Projects

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This is a front yard. One my favorite places is a front yard that needs a job. This front yard needed to house a fire pit, a patio, and a hot tub, while creating privacy from the situation of being at the bottom of a fishbowl. Hills (and neighbors) rise on more than 180 degrees around this earth-sheltered domicile, so a fence wouldn’t work- nor would it be a good solution to block the views into nature. We used native trees and shrubs, and berms, to tuck the hot tub in. We kept the hot tub close to the house, separating the two from each other with a tall, narrow tree. Boulders cuddle the hot tub to the east and are the steps up into the tub. They are also available for setting drinks or personal items, and it is perfect seatwall height (chair height) for the adjacent fire pit zone. The result is an awesome feeling of being surrounded by nature while able to keep the long range views into it and into the sky beyond. I can’t wait until the seven blueberry bushes on the berm start to fruit! Nurtritious patio! 

Creating privacy and dimension for a hot tub & fire pit in a front yard.

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This fantastic backyard was full of space and not much else. Althea and Phil wanted a yard that sings to them all throughout the year and that allowed for easy walking, since all any of us do is get a little older. I can’t wait until we plant this property. It is beautiful! A path loops around the entire property, for fitness, for meditiation, for pacing while chatting on the phone- like I like to do.

To have a world of your own in your front, side, back, or barely-there yard, or to connect disparate parts of a larger property, brings mental and emotional engagement, movement to your body, beauty to the beholder, and value to your asset. I can help you decide what, where and how to address needs and desires within the constraints of your budget and your tolerances.

A Long Lap Around The Yard

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We carved a social gathering nook into a very gradual hill with the perfect amount of drop for a retainer at seat height. This is my favorite thing to do, and that is to create a flat space and retain the uphill side with a seatwall. Doing so tucks you into the landscape. It makes usable space that was previously avoided, gets you moving and engaging outside of the confines of your home, and it adds value to your asset. I am looking forward to planting this area.

A Modest Sized Patio to take in the Surrounds

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It's the challenge of bringing new shapes in to cooperate with shapes that have already commanded the landscape. In this case, a nice, wide, grouted flagstone walkway cuts diagonally towards the architect-erected ADU. It's nice, as is the custom steel bannister and railing. But we need a patio, a fire pit, an “away”, and it has to harmonize with the inherited landscape. Also, it needs to look and feel like hiking around AVL. 

So, we slowed life down a bit for this family of four, with stepping stones squared exactly off of the diagonal walkway. By letting the constraints- the strong diagonal and the space it left- inform the design, it gave way to a diamond layout for the stepping stones when approaching, as pictured. Total graphic score! In 2 years, you will walk through the shrub forest, now in its infancy, where fragrant native Azalea blossoms will waft at the level of your nose. This little bit of wild intimacy is where the family goes to reinforce the good stuff, rest, and plan adventures.. How many dollars can you put on that? Birds nest there; how much is that worth? And privacy?

This gets at why I think landscape design is undervalued. To have a world of your own in your front, side, back, or barely-there yard, brings engagement with your brain, movement to your body, beauty to the beholder, and value to your asset. I can help you decide what, where and how much you need, and how to get it within the constraints of your budget, ultimately to satisfy the desire.


Elegant Ellipse: Existing diagonal flagstone walkway meets new patio, fire pit

Naturally, a Playground Upgrade

Before and After photos of the playground and architectural drawings, for Phase 1 of the project, which was to solve the erosion problem and to make life interesting. As it was, the compacted "dirt" around the Pine trees, trampled by youthful feet, did nothing to stop the flow of the rain sheeting down the hill in downpours. 

Now we have a dry creek bed as added interest, with temporary bridges allow crossing while Asheville Playgrounds builds the fantastic new bridges that will be permanent. Erosion was also eased by terracing the slope with useful pathways retained by natural materials that the kids will love playing on. Because, we all remember being a kid! 

