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The word xeriscape is one of those terms that most everyone has heard but few truly understand. When we think of xeriscapes or xeriscaping, most people immediately visualize a dry almost lifeless desert landscape with rocks and cactus. Because the “x” is pronounced like a “z” the word is often mistaken for a fancy way of spelling zeroscapes, which implies that it has no plantings or uses zero water. Neither is true.
Working in the arid climates of the Texas hill country, I’ve embraced the xeriscaping concept as a way to create sustainable and inviting landscapes with minimal irrigation, but again, that does not
By Mike Farley
If you’d asked me 20 years ago if I’d ever consider using artificial grass with one of my high-end pool projects, I would’ve looked at you like you had two heads and three hats: There was just no way on earth that would’ve been a possibility.
A lot has changed in the past few years, however, and it’s getting to the point where I’m working with fake turf on a surprisingly number of projects – including
By Mike Farley
Of all the videos in this series, this is one in which I covered almost all of what I had to say about flagstone decking while on camera – a fact that doesn’t leave me as much as usual to write about in this introduction. But as always, I’ve spotted a few areas worth additional comment.
One small point needs more emphasis than I gave it, for example, and that has to do with
If you don't prepare your clients for what will almost certainly happen to the appearance of this flashy form of decking and coping, writes Paolo Benedetti, you can find yourself facing unpleasant consequences -- from encounters with peevish homeowners to meetings with their attorney.
If friends had told me that, eight years after leaving the Las Vegas desert, I’d be incorporating synthetic turf in a high percentage of my outdoor spaces in Texas, I would’ve said “No way!”
What a concept! I now live and work where there’s no water shortage, so why on earth would my clients or I have any interest in finding substitutes for big expanses of lawn?
Well, what I’m seeing now is that the low-maintenance, long-lasting faux-grass solution is
By Stephanie Rose
‘As much as I love cold weather,’ wrote Stephanie Rose in opening her Natural Companions column in April 2007, ‘I have to concede that we experienced way too much of a good thing this past winter. Long periods of extremely cold weather are the norm in many other parts of the country, and plants survive. Here, however, our local plants may be accustomed to surviving the isolated sub-freezing night, but sustained, frosty temperatures
By Sue Marquette Poremba
Traditionally, seeding was simple: It meant scattering pieces of rock into the surface of concrete, where they would give decorative flair to a slab.
“Nowadays, seeding has taken on
By Stephanie Rose
‘I’m not a big believer in conformity, strict rules and absolutes,’ wrote Stephanie Rose to start her December 2006 Natural Companions column, ‘but sometimes I’ll come across something that, well, is just wrong. These aren’t matters of taste, style, or visual appeal: What I see is just plain wrong!’
‘Whether we classify ourselves as watershapers or landscape professionals, we collaborate with our clients to create spaces that appeal to them both visually and emotionally. . . . [I]t’s our professional responsibility to
By Stephanie Rose
‘When I paint,’ observed Stephanie Rose at the start of her Natural Companions column in October 2006, ‘I constantly play with color on canvas and experiment with various combinations to see what works well and discover what, to my eye, clashes or doesn’t seem to mix harmoniously.’
‘As a landscape designer, I’m aware of working through the same sort of
By Stephanie Rose
‘In looking back over several recent projects,’ observed Stephanie Rose at the start of her Natural Companions column in September 2006, ‘I noticed that I’ve been using one particular genus of plants more frequently than just about any other.’
‘Its name probably evokes thoughts of petri dishes and bacterial colonies for most of us, but this plant
By Bruce Zaretsky
‘Gardens truly are for people. While that’s manifestly an obvious statement,’ wrote Bruce Zaretsky at the top of his On the Level column in May 2011, ‘it seems to be a concept that insufficient numbers of today’s watershape and landscape designers fully grasp.’
‘That’s nothing new. More than half a century ago, in fact, [Thomas] Church was motivated to
By David Tisherman
‘You’d think that having lousy-looking deck drains was inescapable, given that about 99.9% of them look like a thing you’d find in your shower.’ That’s how David Tisherman launched into his Details column in the January/February issue of WaterShapes 15 years ago, and he didn’t mince many words thereafter.
‘Whether you’re using PVC or brass grates, they disrupt the surface of any decking material and to my way of thinking are
By Maria von Brincken
‘I do not understand how anyone can live without one small place of enchantment to turn to.’
– Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
As watershapers, we draw upon the sound and presence of water to soothe souls, using nature to guide and inform us.
In the small pond project featured here, for example, the watershape component of the composition is meant to
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New Products at Watershapes.com
Aquaview Makes Frameless Glass Fences
Product information from Aquaview Glass on its line of frameless fence and railing systems made from clear glass.
Cast-Metal Grates from Iron Age
Product information from Iron Age Design of its Acanthus grates, made of cast metal using 80 percent recycled materials
J&J Electronics Offers Nicheless Light Fixtures
Product information from J&J Electronics on the ColorSplash VU RGB-W nicheless LED light fixtures for pool and spa applications.
Fountain People Improves Fountain-In-A-Can
Product information from Fountain People on improvements to flow adjusting for its Fountain-In-A-Can line.
Maluna Produces High-Efficiency Coolers
Product information from Maluna on its Unhinged Coolers for keeping beverages cold in a range of outdoor settings.
Palapa Structures Makes Palapa and Tiki Huts
Product information from Palapa Structures on its lines of palapas and tiki huts for use as shade structures in outdoor settings.
Conservation Works
At a time when good news seems hard to come by, Eric Herman bucks the norm by sharing some facts and figures about water conservation over the last 40 years that give us all genuine cause for hope. Indeed, we may have more control over water use than most people think.
