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).

mxd830 Grand Opening/Open House

This past Saturday night, May 2nd, 2009 celebrated the grand opening of mxd830.
This beautiful and dynamic new building is home to a diverse spectrum of creative minds
and serves as home-base for Cultivate Landscape Arts.
Here's a few pics of the fun:

Green Roofs for Healthy Cities

I am planning to attend the annual green roof technology conference, sponsored by Green Roofs for Healthy Cities. This will mark the first time that GRHC is offering a credentialing exam that will test for competence in regard to green roof construction and maintenance. Having taken the classes so far offered by GRHC, I am confident that I will come back from Atlanta as one of the first 100 people in the country designated as a Green Roof Technician, or "GRT", and look forward to promoting this sustainable strategy here in San Diego.

Here's a link to more information:
http://www.greenroofs.org/

All Moved-In To New Office Space

I am excited to announce that cultivate landscape has settled in to a new office space.
Located in the eclectic Golden Hill neighborhood of San Diego, we are proud to be a part of MXD830, a mixed-use project by Foundation For Form. The project is a contemporary, cubist structure that features smooth white stucco, hand-crafted steel accents, and a sophisticated exterior (designed by cultivate lansdcape). Among the tenants in the building are fine artists, architects, an interior designer, a car designer, and a video game landscape designer.
Here's a few pictures of the office...more of the entire building to follow soon.

cultivate landscape has a new home!

Beginning Novemeber 2008, cultivate landscape will be operating from a new location at 830 25th street in the Golden Hill neighborhood of San Diego.
Photos and updates to follow!

White Flowering Shrubs

I have a thing for white-flowering shrubs lately. Someday, I would love to design a small intimate landscape that features only evergreen, white-flowering plants. There's something very relaxing and zen-like about white flowers, especically of the fragrant variety.

Here's some of my favorites:
Camelia japonica (Japanese Camelia)


























Gardenia jasminoides 'Veitchii'























Rosa 'Iceberg' (White Shrubrose)













Cistus 'Bennet's White' (White Rockrose)