trees
If I could point to one plant that will consistently stand out in just about any garden, it would have to be the maple. Virtually no Asian-style garden would be complete without one, and they fit beautifully into gardens of many other styles as well. I particularly like pairing maples with watershapes because of their tendency to soften the edges of typical hardscapes and the way they are reflected by the water. When placed well, a specimen or single maple can indeed be a key
Last month, we covered a side-yard project that fulfilled one family's dream of gaining a kitchen garden. This functional design worked well for what had basically been a small, unused space - but it's by no means the only use for such spaces. Small spaces can lend themselves to a number of different possibilities. Discussing the clients' lifestyle or wish list might uncover something they really want or can identify ideas they haven't yet considered as possible uses for the space. Case in point: I had a client who wanted to create three
Summer is arriving, and those 90-degree-plus days are coming with it. Your clients are thrilled to have their watershapes to cool off in, but they can't spend all their time in the water! I've discussed shade structures and shade trees before, and it's an important feature to discuss with any clients whose yard you are designing. But there's more to shade than what you do overhead, and you need to discuss what you'll be planting in those shaded areas. There are two problems here. For the most part, people don't know what to plant in the shade - nor do they
Montecito is home some of the grandest estates on the West Coast, but relatively few people know about it or where it is. A sleepy little town, it lies several miles east of Santa Barbara and some 80 miles or so northwest of Los Angeles. From the beautiful hilltop estates that dot the landscape, you can see Santa Barbara's wharf and downtown in the foreground, with sweeping vistas of the Pacific Ocean dominating the horizon. The big ranches of Montecito are dotted with hundreds of watershapes inspired by the Spanish-Colonial and Moorish architecture that surround them. Most were installed as part of the Spanish Revival movement that took hold among architects and landscape designers all over California through the first half of the 20th Century. The revivalists' octagonal and quatrefoil fountains and courtyards provide a visual link to the state's Spanish heritage. Fueled by the explosion of Hollywood's movie industry during this time, the combination of money, lots of open land and a popular architectural style resulted in creation of some of the most beautiful estates anywhere in the world - none more so than a property named Cima del Mundo, Spanish for
Surely you've heard this line before and never believed it, but I'm here to tell you that size does matter. Have you ever, for example, built a pond or fountain with concrete either surrounding it or fanning out from it beneath the soil - and then had your clients say they wanted a very mature tree or shrub planted right up against the edge? There you are with six inches of soil (maximum!) to work with, and there's just no way to