The Black Mountain Montessori School playground is open to the public after hours. If you would like to donate to the playground , click here: 

Naturally, a Playground Upgrade: Phase 1

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My lovely client wanted to look out of his office and not have his view blocked by much at all. The office looks out onto the front yard, which was to be used as a social gathering space at their house atop the knoll. The neighborhood has many walkers, and my clients have two dogs that need to be kept in so they don’t run away when socializing. Also, the front patio was the best spot to view the sunset and the surrounding protected lands, so it needed to be a nice place to be. 

My opinion is that most front yards are wasted space, so I was excited to make use of this area! The design ended up a delightfully spacious, angled patio with cable railings and no top rail to block anyone’s view. On the driveway side, there is a top rail for stability and as a bit of a driveway console table.

The stone pillars pull out the copper hues of the house, and the clients did a great job of embracing the white windows that were already installed, to their chagrin, by adding white deck furniture. Go towards the challenge! Next we will add Corten steel planters against the driveway side of the patio, filled with white perennials, and love the circumstantial white some more. White will brighten it all up anyway!

This is a 100% native plant garden; thanks to Carolina Natives Nursery in Burnsville for the shrubs. 

To have a world of your own in your front, side, back, or barely-there yard, or to connect disparate parts of a larger property, brings mental and emotional engagement, movement to your body, beauty to the beholder, and value to your asset. I can help you decide how, what and where to address needs and desires within the constraints of your budget and your tolerances.

New Contemporary Home Construction with Front Patio for Gathering

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Once again, there was an untapped front yard, the need for a space to gather, and a landscape overdue for some general freshening up. To solve this, I had A&R Landscaping install a concrete patio on a simple grid format, right outside of my Client's front door. 

Then we neatened up the edge of the driveway with some wooden retainers, pruned a few years of neglect out of the beautiful Rhododendrons and Azaleas, and basically carved space and air back into this little suburban, back-40 gem of a cabin. 

To finish the saying, "business in the back". The house sits behind the party, bordering the as-yet unusable backyard. A welcoming, sunny front patio welcomes visitors and sets the tone for the family home. Plus, being 90 degrees off the end of the road, there is no privacy to preserve, and the front has the longer range views. Wins! “Shady Cove” is now a few hundred per cent more desirable as a short term rental. 

This project will continue as we give more haircuts to some overgrown shrubs to bring more light into the property, as well as give floral, long-range views into the mature Tulip Poplars forest. We might even throw in a few Blueberry bushes! Stay tuned for progress photos! 


Party in the Front..

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My awesome client bought a mountain cabin from a hoarder whose predilections extended to gardening. You could barely get to the house for all the plants, many of them invasive punks that, no offense, are better off back where they came from. 

With the help of The Yard Bro, we peeled back the layers until the house and its bones were exposed. A man named Dirt brought his mason in, and with no formal announcement began major medical on the rear hillside, building a stone patio and steps down to a stepping stone path to take amblers down to the final destination of the Peach tree. 

With native shrubs purchased from Carolina Natives, and flats of native perennials, we are in the process of taking over that back, sunny hillside with a riot of color and year-long interest that is beneficial for wildlife, does not need to be mowed, and which showcases the beauty and variety of Western North Carolina in her own backyard. Obviously the view doesn’t hurt either. 

In the front yard, my favorite place to make great again (or usually for the first time ever), Dirt’s crew moved a few Rhododendrons to make room for living space, and transplanted them to help block the neighbor. Then The Yard Bro built a great stone walkway and fire pit. I can’t wait to have cocktails on that patio and discuss life up on a mountain. 

Stay tuned as more photos come through. 

Pulling a Little Switzerland Cabin Out of the Weeds and Into Usefulness

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My clients spent their entire weekend mowing the steep hill of grass upon which their house was built. If you know anything about how fast grass grows, especially when you’re watching it, by the next weekend they would have to risk their limbs and musculoskeletal systems to mow that useless hill- again. 

