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In looking back over several recent projects, 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 genus - Pittosporum - has truly held an extremely valuable position in most of my plant palettes in recent years and is one of the most useful of all plant types I use. I find myself pointing them out every time I take clients to a nursery to view and select plants, and it seems I'm always trying to find ways to fit one or more of its many varieties into my planting plans. I treasure them for their great variety in
I've always believed that we should make a point of playing at least as hard as we work. My parents taught me that: They were both hardworking people who always made time for big-time fun and relaxation, and that outlook has influenced my entire approach to life. Fact is, relaxation in almost all forms is far more important than most people think - especially in our modern culture, which promotes what I see as an unbalanced view of work versus play. Most everyone in watershaping, for example, knows that
In my years as a practicing landscape architect, I've found that designers love in particular to borrow elements from the Spanish Colonial style of architecture. In fact, it has become one of the most important and influential of all architectural forms. This archetypal architecture flourished between the 16th and early-19th centuries in the New World and is based upon historical models established in
As is true of many things we savor in our lives, our perception of texture is filled with subtlety and nuance. This is particularly true in gardens, where space, form, color and texture dance together to create our experience of a living entity and, for designers and installers, of the envisioned entity as well: We start by defining the entity's function and style - make it an outdoor room, a neoclassical knot garden or a meditative space - then layer hardscape and plant materials to engage the five senses one by one or all at once. Texture plays a large role in creating this sensory engagement: It's the lure that invites observers to pause and linger, to breathe deep and compose themselves within the environment. In that sense, texture is the twin of form and the companion to color in the triad of basic garden relationships. Texture also involves an
When someone calls and asks you to "landscape my home," what does it mean? Are you going over to put plants and trees in the ground, or will you be rolling in with backhoes to install a pond? This initial uncertainty is why, before any project begins in earnest, there are questions to be asked. It's also why there are measurements to be taken, elevations to be shot, sketches and more sketches to be drawn, meetings to schedule and plans to present. Then, maybe, a working design will develop and then, maybe, construction will start. Gathering information and doing the foundation work on a design takes research, patience, experience and time, and it's never
In a couple of my recent "Details," I've discussed the early stages of a wonderful project located on the waterfront of Long Beach Island, N.J. As is the case with many top-level jobs, this one required a great deal of work in the early going to make sure we were set up for complete success once the installation process was under way and the pool, spa and surrounding structures began to come together. Although the pool in question is a simple rectangle designed to function mainly as a subtle and elegant reflective surface, there are certain features within the "shape" of the shell that make it something special - and particularly relevant to how the clients
Almost every landscape I've ever worked on has had some type of fence. I use them because they establish boundaries, but I also see them as having much more than a simple utilitarian function. To me, they set a stage for everything they enclose and, depending upon where you happen to be standing, encompass you within a space or invite you to appreciate the view from a distance. In this discussion, I want to focus on the use of fences you can easily see over - a fence that defines a boundary while allowing viewers on one side to see what it encircles and on the other to enjoy the space's visual imagery. By low, I mean 42 inches tall or lower - low enough not to require
In the design and construction of any watershape, there are a number of points in the process where you can see big differences between the way custom designers and contractors do things and the way production/volume-oriented companies go about their business. From first conversations with clients straight through to commissioning the system and turning it over to the homeowners, it's easy to spot these distinctions and define key differences. To illustrate just one of these areas, let me discuss the case of the permitting phase for the project on Long Beach Island, N.J., I began covering two issues ago. What's involved here is a cluster of issues that occurred more or less simultaneously in the project's early going. The elements of this cluster may not seem directly related to one another, but
Although my practice primarily encompasses residential landscapes, I occasionally tackle a commercial project. In one such case, I was recently asked to design the entry planting and make recommendations for the hardscape at the Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif. One of the most prestigious golf courses in the world, Riviera is the regular host to the Nissan Open, one of the sport's premier tournaments. It's a high-profile site in every conceivable way, so image is everything to the facility's owner and managers. After many years of placing what were essentially band-aids on the entry's landscape, they decided it was time for a complete overhaul and a
In all of the discussions in print and in seminar rooms about advancing the watershaping trades, it seems to me there's been a missing voice - that of the client. We spend lots of time dissecting, praising, disputing, criticizing and encouraging one another, but somehow we seem to have bypassed the thought that we should pay much closer attention to the people who pay us. To my mind, this is something that should change. As individuals, we really should know what it takes to improve and produce a better buying experience related to watershapes of all types and sizes, commercial and residential. Without this direct feedback from our clients, how on earth can we possibly know whether or not we're truly giving people what they really want? As an industry, unless we figure out some way to pool this feedback and codify it in some meaningful way, we will be
