Landscape, Plants, Hardscape & Decks
I've had the pleasure over the past few years of working with a client who ultimately has become a good friend - and with whom I created a very unique garden. The process of designing the space was lengthy, but it afforded me time to truly understand my client and her wants. As we progressed, many issues arose that needed to be addressed; over time and at many points, patience was indeed a virtue. Her yard had existing structures as well as large Eucalyptus, Pittosporum and Chorisia trees and other plantings along with
Among the most complicated tasks you'll encounter in designing a watershape is determining your clients' style and how it applies to the project. How important is it to know what style they want? That's a complicated
Surely you've heard this line before and never believed it, but I'm here to tell you that size does matter. Have you ever, for example, built a pond or fountain with concrete either surrounding it or fanning out from it beneath the soil - and then had your clients say they wanted a very mature tree or shrub planted right up against the edge? There you are with six inches of soil (maximum!) to work with, and there's just no way to
Put yourself in your customer's swim suit for a moment: You're floating in a lounge chair in your pool, taking in the surroundings and proud ofwhat you and your family now enjoy. As you scan the perimeter of the pool, you spot something you're certain wasn't there the last time you looked. Yes, you're sure of it: A portion of the deck seems to be rising above the backside of the coping. Instead of continuing to enjoy a lazy afternoon's float, you now start to
Put yourself in your customer's swim suit for a moment: You're floating in a lounge chair in your pool, taking in the surroundings and proud ofwhat you and your family now enjoy. As you scan the perimeter of the pool, you spot something you're certain wasn't there the last time you looked. Yes, you're sure of it: A portion of the deck seems to be rising above the backside of the coping. Instead of continuing to enjoy a lazy afternoon's float, you now start to
To my way of thinking, one of the most fundamental considerations in any landscape design has to do with understanding how the major elements blend visually with each other and their immediate surroundings. When that design includes water - be it a pond, stream, fountain, pool or spa - the key to effective visual blending depends to an overwhelming degree on how you define the internal boundaries within the design. This is so because of a couple of crucial visual concepts: First, we all know that
