Kayla found us by searching online for landscape architects in Claremont, California. She and Mike had just bought their first home and wanted a professional landscape plan for the front and the back. We were so impressed that they knew that they needed a professional to design a garden that fit their lifestyle, instead of hacking at it themselves. Kayla is a Food Anthropologist! So, she was very interested in having a space for vegetables. Mike wanted to have a sensible landscape that did not require every weekend mowing the grass or "yard work". They both wanted a water wise garden that would survive on supplemental water from the water hose and a sprinkler. Another requirement... Mike does not like bees and Kayla wanted flowering plants. In order to satisfy both, we selected plants that are night blooming or a plant that has blooms pollinated by something other than bees. After a bit of research, I realized there is no definitive work that covered pollinators for water wise plants. This led me to study what type of flower attracts a bee and those that do not. We were able to come up with a planting plan that satisfied both Kayla and Mike! It took some work, but that is what we do.

We designed a Master Plan for the front and the back gardens. The front garden (photos below) is Phase I. The back garden will be next.

The challenge of the front garden, aside from the weeds, was how to change a flat house into a warm welcoming one. We choose a bold architectural material, 2' x 2' concrete pavers, set in "salt and pepper" gravel. Not only is the boldness of the pavers what we needed, but the design makes a bold move from the side walk to the front door. We added a few steps as well. For the planting of the garden, we basically have started with the trees, because as they grow the entire front garden will be shady. Right now it has full sun, morning to sunset. Had we planted sun loving plants, they would have died as they loose shade, and had we planted shade loving plants, they would have burned up. Phasing this garden is key to it's success. We also, planted trees, some deciduous and some evergreen, to shade in the summer, then be open during the winter so the sun can warm the house. The evergreens were planted to screen an unwanted view, and to block the cold winter winds (from the North East).

More to come.... we added a few before photos, too!