos

Japanese cloud pruning is especially prevelent here in California.
If seen at Botanical garden it is upheald as art.
If it is done by a gardener in a commercial or residential setting it is devalued.

From random photos

Would snarky remarks be made if you saw this residential garden ?

From random photos

How about this ? Surely the peanut gallery would find something to cackle about.
Now inform the ridiculers that this garden is going into a national trust for its artistic vision.

From random photos

Garden of Jacques Wirtz.

From random photos

Horticultural bullying is really not that attractive.

Water - conserve, recycle, reuse. Blog Action Day

2010-10-15T09:28:00.000-07:00

Blog Action day - The topic : WATER

Next week I will be starting the certification process to become Bay Area Landscape Friendly certified in Sustainable Garden Design practices. LINK http://www.stopwaste.org/home/index.asp?page=8

I’ve been practicing some of what they preach for many years now but I feel it is always a good thing to keep current with new and emerging techniques and also brake some old traditional habits.

Below are a couple of ways that you can save WATER, a valuable resource, in your landscape.

1. Choose drought tolerant plantings that do well in your climate and soil conditions.
-succulents and leucadendron

From Pina Colada

leucadendron, yucca, agonis, anigozanthos, miscanthus

From Garden Porn

phormiums, salvia leucantha and salvia pt. sal

From portfolioMay08.jpg

euphoria, grevillea, succulents and chondropetalum

From portfolioMay08.jpg

salvia leucantha and pennisetum ( check your local climate to understand if pennisetum is invasive in your area)

From Carmel Valley Estate

2. Conserve moisture in the soil by applying mulch - Here at this Carmel Valley we used the native Oak leaves.

From Carmel Valley Estate

3. Reduce storm water run off by keeping your rain + clean grey water on your site.
Below is a slow percolation dry stream bed which takes on excess runoff water in the winter rainy season

From portfolioMay08.jpg

4. Plant a deciduous shade tree on the South West side of your house to keep your house and hardscape surfaces and surrounding soil cool, this reduces the need to water and the eliminates possible heat sinks.
Trees are Crape myrtles and Citrus.

From portfolioMay08.jpg

5. Consider alternative materials for a groundcover instead of using live grass.
Gravel-

From portfolioMay08.jpg

Recycled plastic and soy based artificial turf

From portfolioMay08.jpg

6. Use permeable surfaces in the landscape as in this dry laid stone path

From portfolioMay08.jpg

Dry lay permeable path meanders through a drought and deer tolerant hillside garden
Kniphofia, salvia, cistus, berberis ( not invasive in our area - not even an aggressive grower ) and sterile variegated pampas grass

From portfolioMay08.jpg

How are you making an effort to conserve, recycle or reuse water ?

Change.org|Start Petition

David Feix Landscape Design Retrospective Oct. 2010

2010-10-12T13:11:00.000-07:00

David Feix Landscape Design Retrospective Oct. 2010

On a bright sunny Sunday in early October several S.F. based horticultural clubs joined together to tour Alameda, Berkeley and Oakland to see and be inspired by the landscape design work of David Feix.

The enthusiastic group was large and most of the gardens were compact in size. Combine those factors along with a very bright sunny day and you can guess how difficult it was to capture a decent photograph.

Regardless, here are a few images of David’s work from this day, enjoy :

From david's garden photos

Welcome, come on down and enjoy the view

From david's garden photos

The colorful entry border to the front door - bromeliads, ferns, clivia and annuals

From david's garden photos

The front entry portico ‘

From david's garden photos

The stairway down to the back yard

From david's garden photos

Look closely at the vines growing on the upper balcony railing - stunning color combo

From david's garden photos

The view from the balcony

From david's garden photos

Not to be overshadowed by the view of the water feature beyond.

From david's garden photos

Closer up. - Beautifully designed and integrated into the landscape . An extention of the architecture.

From david's garden photos

A cluster of pots on the upper balcony

From david's garden photos

Begonias to beg for.

From david's garden photos

Architectural details

From david's garden photos

The next few gardens were in very bright full sun. Apologies in advance for the harsh contrasts.

A nice seating area in a compact garden

From david's garden photos

A nice combo of echiverias, aeoniums and astelias

From david's garden photos

Big pots flank the entry to a swimming pool area

From david's garden photos

An entry garden in the hills

From david's garden photos

I’ve been to this garden before when the light was more condusive to photography.
Here is the picture I took that day and another picture I took a year ago

From david's garden photos

same place

From david's garden photos

Quite a difference.
Here is a detail shot on the sunny day :

From david's garden photos

Thanks for taking this virtual tour of David Feix’s Garden Retrospective Oct. 2010.

Afternoon shots of the pool, deck and garden project -Marin Hillside

2010-10-06T21:47:00.000-07:00

These photos were taken in the afternoon. Earlier on the same day I took some morning shoots that are in the blog post prior to this one.

