Landscape, Plants, Hardscape & Decks
I was recently involved as an expert witness in a case where, among many other flawed parts of the project, I came across a distinctly substandard pool deck. The grout was cracking all over the place, and most of the flagstone veneer was either loose or in the process of breaking free of the substrate. The diagnosis didn’t take long: All I did was dig back a part of the lawn at the edge of the patio, and the not-so-surprising truth revealed itself.
From my first visit, I knew I’d be spending a lot of time here developing the watershapes and landscapes on this amazing site. Set on a bluff in Del Mar, Calif., the whole property slopes down from the street level to the back edge of the property. Beyond was an open space offering uninterrupted views of a river estuary, native coastal scrub studded with rare, indigenous, protected
The approach I took to this five-part series of articles on dry-stacked stone walls was a bit out of order – and I did it that way for a reason. If you’ll recall, in the last article I set aside any discussion of the drainage issues involved in stacking these walls. I did so both because it
It usually catches people off guard when I say so, but when it comes to building dry-stacked stone walls, the installer’s awareness of local climate and soil conditions is paramount to a project’s success. It’s about more than materials, in other words, or more than
In typical construction projects, we use stone for lots of purposes – as pavers, veneers or naturalistic landscape outcroppings, for instance. We also use plenty of stone in crafting the surfaces and banks and the areas surrounding our watershapes. But far and away the most common use for this material is in the building of
Once you start thinking along the lines of putting visual clutter out of sight, it’s as though a whole range of interesting concealment possibilities begin presenting themselves. Case in point: My early work in stashing hoses in buried utility boxes triggered thoughts about hiding other bits of deck “plumbing” that do a remarkable job of
Before I get to the meat of this series on using stone in landscapes and as part of aquatic environments, I must address an important concept having to do with how people have built with stone, both historically and in the here and now. The vast majority of stone walls and fences you see today – whether they were built 700 years ago or 70 – were
Stone. Rock. Boulder. Just the sounds of those words imply strength – terse terms that audibly capture gravity when pronounced. You expect the material they describe to be dominating, and in fact it does command attention, demand recognition and push us toward respect. We want rock. We need rock. But why? Maybe it’s because
For years now, I have been fascinated by the lengths people are willing to go to avoid visual clutter.It all started before I was a watershaper – back in the days when a partner and I spent our time setting up high-tech security systems in the homes of well-to-do residents of Silicon Valley. As though it were yesterday, I remember a homeowner giving me a tour of her house and taking delight in asking me to
Once I’ve worked my way through traffic-related issues of patio design (see “Defining the Flow” in the November 9 edition), I turn my attention to an array of other factors that influence the space, starting with
