Save water...by filtering it

I have written before about water harvesting. Rain falls on your roof, you tie your downspout to a barrel, you "harvest" the water by capturing it in the barrel and then you reap the benefits of your harvest by using it to water your garden.

But what if you could harvest water all year long! Installing a greywater system allows you to do just that. Most parts of the country allow at least one greywater system (utilizing one greywater connection such as a laundry or shower) to be installed without permit. The Aqua2use by the waterwise group makes it easy. The savings are huge and the impact on the environment is significant. Not only are you saving water by using greywater to water your plants instead of tap water but by doing so you also recharge the groundwater system. Recharging the groundwater system is one of the best environmentally friendly things we can do. It not only helps the plants of your surrounding community but also the streams, fish, birds and animal life!

Check out the Aqua2use!

West Coast Green!! Wouldn't that be something!

I attended West Coast Green on Thursday and was really inspired by William McDonough's 'Unplugged' key note speech. He told stories from his incredible life and gave insight into the life changing moments that inspired Cradle to Cradle. He told a great story about going to a new high school (turns out the same high school my parents went to)and walking into an empty locker room only to find all the showers on. He related this to a folk tale where people are 'forever young' but can't have kids and are always thinking the world could end tomorrow. This of course leads to a world where the inhabitants do not think/care about the impact of their actions/materials on the world and are not concerned about future generations. A sad but effective tale...But that is not us right?!

Today's contemporary design in all aspects of our lives includes a deeper understanding of what it takes to make the things we use, how those things are used, and what those things can become when we no longer need to use them. In a sense we realized that we are not 'forever young' and that we need to protect and preserve the world we live in for future generations.

Here are a couple links to check out:
William McDonough
Cradle to Cradle

At the conference I saw many products that have made good steps towards cradle to cradle. We have a long way to go but we can get there! Imagine a world where all aspects of our lives were cradle to cradle...now wouldn't that be something!!!

It maybe Indian Summer...but rain is on the way. This year catch it!

It has been a not-so-typical summer in California. Cooler than average temps, all summer long, gave this summer the feeling of the summer that never was. Now we are into September and although still cooler the threat of rain is a ways off and the hope for some warm sunny days still lingers. But then today's grey morning skies and a weather report that actually predicts rain in the north bay this weekend made me wake up and realize that the rainy season is not far off at all!!

A corner stone of Green Building and Contemporary Landscape Architecture is to turn this annual event into a positive savings that can pay off when the actual rainy season is long over. Now much like a skier who knows that with winter rain comes winter snow, rain harvesters can catch rain in the winter and use it in the summer to supplement their garden's needs.

With each year the technology and various catchment systems get easier to install and more aesthetically appealing. Below is an example. Easily connected to a downspout the pot acts not only as a planter but as a rain harvesting device as well. Cool Contemporary Landscape Architecture! If you have questions about this or rain harvesting in general please don't hesitate to email me. This year when it rains...Catch it!

Back from summer...more from the garden!!

Well it has been a great summer. I look to get back to posting about Contemporary Landscape Architecture on a regualar basis. Look for new posts every Monday.

For now here are a couple shots of the harvest. It has been a non-summer here in San Rafael, CA in terms of summer temps but over all the garden grew and delivered....yummy veggies!

Inspiring?…check, Vertical?…check, Contemporary Landscape….check!

Check this out!!!!

Let it Grow! Let it Grow!

The veggie garden is in and on its way! Here are some before and after pictures. Can't wait for the harvest!!



In the orange pots I am going to plant sunflowers as part of the Great Sunflower project. The project is a honey bee study. Check out more info at the link below. I will give updates here on how the Land Studio C sunflowers and veggies grow.
www.greatsunflower.org

'Contemporary' Eco-friendly Garden Tour

Had the opportunity to go on the Marin Eco-friendly Garden Tour this past weekend. Wow! Over 32 gardens were involved. Wish I could have seen them all but I got to see more than a few really beautiful gardens using innovative and eco-friendly practices. It was great to see the garden owner’s and designer’s embracing sustainable materials/practices and Bay friendly drainage/runoff control solutions. Even more fantastic was to see the many visitors asking questions and being excited about the designs and the contemporary approaches. There were many demonstrations, lectures and educational programs spread throughout the county and the tour. I had the opportunity to attend Josiah Cain’s presentation on Rain Gardens, Bioswales, Green Roofs and Living Walls. Great presentation! Josiah is Chief Design Officer at Design Ecology. They are involved is some really exciting projects. I have added Design Ecology’s blog to my blog list – Check it out!

The lecture took place at the beautiful Branson school campus in Ross.


The Tour Sponsors were; Marin County Stormwater Pollution Prevention Program, Marin County Flood Control & Water Conservation District, Marin Municipal Water District and North Marin Water District.






Cheers to all those involved and really big cheers to all the owners that opened up their gardens so the visitors could learn and gain inspiration in the contemporary eco-friendly approach to landscape!!!

