maintenance
More and more of my clients are interested in including edible plants in their gardens. They're into cooking, great food, fine wine and entertaining, and they appreciate the special flavors that come when they grow and harvest their own edibles. It's incredibly satisfying to walk out into one's own garden and pick fruits or vegetables or herbs. Not only do these edibles taste better than store-bought produce, but any gardener can be reasonably sure that the foods they grow are free of pesticides and other undesirable contaminants. No matter what
This past summer, I had the pleasure of traveling to Europe - specifically Northern Italy and Southern France. Along the way, I was lucky enough to see the lavender fields of Provence in peak bloom and many unusual and beautiful gardens. My travels were particularly rewarding in the region around Lake Maggiore in Northern Italy, well known for having some of Europe's most beautiful gardens. We started off by visiting the islands on the lake and their villas, complete with their classic-style gardens. The climate of the area allows for growing many of the plants I'm familiar with in Southern California, but the
As the watershaping industry gets more involved with naturalistic bodies of water - particularly large ponds, lakes and streams intended to harbor life in the forms of aquatic plants and fish - it becomes increasingly worthwhile to understand the important role of proper aeration. Aeration is a simple process involving the injection of dissolved oxygen (DO) into water. Nature aerates by way of things such as waterfalls and rain - activities we must imitate by mechanical means in our man-made settings if fish are to be healthy and a host of water-quality problems are
As fall looms before us, it's timely to consider a question that should be a factor in every design we prepare: To drop or not to drop? This question is a good one to ask before you start planning and has to do with how much natural debris your clients will be willing to fish out of their watershapes once you're gone. In other words, while it's always important to decide what style of plants to put around your watershapes, it's also important to think about types - that is, evergreen vs. deciduous. I'm sure most (if not all) of you are aware of the general distinction, but here's a short
What is good lake construction? What makes some pristine and beautiful while others seem fetid and slimy? To discover the answer to these and other questions, we need to start by defining what we mean by "lake." It may seem arbitrary, but the distinction can be an important one, especially to people who own them. You don't want to insult anyone by calling their lake a pond or lagoon, for example. By the same token, you don't want to seem ill-informed or unprofessional in referring to their waterfeature as a lake. Given the different
What do you do with a space that seems too small for a watershape and too small for plantings? The answer: Think small. You don't have to compromise on style or substance, but simply by thinking on a smaller scale, you'll open up a lot of possibilities you might not have considered. About three years ago, for example, I was brought in on a job to do a quick fix for a very small but prominent area of a client's yard. The homeowner wanted to completely rework the entire property, but it was clear there was a lot of other work to do first. The quick fix went very well and the clients were pleased, so they asked me to
