Happy Vernal Equinox!

Fingers crossed for more rain, too...

Happy Summer!

There's no better way to celebrate the longest day of the year than with a nice game of pétanque...

or everyone's favorite word game...

 or even a dip in your (almost) pool!

Cheers!

Topanga HeARTs Festival - Saturday, February 2nd

Support a great cause and visit us this Saturday at the Topanga HeARTs Festival!  Sales benefit the Topanga Community Club Playground  because Topanga kids of all ages deserve a safe place to play.  

We will be selling benches, stools, fountains, stone planters and all sorts of hand crafted odds and ends.

Baby's First Haircut

Like all new parents, good garden tenders / proprietors have the utmost concern for their new baby plants.  They watch their gardens like hawks; noting and analyzing each change.  While this can be fun for some, it is agonizing for most (and rightfully so).  However, like with children, the proper establishment of a garden (spacing plants for maturity) is crucial to its longevity and success.  Once it is understood that plants take time to fill out to their mature size, the tender of the garden will be able to enjoy this growth process.  And before they know it, it will already be time for their baby's first haircut.

December: 10 month old garden.  First winter clean-up.
UC Verde is going dormant for the season.
Fruit trees are losing their leaves.  Muhlenbergia rigens' tawny inflorescence dapple the garden.  

See the progress after the jump...

Succulent Frames

We've been up to many interesting projects over the past few months here at R&S.  This is one we're particularly excited about since we've always wanted to make them, but never been able to find the time (or the right job). 

This set hangs on a shaded patio wall.

This large one hangs on a hot, west-facing wall.

(see the genesis of this one after the jump)

Happy 280th Birthday, Mr. Washington!

We sent our East Coast correspondent / tech guru, Jon Tashman, to take a walk around the grounds of Mount Vernon on a drizzly February day to see what it would have felt like to be George on his birthday.

Front of the house

Sheep grazing

Virtual Bouquet

Forget the red roses!  These are just a few plants that ignite passion around our office (and are a little less thirsty).  They are great alternatives to the traditional red and pink flowering garden plants of February (Cammelias, Bergenia, Purple leaf plums and Indian Hawthorne - you know who you are).

1. Malus 'Dorsett Golden' - a low-chill Apple
2. Ribes 'Barrie Coate' , Chaparral Currant - happy in sun or full shade
3. Heteromeles arbutifolia, Toyon - the reason the hills above LA are called Hollywood.
4. Grevillea 'Canberra' (aka 'Pink Pearl') - beautiful bank cover
5. Cercis occidentalis, Western Redbud - great deciduous small-scale tree
6. Ribes glutinosum 'Claremont' - Yes, another Currant.  6't x 6'w, Summer deciduous.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Small Spaces

We completed this beach-side jewel box earlier this summer. Since our office is not close to Balboa Island, the general contractor installed all the hardscape and left all the fun details up to us like the copper trellis, fountain and all the planting. 

 

Palms aren't usually part of our palette, but it seemed appropriate here - plus multi-trunked King Palms are pretty stunning.  

Conceptual sketch

 

Custom fountain incorporating Client's grandmother's lantern, collected beach shells and Topanga fossils (from our office) in a handmade copper basin. 

The Wrong Message

They should be sued. 

Summer Vacation Highlights: Boston & Cambridge, part II

Harvard Campus, Tuesday at noon

Fermob furniture scattered around 

children playing in Tanner Fountain by Peter Walker, Farmer's Market behind

Checking in with Our Gardens

When I was running errands in West Los Angeles this morning, I happened upon a garden we installed last spring - it looked particularly stunning.

custom garden gate

Calandrinia grandiflora, Thymus citridora, Agave attenuata &
Westringia 'Morning light'

Small Garden Spaces

A spacious garden can be hard to come by in many Southern California beach communities.  The lots are usually maximized to accommodate as much house as possible which means the remaining exterior space must be well designed, like a jewel box.  We installed this Venice project in early 2008.  The waterwall, lush with ferns, was meant to invoke the Santa Monica mountain canyon walls with their beautiful seeps and waterfalls.  It is a major focal point for the house; glimpsed from the front door then transformed into the dining area wall with a 12' long glass door. 

After

From the wood trellis on the adjacent wall hangs boxes which contain succulents and herbs, this helps to create a more usable, intimate space. 

Summer Vacation Highlights: Boston & Cambridge, part I

Glass Flowers at the Harvard Museum of Natural History

Created between the years of 1887 and 1936 in Dresden, Germany made entirely from glass, wire and metal oxide, this is one of the most stunning displays of botanical knowledge in existence.  The 847 species collection was created as a teaching aide for the Botanical Museum.  The craftsmen were  Leopold and Rudolph Blaschka, a father and son team of glass artisans who came from a long line of jewelry makers.  This exhibit has been available to the public since 1893.

Not surprisingly, California natives make a good showing in the exhibit - off hand, there were at least 50-60 different species in display, including cacti.  Here are a few favorites (shown with an example of a living plant for comparison)...

