Will you look at my playful pups? Aren't they adorable? Sadie is a supermodel; Dexter is a materialist - he's completely focused on toys and the things that are his. Why am I showing off my dogs when I should be talking about landscapes? Well, because I am embarking on a project that involves dogs and landscapes and dogs in landscapes - a total dream!
Artist Pae White has invited me to work with her on a Dog Park she's been commissioned to do for the Folkstone Sculpture Triennale! Folkstone is a lovely small town in Kent, on the south east coast of England - about 65 miles from London. The town used to be a very fashionable resort community, but has fallen on hard times and is planning to revitalize itself - through art! I love that!!!
I am on cloud nine, not only because I think Pae is an amazing artist and I'm honored to be asked to collaborate, but because I relish any opportunity to tweak the way people use and look at gardens. That being said ... This is going to be HARD! I mean hello - dogs and gardens? Insta-destruction comes to mind. My job is to come up with a landscaping plan that keeps the park looking in top shape despite the natural tendencies of dogs to trample on, chew on, pee on, dig up, and generally tear plants apart. You can count on me to share any vital info I glean while researching - but if anybody has tips, tricks, advice, suggestions, comments, etc., about dogs and gardens - by all means, comment away! I'd love whatever input you can give me, whenever you can give it! Peace out!

It is NEVER my intention to be mean - but I am a landscape designer, and part of my job is to help steer people clear of potential mistakes in their gardens. I strongly believe that statuary is one of those mistakes. Now, I want to be clear ... I am an art lover. If you have a Richard Serra torqued ellipse, or a mini Smithson spiral jetty, or a Jeff Koons topiary puppy, by all means - put it in your garden! (of course I know these things are hard to come by, but I'm trying to make a point) However, if you have the slightest thought of putting a plaster roman warrior or a big king of the beasts in your garden, RESIST! This garden suffers from a kind of plaster horror vacui, as well as a general lack of living plant material. I believe that your well chosen plants are the best sculpture, and if you must add something else, let it be something very meaningful to you; a trellis made by a local iron worker, a mosaic fountain that reminds you of your vacation to Morocco, a chandelier from your great aunt - anything specific to you and the way you see the world. The only way I can imagine this kind of old fashioned statuary working in a garden is if you were doing a play on a cemetary, like a gothic novel sort of thing... wait, that's actually kind of a cool idea. A moody, southern gothic garden with a cemetery vibe... hhhmmmm... I like it....

I love the Liquidambar styraciflua trees that stand as sentinals in front of my house - they are tall and stately, their leaves are green and lush all spring and summer, and in the fall they dial up the drama and present a gorgeous display of seasonal leaf color. But I think my favorite time is when they've lost all their leaves and spiky seedpods adorn them like baubles on an x-mas tree. I like these pods. They are really cool looking. I'd love a pair of earrings that looked like these prickly orbs.
The thing is, these little spheres don't stay on the bare branches. They fall. Everywhere. It bugs me that they get in the crotches of all the plants below the trees. And the worst, for me, is the layer that accumulates on sidewalks all over the neighborhood. These thorny globules are out to get me.
See, I am terribly clumsy. I fall all the time - usually in front of people I'm trying to impress. The minute my footing is the tiniest bit usure, I can't recover - I just fling myself on the ground and pray nobody saw me. Every fall and winter, walking the dogs is like tiptoeing through a minefield; if I happen to step on a liquidambar ball, I'll take a tumble. It is quite the spectacle, I'm told. I can imagine.
I still love these trees, and I advocate that gardeners in warm climates use them ... but so many people hate the prickly balls! Ambivalence I can understand, but don't be a hater! Embrace the Liquidambar, even if the thistle-y globe of a seedpod can be a pain in the butt. Literally.

As a confirmed plant maniac, I have developed many relationships with countless plant varieties - and I have my favorites. There was my first love, Musa 'Zebrinus', the Blood Banana ... we still fool around occasionally. What can I say, I love drama. And then there was Papaver somniferum 'Black Cloud' - the opium poppy with hundreds of ruffled black petals; the outlaw- dark and dangerous... it was a fling, a summer thing. Of course there have been many, many more - some dalliances, some real relationships that grow, develop, and change... and as I mature I find that I don't fall for plants as easily as I used to. I need more than just splashy color and frilly flowers.
I've admired Dracaena draco from afar for a long time. This plant has what I am looking for - consistancy, strength, drama... it has gravitas. It's charms aren't immediately apparant, but I like that...I like things that aren't so easy to "get". It's a plant you need to know over time. It's called the Dragon Tree, and like most trees, it gets better with age, growing into it's full expression after the person who planted it is long gone - so it is a gift to the future. Pretty cool, wouldn't you say? I've got to get my hands on one! I planted one in a client's garden last week and I was so jealous - I would love it more than they will!!!
Love can do funny things to a person...

