Several years ago, one of the landscape contractors I’ve worked with in New England contacted me. He had purchased an old transmission shop and was interested in turning it into a retail garden center and operations base for his landscape…
This week I stopped off to check in with a landscape design client in Fredericksburg, Virginia. This is probably one of my favorite projects of the year. I’ll do a more comprehensive post (showing plan and elevation drawings, etc) in…
Several weeks ago MJ and I made the drive to Rhode Island for my niece’s high school graduation. We stayed an extra day so we could celebrate my mom’s birthday. Since everyone had to work during the daytime and we…
You know what this world needs? More gargoyles. Seriously, aviator sunglasses and leggings can stage a comeback and gargoyles can’t? Here are some great stone accents spotted on my recent trip to Pittsburgh (who knew they had such great architecture?):…
Sometimes you want to wear flip flops and shorts, and sometimes you want to rock a more classic look. Formal water features never go out of style! Your garden feels the same way. How about some formal fountain ideas? Here’s…
I grew up in New England which means that the most commonly used landscape material was stone. Oh, did we have stone! I maintained a love affair with stone throughout my career, played with some other materials, and moved here.…
One of the benefits of having a water feature is that it will become the cool watering hole for the neighborhood critters. I’m working with a landscape design client in northern Fauquier County to rejuvenate the existing decades-old landscape, and…
A few weeks ago I was talking shop with my good friend, architect Francisca Alonso of AV Architects. No matter what projects we’re discussing, the conversation always comes back to the people for whom we’re doing the work. Anyone in…
Here in Virginia we have clay soils that don’t drain particularly well. We also get a fair bit of rainfall. When new subdivisions are built, especially in northern Virginia, the county-mandated drainage plan often moves water through everyone’s backyards towards…