Marin hillside pool, garden and deck project

From Smith Project

The drain grate

From Smith Project

The diving rocks

From Smith Project

The view of the bay and the city beyond ( a bit of a foggy day )

From Smith Project

The afternoon breeze picking up . Balls dance across the water.

From Smith Project

Main hillside deck, pool and garden project

2010-10-06T12:03:00.001-07:00

Morning shots.
Trying to get a few portfolio worthy shots for the portfolio .
Will go back this late afternoon / early evening to capture a few more shots.

Hillside deck, pool and garden project.

From Smith Project

An Eco- lawn installation follow-up

2010-10-04T09:49:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I was sent a few photographs from a client who had an Eco-lawn installed last winter.
I wanted to share with you the images of the results.

At one point in the process we contemplated using artificial turf for the lawn area but it absorbed too much heat and was too hot underfoot .
So we decided on Eco-turf instead.

From Beach House

photo taken on april 15, 2010

From Beach House

Photo taken the previous summer before any planning or construction had begun

From Beach House

Note the piece of artificial turf at the base of the stairs juxtaposed against the Eco-lawn.
I think their family dog likes the results.

From Beach House

Art in the Garden with the SF. APLD

2010-10-02T11:30:00.000-07:00

Last week I was graciously invited as a guest to join the San Francisco branch of the APLD ( Association of Professional Landscape Designers ) in a field trip that celebrated Art in the Garden.
Link - www.apldca.com

Our first stop of the day was at the San Francisco Dump. - yes you read correctly, The Dump.
The dump has a unique program that offers an Artist in Residence program.
The artist has free reign to salvage incoming and sorted materials to make art with.
The dump provides studio space , gallery space and an outdoor sculpture garden park to create and exhibit their work.

Indoor gallery

From Flora Nursery

Work in the studio

From Flora Nursery

After viewing the facilities, galleries and sculpture park we visited the private art studio and garden of Matt Gil.
Link http://www.mattgil.com/
He works in a variety of mediums, but metal seems to be his choice at the moment.

From Flora Nursery

A prototype under creation- hammered metal floating in water

From Flora Nursery

Metal and mosaic tile sculpture

From Flora Nursery

We ended our day at Flora Grubb Nursery in the city where employee Jim Kumiega showed us his ever growing/ evolving automobile and plant sculpture. Jim has a theater set design background and is responsilble for many of the uniquely wonderful sculptural vignettes seen around the nursery.
Link - http://floragrubb.com

From Flora Nursery

Tweek tweek tweek.

2010-09-26T15:50:00.000-07:00

Today has been rather frustrating.
I had set aside this day to restructure my website, only to find that the software that created the site had been erased during a recent upgrade of memory.
Crumbs. Double Crumbs.

So I used this time to rework my 'boiler plate' handout.
It still needs to be tweeked and then tweeked some more.

This is the first draft of the new rendition, - it will be printed 8.5 x 11 card stock :

From portfolioMay08.jpg

Patio Sampler

2010-09-23T15:59:00.000-07:00

Just a few samples of some patios that we worked on.

Big ones, small ones, intimate ones and pool side ones.
Inspiration and variety.

Vermont slate tile framed by Napa Valley cast stone. 2 levels and a cook area.

From Atop of Mt. Tamalpias

On the plaza level of a high rise in San Francisco an intimate contemplative patio

From Water fountains in the landscape

Nestled into a native Oak forest a Modernist house ,water feature and patio.
Patio made of seeded pebbles set in concrete with slate dividers.

From Water fountains in the landscape

Overlooking the ski runs at Squaw Valley , California - enjoying summer time

From Squaw Valley Lake Tahoe California

Elevated over the pool, a comfortable patio retreat

From Pools

Arizona flagstone patio with pizza oven and outdoor entertaining area in Napa Valley CA

From Outdoor Kitchens and Dining areas

Brick and bluestone patio cut into a steep hillside

From Outdoor Kitchens and Dining areas

Comfortable dual patios in amongst the redwoods

From Outdoor Kitchens and Dining areas

Hand cut stone work and beautiful woodworking makes this a lovely place to spend the day or evening. Adjacent to a swimming pool.
Photography by Lee Anne White

From Outdoor Kitchens and Dining areas

Bouquet Canyon slate patio in a compact back yard

From portfolioMay08.jpg

Green can be done on a budget.

2010-09-19T12:20:00.000-07:00

Going Green on a budget.

It has been a pretty good summer. Lots of projects with a wide variety of budgets, great forward thinking clients and different terroirs.

This small back yard project shown below was planned with a tight budget in mind for a duplex in the city of San Francisco.

Measuring 24 feet wide by 70 feet in length. The back yard sloped 8 feet from top to bottom.

The owners of the building wanted to create two distinct garden areas for each family living in the duplex. They also requested using green index building techniques and they had a very very conservative installation and materials budget .