I asked them what kind of colors and feels they like, and chose native shrubs and perennials that bring four-season interest to their hillside, and now they can truly sit and relax while watching nature do its thing. 

One of the couple is from the midwest so I inserted some plants that give her memories of her past while keeping it native. Now there is at most seasonal- usually annual- maintenance to deadhead or trim, and even that can get put on the backburner like most chores can when there’s more fun to be had. 

Against the house where it was extremely steep and washing away, there is now gabion wall terracing that will soon enough be engulfed by cascading plants. More pictures to come as the plants grow in and the color shows off!

Why Mow This Steep Hillside?

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I bought my Dad’s old metal shop which had been abandoned and was full of a hoarder’s hoardings. This is the visual record of rescue, through rehab, to recreation hub at the Quonset Hut. It’s now my home for the meantime, and I am enjoying waking up each spring day and flinging the 12’ garage door all the way open. 

The building is now clean, ship-shaped, and insulated. I have a 10’ arc of the curve (x38’ length) effeciency apartment that can be shut off (and eventually locked), and is insulated and climate controlled with a mini split. The main space has a hefty wood stove, a large reversible ceiling fan, and an exhaust fan. There is a sleeping loft, a chaise lounge sleeper couch, and my king size bed, so there is plenty of space for guests. The kayaks get their due with a vertical rack. I’m set!

As a landscape designer, I am gritting my teeth in wait to be able to thrust my will upon the land, but I am still waiting for the grader to do his thing. More pictures as the project evolves. New, ⅔ glass, insulated steel garage door coming soon! It’s only been a 9 month wait! That garage door better be as cool as a baby. ? 

It is a little bittersweet in that now this space is not set up for metal work and craft, which I very much enjoyed as a youth and when in college for Art (what a choice of degree- err now what?!). However I intentionally left the main space open and flexible so that it could be adapted to many uses. Weewoo!

QUONSET RE-HUT. From a metal shop, to abandonment, to My House.

Boulder Creek Bright

This favorite client has not been shy in augmenting his landscape with glass art and plats after the base layer of natives I planted grew in. I love the eclectic style and luscious chaos of my client's yard. 

Midcentury Modern Eichler Home Makeover

Ah, what a lucky day to get the call to help a wonderful couple with the landscape adorning their lovely Eichler home nestled next to open space in the warm hills of San Rafael. There was a failing wooden wall that got refreshed into a clean, bright concrete wall. A native plant fan wife Director of San Francisco Environment and her complimentary husband, we were on the same page with plant choices and general values to enhance, rather than contrast, the open space adjacent. Featuring Delta Bluegrass' "Mow Free' blend in the front yard where once there was only stones and a relic fig tree in great need of pruning. 

Container Heaven

Corten steel planters by Veradek are awesome! A nice price and well made. They rust to a beautiful, varied patina that along with the straight lines of the steel creates a nice mix of organic and geometric. Plants look great spilling out of planters, and what a canvas! I love planters, and my clients do too! 

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Nostalgic Return to a Patio I Designed in San Francisco

Instant Forest in Wisconsin

These lakehouse dwellers needed friendly privacy from uphill neighbors, and with it a little less grass to mow. We opted for large evergreen Norway Spruce trees like that already flanking the lake. The trees were discounted as they needed a home- to be planted- before the winter season. An instant forest was created, including upper midwestern native species shrubs like those found on walks through the adjacent woods, to Sugar Maples these friends will tap again this winter.

Santa Cruz Mountain Elevation

These clients have a house where no exterior wall corner is 90 degrees! All angles are 60 or 120 degrees! So.. the stairs were going to be the same in order not to look out of place or thoughtless. The angle looks sharp, and now my clients can get down to the lower yard. Some native redwood forest plants in the side and front yards as well.

Pacific Grove Coastal Refuge

A yard outside of a nice, cheery mid-century modern home went from nothing to inviting with the addition of plants, native "lawn", and boulders to bring out the bright lines of the house.

