GARDEN CREATORS 2010

The Living Room

As we look forward to the future of garden design we are encouraged to think outside the box, here we think 'around' the box. This design takes two simple contrasts: wet/dry circle/square and integrates them into a cohesive garden. A giant cube of succulents floats on a circle of water. This 'living room' is accessed by walking across the water, further heightening the magic of this new wave of garden folly. The interior of the room reflects modern and organic sensibilities, creating an effect that is at once comforting yet altogether fresh.

Pulling Up Daisies

Change is something we in the state of California are struggling with. The expanses of water hungry lawns and resource heavy perennials and annuals that dominate the built landscape are a throwback to the developed California of old. "Pulling Up Daisies" is a conceptual design in which the viewers find themselves in the moment of change as the landscapes of the past are peeled back to reveal a whole new palette of California native plant possibilities that are both beautiful and drought tolerant.  The California native and Mediterranean landscape will change dramatically with the seasons and will respond, aesthetically, with the surrounding natural California landscape.  Step in as this moment of change is halted for your enjoyment.  Revel in the fact that when you turn around, the change will have taken place and you won't miss the gardens of old.

Native Garden 3.0

The use of native plants makes this garden a model of sustainability. Correctly chosen natives require little or no water, no soil amendments, and no chemicals. The garden organizes the plants into groups to create an interesting contemporary design. This demonstrates that natives can be used effectively to provide drama and beauty in a stylish way. Tilted planes create a dynamic setting, accented by a mix of bold colors. The garden is simple, serene, bold and vibrant all at once.

No Place Like Home

This garden strikes a balance between Oz and Auntie Em's backyard. It features recycled materials and plants with moderate to low water needs for climate zones 8 & 9. The garden has a lush look and sense of fun with modern simplicity. It includes an architecturally designed water collection tower and a rectilinear hardship design. Steel scultural elements encompass a chicken coop and fire table for entertaining. This garden, a mix of native and non-native plants, includes a mini-orchard and espalier-magnolia backdrop. The plant palette is green, gray, white and orange with new plant introductions for 2010.

Seville Landscape Construction

Nature by Design

The goal of our garden is to demonstrate the functionality, sustainability, and elegance that can be achieved by blending elements of the natural California landscape with popular, contemporary residential landscape features such as waterfalls, ponds and rain gardens. We plan to show how a residential landscape can minimize its impact on the environment by incorporating indigenous plant species in the landscape and by using specifically selected aquatic plants in the pond, waterfall and rain garden; the combination of which helps maintain the regional habitat and filter seasonal rainwater runoff.

Celebrating the Four Seasons

Join us for a fragrant and visual feast for the senses. We created four seasonal vignettes with four garden themes; an intimate winter dinner, a romantic spring wedding, a summer tropical adventure and a family gathering in a fall garden. The gardens will be accented with beautfiul floral centerpieces, container gardens, garden ornaments and table settings. This celebration of the four seasons will present gardens that represent unique floral designs, plants and container plantings in colors, textures, patterns and a profusion of flowers. We are delighted to create and design an expression of the four seasons. Join us for the celebration and visit again as our table settings will be updated more than once.

Cooling the Heat Island

Welcome to our island, a place to explore, find hidden treasures and just relax. Working with Living Green Solutions®, our garden is an experiment, searching for new ways to keep cool and reduce the Heat Island effect. Urban areas continue to warm as a result of development, yet increasing temperatures can be mitigated with the use of trees, vegetation and Cool Pavement options. We incorporate sustainable materials like bamboo, recycled copper, reflective surfaces and plantings to provide an environment that minimizes the effects of warming. Flowing water and containment, along with micro-irrigation, are used not just for cooling but for soothing and reducing external noise. A cooling tower provides addional area to explore the vertical dimension of the garden with space for experimental plantings, lighting and play. This is one cool island!

Tempo di Tempo (All in Good Time)

Step into the gathering area of a countryside Villa in Tuscany. We use bold colors and familiar terra cotta clay pots as the backdrop for where the family congregates within the courtyard under the ever-present green of the olive trees. Traditional urns and Italian cypress welcome you to the entrance of the Villa. The sound of water cascading from the Versailles-style fountain leads visitors to close their eyes and let the sense of peacefulness wash over them.

Twice Upon a Treehouse: A Modern Fairytale

Found objects, industrial salvage, and fanciful art pieces combine to turn a childhood fantasy into a reality shared by the whole family. A tree house-cum-nest sits at the center of this modern fairlytale encouraging adventure from a new perspective. The backdrop of a 100 year-old olive trees underplanted with perennials and grasses engages the senses while anchoring the space. In front is a gently burbling pond showcasing aquatic habitat. Whether by the water, on land, or in the air this garden offers opportunities for everyone to experience nature whilst reclaiming resources and creating habitat through the elimination of lawn space. The garden is a unique point of connection for people and the natural world.

The Papillon Pad

This is a garden of a bright future where human and natural communities coexist peacefully. Using modern design principles, we have created a space where people of all ages can gather and ecological systems are enhanced. In the Papillon Pad, families and friends come together for a meal while children play in the sand pond or on the recycled tire swing. All the while, butterflies find nectar to drink or host plants to lay their eggs on. After they get their fill of nectar, the butterflies sun themselves on the dry stacked stone wall. The Papillon Pad pays attention to water use by reclaiming laundry water and filtering it through The Living Fountain. The water is then sent out into the garden to keep the habitat plantings thriving without any additonal water usage. We dedicate our garden to the re-establishment of 4 rare butterfly species that are endemic to the ecosystem that stretches from Marin County down to San Mateo. They are: Mission Blue, San Bruno Elfin, Bay Checkerspot and the San Francisco Silver. Our plantings are chosen to provide nectar and host plants for these particular butterflies.