From Before and After

The first order of business was to clear the site of weeds and debris that was waist high.
While doing so we discovered a series of concrete walls and flooring in various states of erosion .
Landscape archaeology at its funnest.
Next came out my transit and laser so that I could layout the exact locations and elevations of the walls that were going to be salvaged.

From Before and After Projects

To create two separate flat outdoor spaces for the two homeowners a few retaining walls were in order to tame the hillside. We built these out of pressure treated wood.

From Before and After

The top level 12’-6” x 18’-0” will have a surface of artificial turf. This will provide a nice green surface for the kids to play on yet will not require water or mowing to maintain its practicality.

The lower level 16 x14 utilizes permeable pavers as a surface.

From Before and After

We reused, cleaned and resurfaced the existing concrete retaining walls at the stairway.
In some cases we had to cut the concrete and or add a few inches here and there to level and even them out. They were resurfaced with a clean coat of stucco.
The stair treads are permeable pavers and the infill will be stablized decomposed granite.

The planting is drought tolerant for the most part using mostly succulents, a privacy hedge of Pittosporum silver sheen , a couple of Queen palms and a few flowering shrubs such as Tibouchinia and Brugmansia. With less than 250 gallons p/m calculated for the garden , we were able to install only one valve for the entire project.

Mulch, the decomposed granite infill, and the artificial turf will be installed next week.

The whole project has taken about 3 weeks to install and about 20 K in materials and labor.

Preliminary Design Process - the sketches

2010-09-09T16:31:00.001-07:00

After an in depth analysis of the core values, lifestyle, style and desires of the client's project a detailed site analysis is taken.
Equipt with this information a series of preliminary design concepts are created to explore the wide variety of hard and soft materials, textures, emotions and building techniques specific to the clients requirements.

Below is a recent example of 4 different concept sketches that were provided to a client to address the challenge of architectural side wall cladding and planting.

Scheme A - Explore the use of stone strip cladding in a rough basket weave pattern

From sketches

Scheme B -Explores the use of woven core ten metal steel cladding

From sketches

Scheme C - explore the use of core ten steel panels with relief cut outs and night time back lighting

From sketches

Scheme D - explores the use of local Sonoma field stone cladding

From sketches

Of course there is a lot more information about the planting, lighting, stonework and focal accroutrements assigned to each scheme, but I’ll save that for another post.

The existing site :

From sketches

Unadorned

2010-09-06T16:06:00.000-07:00

Coming to a close, yet not quite accessorized , the Marin hillside pool and deck project
moves ever closer to its end.

Team :
Architecture- Liam O’Flaherty
Engineering - Det Doring
Landscape Exterior Design - Michelle Derviss
Fine Carpentry - Dan Young Construction
Pool Construction - Adams Pool
Masonry - Chavez Landscape

From Smith Project

Storm Clouds and Blue Skies.

2010-09-05T14:06:00.000-07:00

Agapanthus praecox subsp. orientalis 'Storm Cloud', that is.

This hybrid will grow in sun or part shade, with moderate water. Hardy to 20-25 degrees F.
Large umbels of deep blue flowers will rise far above the foliage on 3-4 foot tall blackish stems in summer

Landscape design by Derviss Design

From California Gardening

Around the corner the pool:

From Pools

A Heather Garden grows in Northern California

2010-08-30T13:24:00.000-07:00

The Parken Heather Garden in Gualala California, Mendocino County

Dick and Joanne Parken had just completed designing and overseeing the construction of their spectacular home on the rugged Mendocino coast overlooking the Pacific Ocean when they started to interview designers for their coastal landscape.

From Heather Garden in Gualala CA

While having dinner up the road one evening at St. Orres Inn they asked Eric Black , the designer and builder of the Inn who he might recommend for collaborating with them on the landscape design of their new property.

This is how I came to know Dick and Joanne, and it has been one of the most enjoyable working relationships that I have ever known.

The design of their garden evolved during several personal information gathering meetings where Dick and Joanne expressed their desire to have a colorful textural wildlife friendly garden to view and walk through on their way down to their favorite seal watching and abalone diving cove .

The garden had to coexist with their love of the wild animals who made their home along side of theirs.
Wild turkeys, a wide variety of birds, hawks and owls, deer, gophers and woodchucks were encouraged to enjoy the land along side of them and their adult kids and grandchildren.

From Heather Garden in Gualala CA

The garden is growing into its ninth autumn now . Under the watchful stewardship of Joanne and Dick along with the bi- monthly horticultural expertise of their visiting horticulturist, Helen Garcia of Gualala and the hard work done by their dedicated grounds maintenance gardener , Jesus.

Early morning fog

From Heather Garden in Gualala CA

A walk through the heathers to the gazebo.

