plants

Making Meadows
Writing about droughts and water shortages in his March 2008 On the Level column, Bruce Zaretsky started by observing, ‘This turn of events has made me determined to design landscapes requiring as little water as possible – one consequence being that I now do all I can to avoid using large expanses of
2017/11.1, November 1 — Design Audacity, Tile Mastery, Image Elevation and more
THE ESSENTIAL E-NEWSLETTER FOR WATERSHAPE DESIGNERS, ENGINEERS AND BUILDERS November 1, 2017 www.watershapes.com LOUISIANA DREAMIN’,…
2017/10.2, October 18 — Mansion Memories, Lighting Dynamics, Fountain Miscue and more
THE ESSENTIAL E-NEWSLETTER FOR WATERSHAPE DESIGNERS, ENGINEERS AND BUILDERS October 18, 2017 www.watershapes.com IN MEMORIAM…
Watergardens as Art
It's 1889.   You're at the World's Fair in Paris, what the locals call l'Exposition Universelle du 1889, and you've joined them in marking the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution.  The world is changing:  Paris is at the center of those transitions and you want to see for yourself what's going on. You know that the fair has attracted exhibitors from around the world, but you're drawn to France because
Organic Emergence
This project began with a client's dropped jaw. I'd been called to the site by one of my usual subcontractors to help resolve a minor problem he was having.  While that was being resolved, I noticed that the new steps in the remodeled pool were far more troubling.   With the client and a bunch of other people standing there, I asked for a demo hammer - and saw the looks of astonishment as I smacked the top step and
2017/10.1, October 4 — Expanding Vision, Watergarden Art, Cascading Splendor and more
THE ESSENTIAL E-NEWSLETTER FOR WATERSHAPE DESIGNERS, ENGINEERS AND BUILDERS October 4, 2017 www.watershapes.com FEATURE ARTICLE…
Critical Distance
I love it when a project teaches me a lesson about my design process.  In this case, it was just a smallish insight - but it had a profound effect on the outcome just the same. I'd seen this property for the first time while the home was under construction.  It was a large building, about three-quarters complete, that occupied most of a fairly large parcel.  The clients were happy to show me around, let me figure things out and come
Split-Level Pond
Given the choice, there are few projects I enjoy more than renovations:  The process of taking an existing outdoor space that isn't making people happy and coming to their rescue with a personalized dreamscape is about as satisfying as it gets. This sort of shift in vision happens quite often when homes change hands and the new owners bring in a different set of needs and desires.  In grand terms, there might be nothing particularly "wrong" with the original setting, but if the new owners either want to
Spring Is Here!
Although fall in southern California is my favorite time of year for its raw beauty, spring is a close runner-up because it is so busy.   In fact, some of the heavy lifting is already done by the time March 20 rolls around:  Early in that month, for instance, I'll typically take advantage of a warm day to vacuum away our pool's winter accumulation of
Micro-Management
'As much as I love cold weather,' wrote Stephanie Rose in opening her Natural Companions column in April 2007, 'I have to concede that we experienced way too much of a good thing this past winter.  Long periods of extremely cold weather are the norm in many other parts of the country, and plants survive.  Here, however, our local plants may be accustomed to surviving the isolated sub-freezing night, but sustained, frosty temperatures