Encelia californica, California Sunflower

Fountains for Birds

Birds are a large part of our Southern California gardens.  We have a plethora of native plants that attract them and if you design your garden correctly, you can have them around all year. But once they have their food, they will always appreciate some water (especially once the rains have stopped).  At our Topanga office, we have several different fountains which attract many visitors.  During the dry season, we have to fill them up on a daily basis. Hummingbirds and finches are the most common.  During the migratory season there are all different kinds of birds.  Occasionally, the mourning doves will come over, scare all the smaller birds away and take over the prime real estate of our largest fountain.  It's funny we haven't ever been able (or had the patience) to photo document the constant activity.  But one day, a few years ago during a particularly hot, dry summer, we had a very special, rare visitor, what we think was a juvenile Red Shouldered Hawk!  (Who subsequently ate our favorite squirrel, go figure!)

Hawk on Lava Fountain

So far, so good!

Today is June the First and it's sunny!  Go figure.  Here's to sun-kissed gardens in the month of June, (although we love the coastal fog) it's a nice break!

Euphorbia characias 'Bruce's Dwarf', Anigozanthos (Kangaroo Paw) & Platanus racemosa (California Sycamore)

Bouteloua gracilis (blue grama) meadow pictured above stairs

We're not out of the woods, yet. (And probably never will be.)

Even though we've received record rain in the past year doesn't mean can just forget about the ever present Southern California drought.  We all still need to remain vigilant with our water usage, especially because on average 70% of a home's water is used in the landscape (although our goal is to get it as close to zero as possible).  A few of our local water purveyors, especially LADWP and Los Angeles County DPW, are creating more user-friendly billing strategies to help us visualize our usage through graphs and charts.   

Below is a sample of the new LADWP bill

This is what the water bill portion will look like. 

Here is the LA County DPW bill which shows what the tiered billing looks like.  They describe HCF (hundred cubic feet) as "units".

In our G3LA training, we were taught that when thinking about HCF (hundred cubic feet) which equals 748 gallons, we should understand how much water a person needs to survive in a year.  If a person needs 8 eight-ounce glasses of water a day that equals 183 gallons a year...how many people could you care for with your garden's water?

Santa Monica AltBuild Expo 2011

Last Friday and Saturday, Santa Monica hosted its annual AltBuild Expo.  Here are a few of our favorite exhibitors:

1. Netafim.  If you know us, you know we LOVE their products and have been using Techline since the mid '90s.  They are the leader in efficient sub-surface and on-surface inline drip irrigation.  Their newest product is called Techline EZ.  It is an extremely user friendly drip line requiring minimal parts and experience; perfect for homeowners.  AND (rumor has it) they will be coming out with a recycled dripperline product very soon! 
http://www.netafimusa.com/landscape/products/dripperline

 2.  The Green Station.  These people are revolutionizing the Los Angeles' landscape maintenance industry through more efficient tools.  They were displaying all electric mower, sweeper and blower which are all great for air quality and noise pollution.  (Of course, we all know that the ultimate solution to the plethora of problems that arise with lawn maintenance would be to use turf only when necessary.) 
http://thegreenstationla.com

3.  The ReUse People. At their storage facility in Pacoima, this non profit sells salvaged parts of homes they've dismantled in the LA area.  We can't wait to visit!
http://thereusepeople.org/

4. LA Box Collective.  This group of local furniture makers sources sustainable, salvaged and local wood for their creations.  C'mon, who isn't a sucker for beautiful wood furniture?
http://laboxcollective.wordpress.com/

Keep it Interesting

Here are some photos of one of our Pacific Palisades gardens taken last year...it's fun to see how dramatic a garden can be in such a short amount of time.

March

What was blooming?  Penstemon 'Margarita BOP', Heuchera 'Canyon Belle', Escholzia californica, Carex pansa  (all CA Natives) & Erigeron karvniskianus (native to Mexico).

May

What was blooming?  Achillea 'Terracotta' & 'Moonshine', Stachys byzanitna, Lavandula detnata & Penstemon (still) 

August

What was blooming?  Achillea 'Terra Cotta', Bulbinella 'Hallmark', Stachys byzantina & Lavandula dentata.

February, before

What was blooming?  Not much.

MWD Spring Green Expo

Today, in Downtown LA, the Metropolitan Water District had its Spring Green Expo.  The event dealt with the joys and challenges of gardening in Southern California given our current water restrictions and climate.  Exhibits showed the latest in water conservation technology and speakers included Pamela Bearstler of G3LA (http://www.greengardensgroup.com/), Bart O'Brien of Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden and Christy Wilhelmi of Gardenerd.com.  We absolutely love these people and what they stand for.  It would be wonderful if this event had been on a weekend so professionals and homeowners alike would have been able to attend! 

Checking in with Our Gardens

Springtime is in full swing in here in Southern California.  Last week we had wonderful overcast weather - perfect for some garden photography!  This Topanga garden was planted in the fall of 2008 and is growing in quite nicely (if we do say so ourselves).  

Iris PCH hybrid 'Lavender'

Muhlenbergia rigens & Fremontodendron 'Ken Taylor'

Santolina chamaecyparis, Phlomis, Lavendula x heterophylla, Agave shawii & Phlomis purpurea

Permeable Pool Deck planted with Dymondia margaratae

Leucospermum 'Veldfire'