Every year the Make Eagle Rock Beautiful committee has a contest for the best gardens in Eagle Rock. You don't enter, they just kind of foist this contest on you - I only knew I was in it when they called me up and told me I didn't win, but would I show up to the awards ceremony and cheer on the winning garden? Gathering up all my neighborhood spirit, and very curious about the incredible garden that smacked mine down, I walked down the block to the local Hall of Eagles ... which happens to be around the corner from my house, and watched the festivities. The winner was the local Car Wash.

Wait a minute! I didn't ask to be a part of this ... this... blow to my garden ego! I walked home pretending I didn't care - and I really didn't ... but I did!

Sigh.

For me, a true harbinger of spring is the blooming of the Euphorbias. The family is huge ... so many euphorbias that look so different... some look like full-on cactus, others are lovely, fluffy plants that are perfect in many different styles of gardens. I have a hard time designing without them, but I often have to because the public is afraid of them. While I am all for people in general and clients in particular informing themselves about plants, a little information can be a bad thing. Because of its milky, latex-like sap, those sensitive to latex can have a dermatological reaction to Euphorbias. As a result, these beauties have found their way onto a few toxic plant lists. There is a popular Mommies' web group in LA that sent up an alarm about Euphorbias, probably because somebody's cousin's kid got a rash, and suddenly anybody who has a child is completely freaked out about the possibility of these plants being in their garden. Meanwhile, most of these same people have 10ft tall oleander hedges providing privacy from their neighbors... oleander is not just a little toxic, it is hugely poisonous ... but will that mature hedge come out on the off chance that little Tallulah may swallow a mouthfull of it's leaves while playing salad chef? (remember, little Tallulah is a Hollywood baby...) Not a chance. The wonderful, versatile Euphorbia is a scapegoat. If someone in the household is allergic or reactive to the plant, take it out, by all means - but check out the list of plants that have some level of toxicity in them! Should we avoid using all of them 'just in case'? Am I being insensitive? Tell me ... I can take it!

(Big, expensive hotel garden)
'Hopeful Gardener' posted a comment that deserved to be addressed in the clear light of my main page - "Do only the elite deserve well-designed gardens?" See, HG follows the good shelter mags, has sophisticated taste in gardens (well, I say that because HG happens to enjoy my work ... so, obviously, has refined taste!), and wants a front yard garden. What's the problem, you ask? Money. HG's budget is $5000.00, which is alot of money... unless you want a garden.
Most of the gardens you see in the fancy magazines are like couture clothes. Even if they look simple, hell, especially if they look simple, these gardens cost more than anyone would think. The best thing to compare making a garden to is a bathroom or kitchen remodel. A garden needs that level of work - irrigation, lighting, paving, fencing, plants - and then furniture on top of that, if you're dealing with an enclosed backyard space for dining and entertaining. There are ways to make beautiful gardens without breaking the bank - instead of investing your money, you have to invest your time. Labor cost is huge, so if you can gather friends to lay concrete pavers on a Saturday, you might save yourself a few thousand dollars on your patio. Of course, it may not be as perfect a job as my contractor's crew would do - paying the designers premium means your patio will be just right, or will be re-done until it is. There is a saying - I don't remember where I heard it - 'You can have a thing done very well, you can have a thing done fast, you can have a thing done cheaply. Of these three things, any combination of two can be achieved on a project - never all three.'
Or, you can do it yourself! I did...
(I'll explain the above saying, just read on...)

Will you check out my plucky Agave attenuata variegata? This is by far the tenderest of the agaves... it's soft green leaves striped with yellow get easily scorched, and it was my first succulent to succumb to the frost. But look! NEW GROWTH! I've also spied swollen leaf buds on my Aeonuim 'Zwartzkop', and I think my yellow striped bamboo is going to be in full glory by summer.
Now I'm deep into redesign mode - this is an opportunity to play, afterall! I've come full circle, people.
It's normal California weather now - warm to downright hot during the day and extra chilly at night ... no freezes in sight. I haven't cut away any of the frozen foliage, even though it is killing me to see the wilted and forlorned plants - it's like they're blaming me for not tending to them like I should have. (I tend to anthropomorphize everything.) I am investing in plenty of special anti-freeze cloth for plants next year, and if there is even the tiniest hint of a frigid wind from the north, I'm swaddling away.

By the way, David and Ellen at Deep End Ranch had fewer losses of lemons than first estimated. In fact, their lemon groves were the least affected in their area, so they are getting top dollar for their fruit! When I asked you readers to think good thoughts for them, I had no idea how powerful you are as a collective force. I'm glad you're on my side!