Iris Unlimited- copper fabrication by Pierre Riche Art

Just Finishing

A single man likes to play music with his friends, and wants some life in the yard rather than a flat lawn in the front and rear.

Seattle Casual

Santa Cruz Mountain View

This hillside sloped off to a beautiful view. Now there is a spot to stop and enjoy the view.

San Lorenzo Valley Hillside, Tamed

Ceanothus Welcomes You!

A compacted, baking field of weeds surrenders to lushness on Railroad Avenue in Boulder Creek. Rushes and a meandering path evoke a relaxed riparian environment similar to the San Lorenzo River, so close by this property. Artifacts bring in the old, logging town feel.

In the back yard, the outdoor living areas are modern and clean, with lots of room to move around.

The Lawnless Frontier

San Benito County Farmhouse

The after effect (see Before photos) is stunning in a low water garden and lawn. Perennial CA shrubs and Mediterranean, endemic, and climate appropriate plants. 

Lawn is a mix of running and clumping grasses such that it can be mowed, but only if desired. Otherwise, you have a water-thrifty California native sod carpet with interesting texture, and you've got open space covered.

Front Yard Privacy. Wave at the neighbors walking by.

Pond > Bermed-Earth Seatwall with Repurposed Concrete Sidewalk Chunk

Front Yard Pond, and a Bench Made From a Sidewalk

Using Common "Cheap" Materials Creatively

Two concrete tube piers on either leg of the porch were so unsightly that we decided to put yet another one in to retain the hillside under the deck. We gave up the newest pier some bling, with thick gauge threaded, galvanized wire; but much more importantly the wire holds the retaining wall boards in place. 

A flight of tall stairs with plumbing parts for handrail hardware continue the industrial theme. Straight and narrow Horsetail and ferns impose geometric lines as well, so now the path down to the beach is much more interesting!

Steep Hillside = Quickest Path to the Beach!

Redwood Living

A beautiful expression of the awesome variety and beauty of plants endemic to California and the Santa Cruz Mountains.  

A Ben Lomond Native Plant Library

Maximizing Santa Cruz Real Estate

Post-Surf Outdoor Shower Water Feeds Plants

Front fence repurposed!

Front Fence, Repurposed

A Laissez-faire La Selva Beach Walk

Why Are So Many Front Yards Wasted?

Santa Cruz West Side Back Yard Haven

Felton Welcome Sign

2004 San Francisco Flower and Garden Show

A few photos of work not included in projects.

Worth a Look

A Bundle of Buffs and Yellows

Front Yard Fecundity

Santa Cruz Mountain Shade

Aptos Community Garden

Polystichum munitum (Western Sword Fern)

T e r r a r i u m s

Capitola Beach Village Blooms

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The forest was amongst us when we started out. We solved privacy in the front yard with 20-30 Rhododendron and Mountain Laurels planted. It is ironic these were needed with the otherwise ever-encroaching jungle. In the backyard, we carved out a patio where there was just a gentle slope. Once again, my favorite thing to do; we leveled out the gentle slope, retained it, and voila- a place to gather. The couple lives on a creek and wanted a safe path down to the creek and along it. There was so much native rock littering the landscape that we used it in the construction of the patio retaining walls.

Black Mountain Wildness Taming for a Patio Retainer and a Path Down to the Creek

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My client sent me this greeting showing off their maturing landscape, featuring a sea of white Encore Azaleas in their front yard. A welcome nearly all year round, as there are only two-three months of the year that the Azaleas do not bloom. Happy Holidays to all!

Happy Holidays!

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I am sharing my own 40% earth-sheltered home build, completed May of 2024. The precast concrete walls are normally used for basement walls, delivered by crane by Superior Walls of NC, set into place with fancy connectors, and the concrete slab poured within the confines of the Superior Walls. This home is available for a stay on short term rental sites: www.airbnb.com/h/apptea

Appalachian Tea House, Inkberry Studio, and Tree Kettle.

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