Sometimes everything has to follow one theme. Sometimes, not so much. This design created transitions between outdoor rooms, each with its own character. Arrive, entertain, relax Arrival The entire front, including the home’s façade and garage door, got a redo. The biggest issue was that once you were in the entry patio, you were basicallyContinue reading “Mid-century patio gardens, 2008.”
Category Archives: Construction
Updating a landscape
The plans went out in 2004. In 2005 or so, they were enjoying their new landscape, although it already had some issues due to a less than stellar installation by the contractor. The gate and structure sagged or wobbled (the gate brace was installed backwards). The fountain leaked, and was later abandoned. It was timeContinue reading “Updating a landscape”
Independent design or design and build?
There’s a fork in the landscape design road. A big one, since once you’ve gone down one side or the other, coming back is difficult. Not impossible, but fraught with lions, tigers and bears. You can take the design and build path, or the independent design one. In the end, they both lead to aContinue reading “Independent design or design and build?”
Pétanque!
Italians play bocce. The French play Pétanque, with metal boules (balls), smaller than bocce balls so they fit well in your hand, making it easier to throw hard and blast your opponent’s balls out of the court. Or you can lob your boule with backspin so it lands to gently roll up and kiss the small,Continue reading “Pétanque!”
The plants are in!
Our project in Davis is coming along nicely as plants and irrigation fill in the design. Without the plants (and some other elements) it was much more stark – click here to see our last set of images. Next come the rest of the irrigation, then bark and lighting. Then it’s time to relax andContinue reading “The plants are in!”
Crust is great on baguettes. Not so much on tile and stone
Sometimes you have the space for a splash zone, sometimes you don’t. Following some simple guidelines can keep your water features less crusty and lower maintenance requirements. Some design guidelines can help to alleviate this kind of thing – something to consider when designing a water feature. This is kind of like a situation fromContinue reading “Crust is great on baguettes. Not so much on tile and stone”
It’s white, it’s round, it’s underground. But PVC pipe is not all the same
Choose well when installing PVC pipe for your irrigation system. The two main types of pipe are class 200 and schedule 40. The former carries more water for a given pipe diameter, with the annoying trade off that it’s more likely to break. The older the pipe, the more brittle it gets – and theContinue reading “It’s white, it’s round, it’s underground. But PVC pipe is not all the same”
Easy living outdoor spaces… and a “bigger” yard
If you think a yard is too small, it might be due to a lack of organization more than tininess. Linking spaces, opening up views and being generous with patios give more useable space, all fit inside the formerly too-small garden. Some of these things might be a bit controversial: the front path isn’t theContinue reading “Easy living outdoor spaces… and a “bigger” yard”
A Fresh Start
A complete makeover adds useable space, outdoor living areas and brings an open look to this back yard Sometimes you leave as many existing elements in place as possible. Other times, you keep key items and eliminate the rest. And sometimes you clean everything for a fresh start. A too-small shade structure, a screen thatContinue reading “A Fresh Start”
Where do big trees come from? Big trucks!
These large boxed trees originated in multiple wholesale nurseries, who mark their logos on the boxes the trees are shipped in. In this case, two logos and a lot of unmarked boxes. The shade cloth protects the trees from being whipped by the wind, and keeps them a bit cooler, too. Considering that trees don’tContinue reading “Where do big trees come from? Big trucks!”