Natives to use in your Garden...Tree of Life Nursery Visit

A trip to Tree of Life Nursery in San Juan Capistrano brought about so much needed inspiration. Take a look at some amazing California Natives in bloom. These all would look great in your garden and use little to no water once established.

Manzanita

Salvia

Dudleya

Penstemmon

Matilija Poppy

Old Grape Vine

Purple Three-Awn grass (a guess?!)

Revisiting a Past Project - Yorba Linda

Today I revisted a past project in Yorba Linda, California. I have included some photos of the project 3.5 years after construction was completed. This was a new construction home and we had a blank slate for the front and backyard. The design included new hardscape, planting, vegetable garden, pool, BBQ area, covered trellis, stone walls and pilasters.

Front yard

Pool with a view

Courtyard

Covered Trellis

View over pool toward Garden

Concept #1

Concept #2

Final concept was given to the Contractor and I never made a copy. Something I regret now, but didn't think about at the time.

Bob Perry and his new book

This past weekend I attended a lecture at Tree of Life Nursery in San Juan Capistrano, just off Ortega Highway. If you haven't been there yet I would check it out. The location is beautiful with large Oak and Sycamore trees...actually I will blog about it separate, cause it deserves its own post. On to Bob Perry and his amazing new book.

The lecture was set amongst the natural California landscape with a large Sycamore tree creeping overhead and within the shade of a Coast Live Oak. The gardens were blooming and wildlife was everywhere. Bob inspired me to really think about my designs in a whole different way. Right now sustainability is hot and heavy and most people think California natives and water wise gardening. These are components of a responsible garden, but he took it a step further. His concept is offsetting our impact on Mother Nature. This is creating well established plant communities within our garden spaces that are able to reduce our carbon load, create habitats, thrive, reduce the amount of water needing to survive, create memories and tell a story of a place or a region. So much more than picking out responsible plants and creating a garden that looks good. For every gallon of gas we use a day we unload 6.5 lbs of carbon into the atmosphere, but we can reduce that by planting significant landscapes that absorb this carbon and offset our impacts. Something to think about next time you drive, it really made me think as we left the lecture and headed on a 100+ mile trip up the California Coast.

I highly recommend his new book. So full of knowledge, images and inspiration!

Bob Perry signing my book

A quick photo with the author & landscape architect.

Inspiring Garden

A few photos from a Spring trip to the Central Coast. These photos were taken at Leaning Pine Arboretum at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. All was in full bloom!

Brooner Residence - Green Concrete Design

The Brooner Residence is an original 1960's Orange County home. The backyard was recently cleared, new fences in place, old landscaping removed and the option was chosen to be GREEN and recycle the old concrete in the design. For this reason we have selected a concrete cutting company to perform the demo work with a saw cutter in order to efficiently remove the concrete for reuse. We have also chosen local contractors to South Orange County. Check out Custom Concrete Cutting in Mission Viejo, family owned and operated for over 20 years. You can reach them at (949) 951-9071.

The shown CAD plan below is for the new concrete patio area. We are demoing the existing concrete patio today and reusing the old concrete in the yard for stepping stones and walking paths within the new garden. The new concrete patio has a Fire Pit area with seating and low stacked stone seat wall, a kids play area with seat wall and sand play table, a BBQ area for a new 70" BBQ and smoker, dining area with seat wall and a generous lounge area with couch, chairs and table.