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If you've been involved in major construction projects - initial work or renovations - chances are good that you've come across the need for retaining walls. In many cases, even the simple leveling of a site will require some type of retaining structure to hold back the soil - whether you're cutting fill out and need to support the slope that remains or filling an area and need to keep the new material from washing away. No matter what site we're talking about, retaining walls have one purpose: to hold something back. Whether you need to terrace a sloped yard, hold up a parking lot or
It's a plain fact: Few designers weigh maintenance as heavily as other elements of a design when creating gardens for their clients. Most will routinely ask whether the client wants a low-maintenance environment or one that requires a little more work and may yield a greater abundance of flowers or other desirable features, but the consideration typically ends there. And this is so despite the fact that by leaving maintenance out at the design level, landshapers often doom themselves to
Lots of us landshapers hear voices. The longer we're around, the clearer those voices become and the more we trust them. "Don't take this job," they'll say. "You can't make this look good. Do you really want to be known for this project?" For the most part, these internal voices perform a valuable service in keeping us out of harm's way. Every once in a while, however, I find myself
It's no secret among those who've been in my segment of the watershaping industry as long as I have that vinyl-liner pools weren't as attractive as their gunite counterparts in the old days: The finishes weren't very interesting, options in colors and patterns were limited, the only type of coping we used was made of aluminum and most liners were only available in rectangular configurations in a limited number of standard sizes. Despite those shortcomings, however, vinyl pools caught on, and in a big way, and I have watched every stage of that development for the more than three decades I've
It's no secret among those who've been in my segment of the watershaping industry as long as I have that vinyl-liner pools weren't as attractive as their gunite counterparts in the old days: The finishes weren't very interesting, options in colors and patterns were limited, the only type of coping we used was made of aluminum and most liners were only available in rectangular configurations in a limited number of standard sizes. Despite those shortcomings, however, vinyl pools caught on, and in a big way, and I have watched every stage of that development for the more than three decades I've
As an extension of my landshaping work in Iowa, I currently serve on a committee formed not long ago by the Johnson County Heritage Trust. Our mission is simple but immense: to preserve as much of the natural environment as possible. The committee was formed in response to development of a new subdivision in a high-quality oak/hickory forest in which relatively few invasive species had gained footholds. Our immediate task was to compile a list of acceptable plants for this community as well a list for the whole county. Of course, this story is much larger than
For the last few months, the Getty Villa in Malibu, Calif., has hosted a special exhibit called "Stories in Stone," which is all about the nature, preservation and conservation of stone mosaics found in the ancient Roman cities of North Africa. Even a quick walk through the halls is enough to show why these art objects speak to us across the millennia: Their colors are vivid, their decorative capacity is amazing, their durability is unrivalled and their sheer beauty is a delight even to the unschooled eye. At best, tile mosaics of any caliber are both aesthetic and functional, timeless and contemporary, subtle and dramatic. They are also versatile - interior or exterior, commercial or residential - and have long been among the very best media available to designers and architects looking to infuse their work with the
For the last few months, the Getty Villa in Malibu, Calif., has hosted a special exhibit called "Stories in Stone," which is all about the nature, preservation and conservation of stone mosaics found in the ancient Roman cities of North Africa. Even a quick walk through the halls is enough to show why these art objects speak to us across the millennia: Their colors are vivid, their decorative capacity is amazing, their durability is unrivalled and their sheer beauty is a delight even to the unschooled eye. At best, tile mosaics of any caliber are both aesthetic and functional, timeless and contemporary, subtle and dramatic. They are also versatile - interior or exterior, commercial or residential - and have long been among the very best media available to designers and architects looking to infuse their work with the
Most watershapers know that the work we do requires knowledge across a wide range of disciplines - a cluster of skills that includes, among others, geology, materials science, structural engineering, construction techniques, hydraulics, architecture, art history, color theory, drafting and more. As jacks of all trades, we don't really need to be "expert" on all of these fronts, but without a working knowledge of the technical and aesthetic disciplines involved in creating quality work, it's difficult to ensure the success of any given project. There's no question that some of us are better at certain disciplines than others, and it's up to us to recognize our strengths and weaknesses and fill in the gaps of our understanding as best we can. When it comes to structural engineering, for example, few of us qualify as bona fide engineers: That takes years of schooling and rigorous licensing processes. But almost all of us work with precise structural designs that are specific to the vessels and associated structures we design and/or build. In other words, we may not be engineers, but we sure as heck need to
Most watershapers know that the work we do requires knowledge across a wide range of disciplines - a cluster of skills that includes, among others, geology, materials science, structural engineering, construction techniques, hydraulics, architecture, art history, color theory, drafting and more. As jacks of all trades, we don't really need to be "expert" on all of these fronts, but without a working knowledge of the technical and aesthetic disciplines involved in creating quality work, it's difficult to ensure the success of any given project. There's no question that some of us are better at certain disciplines than others, and it's up to us to recognize our strengths and weaknesses and fill in the gaps of our understanding as best we can. When it comes to structural engineering, for example, few of us qualify as bona fide engineers: That takes years of schooling and rigorous licensing processes. But almost all of us work with precise structural designs that are specific to the vessels and associated structures we design and/or build. In other words, we may not be engineers, but we sure as heck need to