From Heather Garden in Gualala CA

Late morning and the fog has burnt off

From Heather Garden in Gualala CA

Joanne Parken and Horticulturist Helen Garcia sitting infront of a bronze sea lion sculpture that Dick Parken designed

From Heather Garden in Gualala CA

You've heard of Gaudi, but what about Hundertwasser ?

2010-08-19T17:02:00.000-07:00

If you can’t get to Spain to see the architectural and sculptural genius of Antonio Gaudi then keep it local and visit the fantastically amorphous architectural work of Friedensreich Hundertwasser in Napa Valley California.
Wiki link : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedensreich_Hundertwasser

Little known in the U.S., Hundertwasser has only one site specific large scale sculptural piece of architecture in the U.S. , and it is located in beautiful Napa Valley at a winery called Quixote.

Link to this fantastic winery : www.quixotewinery.com

As you round the long sinuous driveway the first thing you see is a shiny gold onion dome juxtaposed against yin and yang landscape.

From Napa Valley Day Trip

In the foreground the welcoming cascade of soft flowing ornamental grasses sweeps you into the garden.
The background is the jagged volcanic red mountain range that engulfs the Napa Valley.
Very yin and yang.

From Napa Valley Day Trip

Is this not to die for !?!? !

PS.- I hear the wines are wonderful. I did not partake due to this being a working day at other locations in the valley, but
I encourage you to try the wines and take in the beauty of Quixote Winery when in the Valley.

Raising the bar. Striving for Excellence.

2010-08-16T12:46:00.000-07:00

I just finished writing an article for a publication about raising the bar within the industry of landscape design.

The subject matter at hand that has chaffed my arse for years is about so called ‘professionals’ publishing "finished and or completed” garden designs on their website or professional (?) design association websites geared for the practising landscape designer.

Get a grip design “professional”, let the garden grow some bones , clean up the site of nursery pots and hoses and learn the basics of photographic composition.

Raise the bar , will ya ?
If the “before” photograph is not that much different from the “after” photograph, it’s not ready for prime time viewing.
Have some patience, show your work in the best possible light.

I’ll link you to the article once it has ‘matured’ enough for public consumption.

This project shown below is basically done but I wouldn’t dare publish it as a ‘completed project photo’
Tools are still out and nursery containers abound.

From Before and After Projects

Yeah, it’s newly completed but look at the quality of the photo - CRAP - Harsh light doesn’t do anything for the image.
Certainly not portfolio worthy or worthy of a website promoting professional landscape design.

From

A little better . There is some assemblance of growth, composition and the last bit of light falling behind the mountain is highlighting the upper terrace planting.

From Raised Garden Beds

Marin hillside solar pergola, deck and pool

2010-08-12T19:41:00.000-07:00

Engineering plans done - check
Submit for Building permits - check
Pool remodel done - check
Intensive Concrete footings done - check.
Ipe deck and copper rails installed - check
Midway inspections - done
Landscaping done - check
Furnishings ordered - check
Pergola installation done - check.

Solar panels installation - next week
Swimming pool Pebble Sheen install - Monday and Tuesday next week
Fill Pool on Wednesday and Thursday.

Final sign off on permit and inspection - next week
Furnishings placed out - next week

First dip in warm pool with liberal rounds of margaritas - within 10 days.

Whooooo Hoooooo !

From Smith Project

And check out that view !
After the solar panels are installed the post tops will be cut down to size.

From Smith Project

Stone Steps deep in the heart of a Redwood Canyon.

2010-08-07T18:37:00.000-07:00

A couple years ago we designed and installed a set of stone steps in a deep dense redwood canyon in Marin County.

These redwoods, not too far from Muir Woods , are very dense in this steep front yard and there is always a fair amount of redwood debris falling on the steps, stone side walls and the understory plantings of ferns, rhododendrons and japanese maples.

It would be almost impossible to get a clean looking photo. So this is what you normally see when approaching the steps.

The stone is from the mid west. It was extremely dense and hard to cut but the color was right in regards to the continual staining from the redwood tannins.

We installed a raised overhead sprinkler system due to the steep slope. It is hidden inside that 4x4 just above the copper lighting fixture. When the automatic valve opens, the head pops up out of 4x4 and waters the woodland landscape.

From Hillside development

East Bay Garden Tour 2010 - Part Deux

2010-08-03T20:26:00.000-07:00

My apologies with being so remiss in posting part II of the East Bay Garden Tour.
It's been a busy week ( and that is a good thing ! )

The third garden that totally rocked our horticultural socks was the garden of Bob Clark and Raul Zumba.

How's this for an entry door bell ?

From 2010 East Bay Garden Tour

Lots of wonderful sculpture and inspiring vignettes in amongst the fabulous foliage.

From 2010 East Bay Garden Tour

A rare restio - Cannomois - I've killed it with kindness + can't bear to part with another $ 50 to kill another. Sigh !

From 2010 East Bay Garden Tour

If you get tired, there is always a bench somewhere along the path to take a load off.

