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Like most everything in life, "Natural Companions" has evolved through the years. When I first started writing this column in 1999, I focused primarily on topics related to combining plants and watershapes and wrote a lot about surrounding hard structures with greenery in sensible and sustainable ways. As the New Year approaches, I've been thinking about how things have changed with the column and where it's now heading. I distinctly recall having the sense about four years ago that
I know I've quoted or paraphrased Ernest Hemingway on this point before, but it bears repeating once again: Anything that was ever any good, you pay for. I'd go so far to say I've based my entire business philosophy on that basic idea. For one thing, there's an essential truth to what he's saying. For another, I see its clear application to watershaping on a variety of levels - particularly when it comes to the materials we use in creating our "art." Indeed, a huge part of giving clients the unique elegance and beauty they so often crave involves understanding and appreciating
In the October 2005 issue of WaterShapes, I discussed a project that had tested my abilities and helped me to grow as a landscape designer. To that point in my career, I had functioned mainly as a designer focused on planting design. It was quite a step for me to accept the greater responsibility that came with a project that put me in charge of work on the total environment - pool, spa, deck, outdoor amenities and artwork placement as well as the planting plan. I knew going in that project management is a challenge no matter the size or scale of the job. Coordinating various trades, anticipating schedules and materials needs, making on-site design decisions and covering all
Robert Frost once wrote, "I took the road less traveled and that has made all the difference." As we approach the New Year, I can't think of a more fitting theme for the watershaping industry. If we consider where we were just ten years ago and compare that situation to the world in which we live and work today, it's clear that the industry as a whole has changed immeasurably - and, I think, for the good. I can say further and without fear of contradiction that those who have embraced the "road less traveled" and faced the future with creativity, hope and optimism have flourished, while those who have clung to the paradigms of the past are not so well positioned to
If there's one thought that permeates every page, every word and every photograph in this publication, it is this: The creation of something outstanding, something that stirs an emotional response, something that establishes an ongoing, extraordinary experience for clients and anyone else who sees our work all starts with the passion we have in our hearts for art and its intimate relationship to what we do as watershapers. That's a big concept. Really big. And I believe that unless you appreciate and (on some level) understand the raw power of artistic creation, then what you generate will seldom be
It'd be great if every project I was asked to tackle were about the complete environment - not only the planting plan, but also the watershapes, artworks, amenities and everything else a client might desire. That doesn't happen often enough, probably because my portfolio is much richer in planting plans than it is in watershapes. But from time to time I find clients who have faith in me and my abilities as a designer and give me total control. Late last year, I was fortunate enough to come across one such project. I had originally been brought in to
Through the years, more than a few watershaping professionals have asked me how to break through and start working with high-end clients. I respond by giving them the disappointing news that there is no magic key here: Serving the high end takes commitment, hard work and a willingness to focus your thinking on a distinct set of fundamentals that must take over and guide your work. Depending on the level at which you're currently functioning, getting to the high end may involve climbing a mountain or might simply be about making a series of
Few things are as important to the aesthetic impression made by swimming pools, spas and other watershapes as the colors you select to use in it and around them. Take tile as an example. Whether it's just a waterline detail, a complete interior finish or some elaborate mosaic pattern, it serves to draw the eye into a design. If the color and material selections work, the scene can become extraordinarily elegant and beautiful. If they don't, you can have a major eyesore on your hands. The amazing thing to me is how few watershapers ever really consider the importance
It's that time of year when our thoughts begin turning to the beautiful colors of the fall - and the subsequent bareness of winter. Whether you're in the coldest northern reaches or enjoy the relative warmth of the Sunbelt, we all are aware that fall is a transition to a time when the annuals will fade once and for all and the deciduous plants will drop their leaves. But I propose that it doesn't have to be so - or at least that we can minimize the seasonal holes in our gardens through thoughtful use of evergreen trees and shrubs. These are the most abundant of all plant types, after all, and the bones of
I've always been puzzled by people who look at money as a taboo topic. Within any form of business, of course, competitors are restricted by federal anti-trust laws from getting specific in discussions of pricing, overhead and profit margins. But it's always seemed to me that understanding those factors in broad, general terms (which are legally discussable, by the way) is at the core of the success of any business - especially in the world of contracting. The reason pricing, overhead and margins are so critical is that they reflect your core values and those of your company with respect to both money and overall business philosophy. It's my informed view that too many contractors severely
