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Most of my clients don't know a Pittosporum from a Loropetalum - nor would I expect them to. Unfortunately, however, this often leaves me to describe plants to them, a process that often makes me feel like I'm reenacting that television commercial where the homeowner tries to mimic the creature seen crawling across the kitchen floor for an exterminator: I'll stand there with my arms up or out, attempting to look like the botanical specimen I'm suggesting for use in their garden. One of the easiest groups of plants to describe in this or any other way is a collection I call the strappy-leaf plants. I didn't make up the term, and I'm sure many of you have also used it yourselves to describe plants with foliage that looks like straps - generally long strips that emerge from a central clump and arc up, sometimes flopping over to create
Something inspired and inspiring is happening in the watershaping industry - something I doubt has ever really happened before: In almost every encounter I have with industry people lately (and believe me, I've seen a lot of you in the past few months), I get the palpable sense of a passion that is driving all of us in a process of creative and professional growth. I see it in the enthusiasm my fellow watershapers have for what they're doing, and I see it being directly translated into their projects and, perhaps most important, being conveyed to their clients and the attitudes everyone has about the results. From where I sit, this is a spectacular time to be in this business, and that notion has been reinforced countless times in the recent past. I received a concentrated dose of this broad impression during the
Something inspired and inspiring is happening in the watershaping industry - something I doubt has ever really happened before: In almost every encounter I have with industry people lately (and believe me, I've seen a lot of you in the past few months), I get the palpable sense of a passion that is driving all of us in a process of creative and professional growth. I see it in the enthusiasm my fellow watershapers have for what they're doing, and I see it being directly translated into their projects and, perhaps most important, being conveyed to their clients and the attitudes everyone has about the results. From where I sit, this is a spectacular time to be in this business, and that notion has been reinforced countless times in the recent past. I received a concentrated dose of this broad impression during the
A big part of properly designing watershapes to meet specific client needs has to do with understanding how they'll be using the body of water. I always explore this issue with my clients, which is why, for the most part, I don't do many pools with traditional deep ends - despite the fact that, for decades, most pools have been built with them. To me, in fact, the whole concept of deep water in residential swimming pools is basically misguided and largely obsolete. Consider exactly what it is that bathers can do in the deep end of a pool: They might dive, tread water or swim to the bottom to retrieve coins or pool toys - and, unfortunately, they can drown there, too. Yes, people also drown in shallow water, but there's no doubt that deeper waters provide
A big part of properly designing watershapes to meet specific client needs has to do with understanding how they'll be using the body of water. I always explore this issue with my clients, which is why, for the most part, I don't do many pools with traditional deep ends - despite the fact that, for decades, most pools have been built with them. To me, in fact, the whole concept of deep water in residential swimming pools is basically misguided and largely obsolete. Consider exactly what it is that bathers can do in the deep end of a pool: They might dive, tread water or swim to the bottom to retrieve coins or pool toys - and, unfortunately, they can drown there, too. Yes, people also drown in shallow water, but there's no doubt that deeper waters provide
Although we think of them together as activities in the world of exterior design, watershaping and landscaping have some significant distinctions. The watershapers who design and build pools, spas, fountains and waterfeatures, for instance, fully intend them to be structurally static and unchanging (a firm hope, anyway, especially in earthquake country) once they are completed. By contrast, the landscape professionals who design and install the gardens, trees and plants that may surround a watershape work with dynamic, constantly changing materials. What this means is that perfection is a much more elusive quality for landscape professionals by comparison to watershapers. Indeed, for us on the green side, achieving the kind of perfection one often
Although we think of them together as activities in the world of exterior design, watershaping and landscaping have some significant distinctions. The watershapers who design and build pools, spas, fountains and waterfeatures, for instance, fully intend them to be structurally static and unchanging (a firm hope, anyway, especially in earthquake country) once they are completed. By contrast, the landscape professionals who design and install the gardens, trees and plants that may surround a watershape work with dynamic, constantly changing materials. What this means is that perfection is a much more elusive quality for landscape professionals by comparison to watershapers. Indeed, for us on the green side, achieving the kind of perfection one often
Even though I've been on the leading edge of a movement for several years now, it still feels strange to put this thought on paper: A growing number of professionals like me are now finding work as consultants in the design and construction of watershapes. Who would ever have thought it possible? Just a few short years ago, the idea that anyone could make a living by charging for designs or construction oversight was outlandish and the subject of skepticism, shock and derision among architects, landscape architects and pool contractors. To that point, after all, "pool design" was generally a service that existed almost exclusively to support the sales efforts of contractors. These folks, who were accustomed to
Even though I've been on the leading edge of a movement for several years now, it still feels strange to put this thought on paper: A growing number of professionals like me are now finding work as consultants in the design and construction of watershapes. Who would ever have thought it possible? Just a few short years ago, the idea that anyone could make a living by charging for designs or construction oversight was outlandish and the subject of skepticism, shock and derision among architects, landscape architects and pool contractors. To that point, after all, "pool design" was generally a service that existed almost exclusively to support the sales efforts of contractors. These folks, who were accustomed to
My last two "Details" should make it pretty clear that I'm more enthusiastic about tile than I am about any other surface material for watershapes. In October, we covered the use of color while focusing on tile, and in November there was a discussion of my favorite suppliers and their distinctions. This time, I'll bring the sequence to a conclusion by looking at the process of selecting tile and at the ways I blend tile mosaics. My enthusiasm extends from the fact that tile in watershapes is incredibly dynamic - so visually flexible, so durable and, if done well, so elegant. It can be used either as a
