large-scale

The Art of Finishing
Despite our fondest desires, it’s quite inevitable that most of the things we humans design and build are impermanent and will change.  That’s particularly true of the greenery we place in and around our gardens and watershapes, simply because plants grow and gradually alter the settings they surround or inhabit. There’s a measure of melancholy in this evolution:  As designers and installers of these spaces, we’re left to recognize that in most cases we will never see them at their best and most beautiful.  Yet that’s as it should be, because any living work of art will continue to develop and improve long after it is technically “completed” by our hands. There’s also great joy in creating naturalistic watershapes and garden spaces, because I see the art of finishing as an exercise in setting the table for the future.  In fact, I see this as being remarkably empowering:  By participating in
Estate of Mind
Working on estate-sized residential projects is like assembling huge jigsaw puzzles in which all sorts of disparate pieces must ultimately fit together.  While many of the individual parts have their own character and entail particular design and construction challenges, they're all part of a big picture you need to hold firmly in mind through every project phase. At GCS of Woodbridge, Calif., we pride ourselves on operating on a grand scale and on delivering the whole package, from landscape, hardscape, irrigation, control, communications, lighting and sound systems to watershapes of all sizes and types.  Keeping all those elements sorted out within a single operation means we need to
Estate of Mind
Working on estate-sized residential projects is like assembling huge jigsaw puzzles in which all sorts of disparate pieces must ultimately fit together.  While many of the individual parts have their own character and entail particular design and construction challenges, they're all part of a big picture you need to hold firmly in mind through every project phase. At GCS of Woodbridge, Calif., we pride ourselves on operating on a grand scale and on delivering the whole package, from landscape, hardscape, irrigation, control, communications, lighting and sound systems to watershapes of all sizes and types.  Keeping all those elements sorted out within a single operation means we need to
Making the Wild Waters Flow
Graced by an abundance of beautiful, natural streams, cascades, rivers and lakes spread across spectacular native landscapes, Utah is a dream location for watershapers. Not only is there a rising demand for crafted streams, ponds and cascades that look like they really belong, but the state itself is also a genuine design laboratory.  Indeed, I send our crews out into the "wild" periodically to do nothing more than hike up and down local watercourses to see how Mother Nature does things.  These waterways are