A Sustainable l Artistic l Multicultural l Edible l Retreat

This garden draws upon the world's cultures to create interesting spaces, provide food and conserve resources. The design features plants that thrive in the San Francisco area, providing food, spices, and fragrance. Many are familar plants, used in unexpected ways that go beyond aesthetics. Combined, the garden elements create a calm retreat surrounded by provocative colors, textures and fragrance, the ideal garden for the future. Boldy shaped plants combine drama with usefulness. Handcrafted furnishings, rustic accents, stone and pervious paving complement the plants, weaving a tapestry combining human culture, enjoyment and ecological awareness.

Habitat Dance with a Red Snake

The purpose of this garden is to focus on a red-headed snake, the San Francisco (peninsula) Garter Snake, which is on the endangered species list. San Mateo County is the habitat of this snake. The colors of this snake - red, turquoise, and black - inspired the material sections of this garden. I want to bring attention to the beauty of this snake as it represents a threatened habitat with all its diversity and importance. The snake feeds in the wetlands and suns itself upland. This garden points out that both we and the garter snake depend on our environment for survival. This garden is about gardening for the future to protect our habitat, teaching children about food sources, having space for mediation and social space, increasing awareness of native plants, and indeed being inspired by nature to design features that help maintain and respect the natural environment and our place in it.

Via Aqua

Via Aqua is a modern version of a small strolling garden space dominated by water. Curving through the water via steel and unusual paths and decisions lead to a destination - a lounging patio under the tree. A square path is the destination, or is the journey the destination? This garden could be an enclosed courtyard, but would be more appropriate as part of a larger space with views out from the lounging patio.

The Prehistoric Paradise

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to walk in the home of the dinosaurs? Or to breathe the oxygen rich air of a prehistoric paradise? This garden seeks to create the feeling of a prehistoric setting, accentuated by exotic, subtropical plantings, full of huge palms and broadleaf flora. Experience many strange and abnormal plants, some you may never have seem in your life. Complimenting these lush plantings are two cascading waterfalls. Emerging from the jungle hills above, and built with boulders evoking a naturalistic cliff side; the cataracts bring this Eden-like setting to life. Wild and untamed, the torrents of liquid life rush down in a white water frenzy of magical turbulence. Lush water plants adorn the water's edge while small pathways tempt and lure the visitor for a closer look. This is a land lost in time that dinosaurs once called home. Be careful and aware, they may still be here, hidden amongst the foliage, patiently waiting, and watching.

Re-Generation "The World Without Us"

Our installation represents the forces at play in our natural world. The landscape symbolically portrays a design space overwhelmed by the elements, yet stands as monument to sustainable design/build methods of the 21st century. Our inspiration is grounded in the great stone monuments and ruins of the earth's lost civilizations such as the Maya, Inca and Nabataeans. The resulting landscape would have been considered in its time to be a contemporary California/Mediterranean garden. However, due to the influences of a changing climate, the landscape has evolved giving way to a revised relationship between organic and inorganic elements.

Essential Elements - A Sanctuary for the Soul

Our garden inspires reflection on the intimate connection between human beings and the natural world. In an increasingly modern and urban society, our garden serves as a respite and reminder of the unity all life has to offer through the primal elements. A meandering stream brings the vitality and life force of water to the ears and eyes as it flows through the garden. A lighted dome will receive and refresh the stream's end with a custom blown glass water drop suspended above, representing emotion, the womb, the creative power and potential in the human spirit, and the essential nature of water in our lives. Our meditation deck offers a space for quiet reflection and introspection. We incorporate the often unseen wonder of the elemental earth with a section of transparent floor where once can observe the microbial ecosystem of the subterranean world. Our garden features native plants, low voltage lighting and above all a space where one can connect deeply and intimately with the majesty of the elements, inspiring a spirit of preservation, conservation and interdependence with the natural world.

Salvaged Creole Jazz Courtyard

Step into a private courtyard filled with a sense of history and humor. A garden brimming with playful exuberance, soulful music, and just a bit of kitsch. An urban space, jewel-box diminutive, yet large on heart and spirit. A jazz musician's Creole courtyard: an assemblage of brick and recycled tile, vintage instruments, funky succulents and darkly mysterious plants, salvaged wood, rebar and broken concrete. An intimate space that celebrates our place in time by honoring our past. A garden that respects our future through its repurposed, recycled, salvaged, affordable materials. Above all, a garden that transports, enchants, and delights those lucky enough to visit.

Velvet Daggers³

Velvet Daggers³ is a garden that demonstrates the beautiful qualities of xeric plants. It invites the public to recognize the artistic character of species often deemed uncomfortable and dangerous. Using simple, creative gestures, the plant material is highlighted in a variety of ways. Plant forms are accentuated by a hardscape composed of contemporary, readily-available materials. The garden suggests that we seek out new applications of simple technology within the landscape, while meshing art and nature. The combination of constructed and natural elements makes this garden a great prototype for future gardens that are both aesthetically pleasing and environmentally responsible.

The Urban Oasis

The concept of the outdoor room gives us the opportunity to create our personal place. It is a place where we can leave behind the flashy, the loud, and the glimmering. Here we find the tranquil and well-worn comforts of our retreat, created in a contained urban setting. Here we will be soothed by the lush foliage, sheltered by the modern pergola and listen to the cooling sounds of water.