plants
‘Many watershapers have a single-minded focus,’ wrote Stephanie Rose in her Natural Companions column in February 2007, ‘doing all they can to deliver quality shells and surrounding decks to their clients. Quite often, however, that narrow focus means that inadequate space is left for planting – a problem I face quite often as
I recently enjoyed my umpteenth visit to the Huntington Library, Art Collection and Botanical Gardens. It's an amazing estate in the city of San Marino, Calif., a well-heeled enclave near Pasadena, and was established by Henry Huntington, nephew and heir to transcontinental-railroad magnate Collis Huntington. This is a place that shows you what a serious fortune could buy in the early years of the 20th Century.I like the library and appreciate the art collection, but the reason
This is a story about turning an ugly duckling into a beautiful swan. It starts with a couple who had recently purchased their ideal home - one with room for them, for horses and for serenely rustic outdoor living. But the reality as they found it was somewhat different: The entry from the street was boring, the house was bland, the backyard space was disorganized and the
'When I paint,' observed Stephanie Rose at the start of her Natural Companions column in October 2006, 'I constantly play with color on canvas and experiment with various combinations to see what works well and discover what, to my eye, clashes or doesn't seem to mix harmoniously.' 'As a landscape designer, I'm aware of working through the same sort of
For most residents of southeastern Canada, the winter of 2013/2014 was memorable for off-the-hook low temperatures, plenty of snow and lots of discomfort. For me and my crew, however, what we'll recall most is how hard we worked right through the teeth of the inclement weather to make a huge project deliverable by its May 2014 deadline. As was reported in the first article of this
In a well-balanced pond, the oxygen content of the water is seldom an issue. But if things move off course, notes Mike Gannon, it's essential to find the cause -- and then apply one of three possible remedies tailored to the urgency of the need and the extent of the budget.
It was a great project: The client called us in to look at a sloping backyard for which his one and only wish was an environment that would be "organic and pre-existing" - that is, a composition that looked as though it had been there forever, long before the adjacent home entered the picture. That sort of look is our stock in trade at Outdoor Republic, a Pleasanton, Calif.-based firm that specializes in the use of artificial rock. As is often the case, we became involved after the homeowner had
