A Creative Take on a "Edible Rain Garden"

Using (ideally) reclaimed/salvaged rain gutters, this creative application is a space-saving and fun way to grow vegetables. Installing them at slightly alternating angles allows rainwater to effectively trickle down from one to the other, irrigating with no effort required! Of course, in the drier months they will need supplemental irrigation, but this can be done with water harvested and stored in a rain barrel (or from grey water re-use).
Even in the "off-season", this type of installation has a quirky, artistic aesthetic, especially if painted in a way that ties them into the rest of the landscape design.

Bio-Dynamic Pools!

This is a new concept to me, but I love the idea. Using plant material and other natural means to create a low-impact, environmentally-responsible swimming pool. No need for chlorine or other harmful/abrasive chemicals. Plus the aesthetic impact is amazing: plants growing out of the pool!
http://www.biotop-natural-pool.com/system.html

Ginkgo biloba: An amazing plant for many reasons

For many years, Ginkgo biloba has been one of my favorite trees. The unique shape and hue of the leaves, the dramatic fall color, and it's interesting history all play a part in my love affair with this beautiful organism.

Some interesting facts about Ginkgo (The Maidenhair Tree) can be read about here:
http://www.classicalchinesemedicine.org/2010/03/ginkgo-cultural-background-and-medicinal-usage-in-china/

Awesome Green Wall project in Columbia

This small boutique hotel in Bogota, Columbia recently installed a 4,000 sf Green Wall, which uses mostly native plants.
http://www.greenroofs.com/projects/pview.php?id=1409

We need to see more of this! Get rid of your grass...grow a garden instead!

8 Awesome Examples of Solar Architecture

I especially like the waterfall project in Rio. Awesome!

http://revmodo.com/2012/05/04/8-stunning-examples-of-solar-architecture/

Hilton in Pattaya, Thailand

Great design here (the new Hilton Hotel in Pattaya, Thailand). I love the birds-eye aerial shot. You really get a sense of the organic cohesion that is happening.

Hilton Pattaya landscape

Update!

Well, things didn't really work out with Kurisu International. Too many extended periods of travel (read: "relocation"). I am thankful for the time spent working under one of the best in the business and to have seen some of the most beautiful Japanese Gardens outside of Japan.

Since early spring I have been working for a plantscaping company. I've always had an eye for creative container gardens, so this is a good fit. As the Exterior Supervisor, I am responsible for the design, installation, and maintenance of all of the company's outdoor containers. I get to be outside a lot and am working directly with plant material, which is great.

Regardless of how rewarding and fun this new job is, I have decided to once again focus on growing my own residential design/consultation business. Keeping this blog updated is Step #1!

Interview on Thursday

I have a ridiculously important interview happening this Thursday, August 18, 2011.

Kurisu International is world-renowned and respected for their high-end residential, commercial, and institutional landscape design and construction. Specializing in Japanese Gardens and healing environments, they have an amazing portfolio and I would be honored if hired on as part of their talented team.

The founder, Hoichi Kurisu, studied in Japan and at one time was the Landscape director for the Garden Society of Japan (Nihon Teien Kyokai). He also directed construction of the Portland Japanese Gardens.

www.kurisu.com

amazing Yugoslavian architectural relics suggest alien landscape

This is a mind-blowing collection of photographs featuring abandoned architectural sites in Yugoslavia. These unique and desolate creations seem to suggest a sort of other-worldly type of influence:
http://www.cracktwo.com/2011/04/25-abandoned-soviet-monuments-that-look.html

Herbal Remedies being censored in the EU

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1382135/Herbal-medicines-banned-EU-directive-comes-force.html

Fusing Nature with Architecture

This is a very inspriational video which highlights a project by Danish architecture firm
BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group).

Relocated!

I have relocated to the Portland, Oregon!
I'm excited to be "where the action is" in regard to
sustainable landscape systems.
I'm looking working for a local firm that specializes in eco-roofs
and other "green" technologies,
meanwhile growing my professional network.

The courtyard here at mxd830 is a great space. A combined vision with the architects upstairs at Foundation For Form, who designed the building, my contributions include the schematic layout of the hardscape (as well as the planting, irrigation and lighting plans). The plans included the countertop and bench seating seen in these photos. My original concept was to find one large piece of lumber to use as the countertop, and we ended up with wood salvaged from a barn in nearby Santee. I also maintained the landscape and am excited that everything is growing in nicely. Also shown here is the mixed sedum bed behind the bench and the permeable paving that was used in the parking area. This serves to minimize stormwater runoff and also adds aesthetic interest to the space, which has been used to host events every couple of months since the
building opened last year.

Carlsbad Residence Recently Completed

This project posed a challenge in the sheer size of the back yard. Combined efforts of landscape contractor, pool desinger, custom faux-stone experts, and me.

Future-Rustic Bench and Table

A collaboration with an architect/builder friend, this new deck, bench and table
represents a great balance of form, function and utility. Made with the simplest of materials and a study in minimalism, this system will enable the homeowner to begin using their backyard.

GRP List Announced

Green Roofs For Healthy Cities has released the list of people who recently passed the GRP exam
to become one of the first 120 people in North America with this accreditation. I'm excited to be mentioned along with a huge variety of industry professionals. More to come when the next issue of Green Roof Infrustructure Monitor is sent out.
http://www.greenroofs.org/

"GRP" Green Roof Professional Accreditation

On Thursday I received the news that I have successfully completed the accreditation exam that I took on June 5th in Atlanta at the Green Roofs For Healthy Cities annual conference. This was the first time that the "GRP" (Green Roof Professional) exam had been offered, and I am excited about where this new designation might take my in my professional development!

Bird Rock Residence

Here's some photos of a recently-completed residential remodel I worked on in the Bird Rock area of La Jolla. The house needed a lot of work, and the landscape was essentially a bare patch of dirt. The architect decided to create a bit of a craftsman feel, and so I complemented this in the landscape with the addition of a new guardrail system (at rear deck), new fencing/gates, flagstone paving, natural boulderscape, and a stucco retaining wall (front yard) with capped columns. Careful thought was put into the plant material selections. I used quite a bit of Wild Strawberry as a groundcover, large masses of Dwarf Fountain Grass (Pennisteum 'Hamelin'), lots of Grevillea, a Southern Magnolia, and screens made of Silver Sheen (Pittosporum tenuifolium) and Podocarpus.

Jiva Health (Before & After)

When my friends at Jiva Health, a San Diego-based acupuncture and Chinese medicine clinic, asked me to help with their landscape project, I jumped at the opportunity.
They had recently renovated a beautiful home off of Park Blvd in Hillcrest, and the exterior
definitely needed a facelift.
It didn't take much to convince them of my concept...go with a few types of decorative grasses while incorporating some lavender, a flagstone walk, a cobble bed, and a recirculating
fountain as a focal point.
Visit their website at:
http://jivahealth.com/
Here's some "before & after" shots of the project (above).