Month: November 2016

Garden with tall decorative boulders

Before & After

Let’s study the before picture…the yard is narrow and deep. The door that you can see in the photo is a second unit. When I was asked to do a drought tolerant landscape design for this house (and granny unit), my client wanted something with color but was easy to maintain. She wanted to create…

Garden with a stone walkway and decorative boulder

What to do in fall/winter

Showing these pictures is like showing you a picture of myself when I first get out of bed…not pretty! This is what my garden looks like at the moment: it’s fall and we’re heading into winter. So what’s to do in the garden? There are two main pushes in the garden for me: Fall and…

Front yard garden with different plants

My Favorite Drought Tolerant Plants…

Many years ago I created a list of the plants that I use most often in my landscape designs. When I design a landscape, I need to make sure that the plants I choose will thrive in our climate and region. Some of the plants on this list would not be considered ‘drought tolerant’, and…

Dead tree in front of a house

Before & After

I love transforming a yard…look at the before photos. Imagine coming home each day and walking the narrow concrete path and stepping up the dull concrete steps. And then look at the after photos…the concrete walk is gone and a flagstone path that is gently curving now takes you to the door. The steps are…