From 2010 East Bay Garden Tour

This one is by one of my favorite sculptors, William Wareham

From 2010 East Bay Garden Tour

Entering into the Paradise of Flora, also known as Marcia Donahue's "Just our stuff Gallery" in Oakland CA
Bowling anyone ?

From 2010 East Bay Garden Tour

Blue Bamboo

From 2010 East Bay Garden Tour

Orange spires

From 2010 East Bay Garden Tour

Ceramic bulbs and acorns for sale - the garden gallery is open every Saturday !

From 2010 East Bay Garden Tour

The side yard gate

From 2010 East Bay Garden Tour

One of my all time favorite pieces in Marcia's garden is crafted by her very talented daughter
This sculpture is BIG - It stands at least 12 to 14 tall

From 2010 East Bay Garden Tour

I had not seen this series of sculpture before. I call them her forest and woodland nymphs.

From 2010 East Bay Garden Tour

The last garden that I toured was by Keelya Meadows in Albany CA .
If you like a chaotic mix of bright colors and disparate textures all thrown into the blender and poured out across the ground , then this garden is for you.

From 2010 East Bay Garden Tour

I found the gate to be extremely visually exciting and loved the detail.

From 2010 East Bay Garden Tour

Part 1 of the East Bay Tour

2010-07-25T22:11:00.000-07:00

On a very sunny July 24, 2010 the Garden Conservancy held its East Bay Open Garden day.

On display were 5 wonderful gardens that inspired garden goers to new heights.

The garden of Sherry Merciari in Oakland is a perennial favorite of seasoned horticulturists who are in the know about this big bold exotic and at times, erotic garden.
Sherry has been creating horticultural works of art in the Bay area for over 25 years and is highly respected by her peers and loved by her clients.
Together with her son Fred, their design and build company Merciari Designs , has hand crafted some of the most emotionally personal gardens in the East Bay area.

Using recycled broken concrete, a retaining wall supports a bevy of beauties along the front driveway entrance.

From 2010 East Bay Garden Tour

The inner courtyard

From 2010 East Bay Garden Tour

Strong sunlight ignites a patch of Oxalis vulcanicola

From 2010 East Bay Garden Tour

The old lawn by the pool has been removed and in its place is an inviting lounge area complete with Fred Fintstone lounge boulders and a new Carex pansa groundcover

From 2010 East Bay Garden Tour

At the far end of the pool a Jacaranda tree is in bloom along with a grove of ceramic pole sculptures by Marcia Donahue.

From 2010 East Bay Garden Tour

A Bromeliad ( Alcanthera I believe ) in a pot with a bronze Oxalis. More of Marcia Donahue’s sculptures in the ( over exposed ) background

From 2010 East Bay Garden Tour

Fun attention to details throughout the garden

From 2010 East Bay Garden Tour

The second garden that thrilled us was right around the corner. It was designed and handcrafted by Alonza Hill.
His company Stone N Gardens has a nice website with beautiful photographs that does his garden justice
Please visit it for some sumptuous inspiration : http://www.stonengardens.com/Home.html

From 2010 East Bay Garden Tour

Meandering along the arroyo seco

From 2010 East Bay Garden Tour

My apologies for the overly exposed photography. It was an incredibly sunny day at high noon when I toured this slice of paradise.
I must return at a proper time of day to photograph.

From 2010 East Bay Garden Tour

The S.F. Bromeliad Society does it again.... Great tour !

2010-07-19T09:24:00.000-07:00

The San Francisco Bromeliad Society held their annual garden tour this past weekend for the 2010 season.

We were treated to 4 very different and diverse gardens in Marin County.

Our first stop was to Don Worth’s Palm Garden in Mill Valley.
One of the nicest features about this beautifully planted old garden is the professional quality name plates with the date that the palm / cycad/ or specimen plant was planted.
Many of the palm trees were over 60 years old.

Palms and Puya line the modestly steep driveway.

From S.F. bromeliad society tour 2010

A silver Puya

From S.F. bromeliad society tour 2010

The interior courtyard succulent garden

From S.F. bromeliad society tour 2010

Beautiful epiphytes on fantastic mounts.

From S.F. bromeliad society tour 2010

The path leading back down to the street

From S.F. bromeliad society tour 2010

At our second location high up on the side of Mt. Tamalpias was a beautifully maintained formal styled garden with a liberal sprinkling of sculptures placed throughout.

From S.F. bromeliad society tour 2010

The third garden was a neat little urban grit oasis. I wasn’t able to catch any photo in the extremely bright light to do the small garden justice.

I was extremely excited to see the last garden on the tour. It was designed by its owner Tom Henthrone, a garden designer here in Marin.
Beautiful plants paired together in harmonious plant combinations delighted the eye at every twist and turn along the meandering paths.
Everything flowed seamlessly into one another on this steep undulating hillside.

This first photo , from Toms website, was taken by professional photographer Jay Graham. It really does the garden justice, unlike my my full hot sun blaring photos.

From S.F. bromeliad society tour 2010

Lots of great sculptures brought back from Bali and placed beautifully in the garden.

From S.F. bromeliad society tour 2010

Loved the variegated Echium.

From S.F. bromeliad society tour 2010

And the lower path ( photo Jay Graham)

From S.F. bromeliad society tour 2010

And as always, we had a culinary pot luck feast at the last garden that was beyond deliciious!

From S.F. bromeliad society tour 2010

Marin Hillside Deck Development

2010-07-16T15:03:00.000-07:00

Another 2 weeks and the ipe deck boards will be put on the joists and the arbor will be completed.
The stone work is all done.
Planting starts next week and soon the pool will be plastered with a terrazzo like finish called pebble sheen.

View from below the deck.

From Smith Project

Rietveld meets the Andirondack - take a seat.

2010-07-07T21:05:00.000-07:00

An icon of 20th century design, The Rietveld chair , 1917, painted with its Piet Mondrian color scheme of blue and red was never mass produced though that was the intention of Dutch architect Garrit Rietveld when he designed it.
I think he would be pleased with how his design has been reinterpreted in the 21st century.

LInk : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrit_Rietveld

LInk : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adirondack_chair

This collaborative project is nowhere near complete, but the furniture has arrived that inspired this post :

From Rietveld rediscovered.

Intimate Spaces in the Landscape + The WOW factor

2010-07-05T13:35:00.000-07:00

Several weeks ago the Gardeners RoundTable group wrote on the subject of small space gardens.

I was particularly impressed with the informative article that Susan Morrison wrote.
She succinctly described some important design strategies that can bring a sense of fullness to a small space. LINK http://garden-chick.typepad.com/garden_chicks_design_tips/2010/06/garden-designers-roundtable-small-space-design.html

A topic not covered , that I think that can bring exciting relevance to a small space is ‘The Wow Factor”.
If the space is small and you want to bring a sense of awe to the space installing a “Wow” centerpiece is a dynamic way to infuse emotion and excitement into a small space.

The photo below shows an installation we did in late 2008.
It is a very small roof top balcony located off the plaza level in a high rise building in down town San Francisco.
Wind, lighting directions, weight load, noise levels and their impact on the surrounding home owners was a big factor to mediate and negotiate with the HOA and engineering dept.

Our Wow factor was a simple stucco box niche with a place for a Buddha.
Our client is a practising Buddhist from Korea. In seeking out just the right Buddha for the niche we discovered through discussion that her recently deceased mother had a beautiful Buddha in her garden back in Korea. We thought that having this Buddha would be the most heartfelt expression of love in the garden and so my client had the Buddha shipped out to S.F.

As you can see our Wow Factor is not brightly colored or over the top flashy.
It is simple yet present.
It’s what I would call a Zen Wow.

From Water fountains in the landscape

Lightweight Aluminium powder coated planters from Ore Sculpture Studios planted with Alphonse Kar bamboo.

Recessed rope lighting in the teak wood top cap illuminates the box at night

A simple stone Balinese basin with a low noise level water bubbler.

New paint on the existing stucco walls and new tile on the patio floor.

No swimming for the 4th of July

2010-07-02T15:05:00.001-07:00

We had optimistically projected that this installation would be completed for the 4th of July weekend.
But with several changes , additions and deletions the construction process was slowed down.
We hope to be done in 3 weeks for the hottest days of summer.

Pool shell

From Smith Project

Interior of pool - with a long bench seat and wading shelf

From Smith Project

Framing of deck, arbor and recessed spa platform -

From Smith Project

Fantastic views out across the San Francisco Bay

From Smith Project

Detail of the stone flat work and hand shaped Bluestone coping before grouting

From Smith Project

A few more weeks....... and then we can take a dip in the pool and lounge on the deck overlooking the bay.

A master plan project in Marin.

2010-06-30T11:09:00.000-07:00

I was visiting a project that we designed and installed several years ago.
It was a partial master plan in that we did not site the house or driveway, but we did set the grades, design all the hardscaping, softscaping , irrigation and lighting systems.

Welcoming guests to the front door is a stone fountain sculpted by Edwin Hamilton.

From Atop of Mt. Tamalpias

Walking through the house, one enters out to the back yard via the New England slate terrace.
This two tiered terrace looks over the garden and out to the San Francisco Bay.
A horse shoe shaped path links the various garden rooms together.

From Atop of Mt. Tamalpias

The view from the upper terrace dining table

From Atop of Mt. Tamalpias

The lower terrace with a simple bbq and food prep area

From Atop of Mt. Tamalpias

Adjacent to the lower terrace is a sweetly scented jasmine covered hammock.

From Atop of Mt. Tamalpias

The curved path leads you out to the sunken spa overlooking the bay. A shower is set into the hedge . A beautifully hand sculpted stone surround set with a teak deck offers a pleasant place to enjoy the view.

From Atop of Mt. Tamalpias

Looking back to the house and dining terraces from the sunken spa deck.

From Atop of Mt. Tamalpias

The surrounding gardens adjacent to the spa

From Atop of Mt. Tamalpias

A wind sculpture set in the garden adds a playful touch.

From Atop of Mt. Tamalpias

There is a small herb garden next to the house

From Front Yard Potager

From Atop of Mt. Tamalpias

Along the south side of the path is a pine apple guava hedge with an opening that leads to the orchard , cymbidium orchid holding area, berry boxes and raise vegetable area.

From Atop of Mt. Tamalpias

Leaving this area , we are taken to the lower side yard that has another wind sculpture.

From Atop of Mt. Tamalpias

Thanks for taking a tour of a garden we designed and installed several years ago in Marin County.

Trouble in Paradise.

2010-06-28T09:55:00.000-07:00

I’ve had Trixie, an all white Jack Russell, for little less than 3 weeks now, I am caring for her as a foster care dog, though I have the opportunity to adopt her myself .

She has grown quite attached to her new adopted home and foster care mother.
So much so that she is showing signs of extreme separation aniexity when I leave her for several minutes to an hour or two.

Over the weekend we learned that she can hop the fence if she is left alone.

Trouble in Paradise.

Now we have a problem(s) to address .

Raise the fence ? She can jump to the top of my head, .. that's 5'-2".
Install a zapper ?
Teach the dog not to jump ( oh yeah right, she’s a jack russell ! )

Challenges , challenges.

From random photos

When it is so obviously bad ....

2010-06-26T10:58:00.000-07:00

From random photos

I have a nagging question that I can not for the life of me come to terms with.
I hope someone can shed some light on this question and the resulting situation for me.

Let me set the stage a little ;

I’m in the design profession so I tend to gravitate to reading posts and blogs and magazine articles about design.

Occasionally another designer will post an image of a project that they have done.
Sometimes these projects are just fantastic, have valuable merit or in some cases are just plain bad design.

My question is, why do other designers who should know better by now in their training and careers provide positive reinforcement towards the design bomb ?

Why do they say it is “fantastic”, wonderful” or some other congratulatory term that is just not applicable to the design. ( not to be confused with the person who did the design )

I get that people want to be nice to one another and there is a great desire by many to be liked by the crowd that you are hanging with, but doesn’t these false platitudes perpetuate ongoing bad design ?

If you are continually told it looks great , then you must think that it does, so why not keep on replicating it in all its poorly laid out proportions ?

I’m wondering why people can’t be nice while also being truthful about ‘the poor design’.
Is it because it is just too personal ?
And by truthful, I don’t mean that you have to be hurtful or demeaning to the person about their poor design.

Maybe it can’t be done in a social media setting because of the lack of face to face and the all important delivery of the voice tone when providing positive reinforcement feedback.

I find this to be a complex dilemma.

Morning stroll in the Pina colada garden

2010-06-25T11:52:00.001-07:00

Up early.
Too early to start working.
Took a stroll through the garden.

From Pina Colada

Looking at this photo , I see that the big stand of Heliconia has not filled in yet. I think it is time to thin the clump and add
some more cannas, which are more reliably hardy and bloom earlier .

From Pina Colada

Form follows function

2010-06-21T15:08:00.000-07:00

Great article in the S.F. Chron this past week.
Its about a newly redesigned outdoor pizza oven.

I’m one of those conflicted environmentalists.
On one hand I love the taste of a pizza , tofu or a fresh salmon cooked in a wood fired oven but hate the amount of particulate matter that spews into the air making it unhealthful for many to breath clean air.

At this juncture, I’m going with the mantra, ‘everything in moderation’.
Most homeowners who have a wood fired oven don’t use it every night.
It’s more like a special event when it is fired up, so it doesn’t happen frequently in a private setting.

Below is a photo of a newly redesigned Nido wood fired oven designed by Mark Rogero for former Chez Panisse chef Nico Monday.

From random photos

The willow around the base gives it a ‘nest like’ feeling.
That part I like, but from a long term durable and sustainable perspective, I would tend to go towards a design that was both functional ( wood holding capaciy) and durable ( won’t decompose over a season)

Here is one we worked on in Napa Valley with storage provided.

From Outdoor Kitchens and Dining areas

I get that Mark and Nico were trying to pair down the bulky size of the stove, but I think they lost sight of the basic need that the best crafted and functional designs follow the tried and true recipe that form follows function.
In their beautiful design they lost the ability to easliy store wood within the foot print of the stove as well as store the smaller pizza paddles .

Their end product looks great though , no denying that !

S.F. Bromeliad Club meets at the Conservatory of Flowers

2010-06-18T12:27:00.000-07:00

On June 17, 2010 the S.F. Bromeliad Society was generously given a night time
private tour at one of our crowned jewels in The City , the S.F. Conservatory of Flowers located in the Golden Gate Park.

I was lucky to be tagging along with veteran club member, Wes Schilling as he was composing some of his photo shots inside and outside of the conservatory.
He encouraged me to compose this particular shot from this angle and I’m very appreciative of his coaching.

From San Francisco Conservatory 2010

As we were leaving the fog was rolling in.

From San Francisco Conservatory 2010

Once inside the front door this is the entry vignette :

From San Francisco Conservatory 2010

And the various plants inside the conservatory.

From San Francisco Conservatory 2010

Of course there were many bromeliads and other epiphytes.

From San Francisco Conservatory 2010

I was smitten with the grated floor drains.

From San Francisco Conservatory 2010

This is actually a man made faux armature that these plants are growing on - nicely done.

From San Francisco Conservatory 2010

A big Thank You goes out to the staff at the conservatory for staying open late and providing us with a wonderful personalized tour of the S.F. Conservatory .

From San Francisco Conservatory 2010

The Art of Critique.

2010-06-13T10:42:00.000-07:00

From its Greek roots the word ‘critique’ means discerning.

The first time I engaged in a meaningful critique was in an academic setting.
Our assignment was to redesign Harvard yard and present to the class our reasoning of the social impact and it's aesthetic value for the redesign.

It was during these two days of critique review that I began to understand the intrinsic value that a critique can bring to the learning process and the psychology of the human mind.

Boiled down to it academic essence a good critique will engage in communal discussion , critical thinking , tangible relevance and the exploration of theory.

What it won’t do is tear a persons efforts down, demoralize them and their work, ridicule , mock or jeer for the sake of cheap shots and cheap laughs.
That is not critique, that is a form of bullying or a sad psychological state of an over inflated ego that feels the need to put down people in order to make themselves feel superior.

Below is a project I worked on many many years ago.
When I first completed it I didn’t see many of the flaws that I see in it now and feel that time has given me some new perspective to critique it .

The back yard was a clean slate. A pie shaped lot with a massive drainage problem.
This pix shows how I started to deliniate the space and remedy the flooding.

From Before and After Projects

The bones of the garden takes shape. Various garden rooms are starting to be established. In retrospect I would have liked to used horizonally stacked ledge stone as the lawn / path borders to match the water feature for a more consistant design element. An open trellis structure mimicking the homes architecutre could have been used instead of trees to create a screen behind the sitting patio.

From Before and After Projects

Two years later the trees have started to grow into the design creating a series of walls and partial ceilings

From Before and After Projects

Perimeter shrubs now have enough growth on them to be hedged into specific forms

From Before and After Projects

Garden rooms withing the landscape have grown into the hardscaping

From portfolioMay08.jpg

The extensive drainage system below the dry creek has kept the property from flooding since its installation. Aesthetically I feel it works well within the site, but I could have used some larger boulders down stream.

From portfolioMay08.jpg

An Iconic image; Adirondack chairs in the garden.

2010-06-10T22:21:00.000-07:00

The first few years of my life I lived with my grandparents in Massachusetts.
Every summer around Memorial day weekend my grandfather would carry the adirondack chairs out to the garden from the cellar and we would sand them down and repaint them white.
To me this signified the beginning of summer ; a shoe box filled with sanding paper , several paint brushes and a can of white paint.

I looked forward to sharing this outdoor project with my grandfather every year.
He was a good conversationist as well as a good listener.
My grandmother would bring us chilled juice or iced tea and would sometimes join us in conversation as we sanded and painted the day away.

When my Grandparents retired they moved from metropolitan Boston to Cape Cod .
The adirondack chairs were starting to wear thin by that time and I suppose my grandmother wanted nice new modern garden furniture for her new retirement house.

So the last time I painted the adirondack chairs was somewhere around 1974 or so.

That is how I sentimentalize about adirondack chairs. They are the harbinger of summer and the proffer of good conversations. ... after all, they are comfortable.

Leann White Photography

From portfolioMay08.jpg

Muddy Marin. Rain in June.

2010-06-04T15:33:00.000-07:00

It rained this morning. June. Rain in June in California.

What !!

We are normally a mild dry Mediterranean climate that experiences little to no rain in the summer months.... and yet it rained this morning.

Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE the rain, but it sure can make a total mess out of a landscape construction project.

We’re working on two installation projects at the moment. Both are located on steep hillsides.

Today's word for the day was MUD.

I might as well brought my rock skis to work with me to get some good down hill skiing in, sans the snow. ( again not complaining, I LOVE to ski.. .. but prefer snow to mud ! )

It’s amazing the difference a morning of rain can make.

Check it out : Yesterday no rain and no mud

From Hillside development

Today after the rain. Lotsa mud !

From Hillside development