Gettin it done...350 Garden Challenge

This weekend in Sonoma County 350 waterwise food gardens will be created. Check out this cool video and cheers to all involved...this is how it gets done!!!



For more information check out dailyacts.org/350-gardens and 350.org

Beautifully sustainable

These are beautiful, functional and sustainable all at the same time….perfect for your contemporary landscape.





Taken at the SF Garden Show








Parasoleil makes Copper, Aluminum, Cor-ten steel, Composite and FSC High-grade Plywood panels that can be used in so many ways only the designers creativity is the limit. My favorite is the copper. It is made from 90-95% recycled copper. It is 100% recyclable and creates 0% waste during manufacturing.
These panels can be used for privacy, shading, railings, so many things…Check out Parasoleil and consider them for your next contemporary landscape project. I know I will!!!

With a little help from my friends....

In search of answering my question about sharing the benefits of our gardens I turned to my good friend Scott Volmer of Great Valley Design www.grtvalley.com in Davis. Scott has been at the forefront of integrating residential farms into our greater communities and is passionate about the urban farming - sustainable food growing revolucion! Scott was quick to send me links. I will follow these blogs and I hope you check them out too.
http://www.foodnotlawns.net/
http://opengardenproject.blogspot.com/

Contemporary Skyline...

Green all the roofs!!!...that don’t have solar panels (them too)!

Think about the day when we can go to the city and see plants, lots of plants. Sure there will still be grey steel and concrete buildings, hard concrete or paver sidewalks and until a new paving or mode of transport, black asphalt roads BUT the day of seeing lots of green plants in the city is not too far off. Contemporary Landscape Architecture has decided to not be held back any longer or limited to the street and pocket park. Roofs, walls…complete sides of buildings are now providing the garden. The completely planted facade of an office building or five star hotel is just around the corner….Welcome to the green revolution, right! I mean really, really green like living green.


Our ability to accomplish things we only dreamed of years ago is here and obtainable. Contemporary landscape and the opening up of our collective awareness of who we are, where we live , what we do and how that all causes and effects each other and the planet has allowed us to create new solutions to the problems of the built environment. Green roofs solve many problems from insulation, water quality, heat island effect, screening roof top equipment (like heating air ducts or HVAC) to simply beautifying our built world. I can wait until all our cities and towns are more contemporary.

I was in Vancouver this past weekend and visited the Olympic torch and new water front convention hall. As we passed through the city I saw many different types of buildings with green roofs. Vancouver is a fantastic example of how Contemporary Landscape Architecture can solve many of our human built habitat issues while improving and beautifying our environment.

Planning the garden.... and thinking about the big picture

"If every U.S. citizen ate just one meal a week (any meal) composed of locally and organically raised meats and produce, we would reduce our country’s oil consumption by over 1.1 million barrels of oil every week. That’s not gallons, but barrels. Small changes in buying habits can make big differences. Becoming a less energy-dependent nation may just need to start with a good breakfast."

Steven L. Hopp (from Animal, Vegetable, Miracle - Barbara Kingsolver, with Steven L. Hopp and Camille Kingsolver)

It's raining and cold so I am glad I held off on the rushing to plant the veggie garden BUT that hasn't stopped me thinking about the garden. I came across the quote above while researching another thought I had while thinking about the garden...How can we share the food we go? I have heard about urban farming networks but what I am talking about is sharing all that extra zucchini, tomatos, herbs that we all have when we grow our own food. I am looking into it and will report back with what I find but what a great way to help our community while helpinhg the planet.

Garden Show

Go check it out!!

Here are a couple quick pictures but it's better in real life. Definitely worth the drive to San Mateo!!

Contemporary big at San Francisco Flower and Garden show!!!

I went to the San Francisco flower and garden show yesterday and was exited by how many contemporary designs were displayed! The new owners have done a great job in providing lots of good designs, useful information and lots of plant suppliers offering the latest in plant trends. It's a really good show and I encourage you to go if you can.

Succulents were definitly represented and are the hot trend as well grasses and edible landscapes. The best though was to see how the contemporary ideals of innovative, sustainable and environmentaly friendly played a part in almost every design and product!!!!



I will post dome pictures from the show tomorrow but.....GO SEE the San Francisco Flower and Garden show!!!!!

3 different types of grapes!

Legendary shade provider. The Grape plant can be a sustainable cooling source for a patio or gathering area, providing cooling shade in the summer and letting the warming sun shine during the winter. Add to that the fruit that you are growing locally and therefore not using fossil fuels, packaging and energy to transport from somewhere else and you have quite the environmentally friendly cooling solution.... with a very yummy bonus!!


Thompson Seedless

Flame! Great producer, very tasty and seedless.

Black Corinth....Sooo Yummy!!!

Cluster ripening

Past veggie gardens..and grapes!

I was looking through some old photos (which made me realize I need to take more pictures!) and I came across some shots of our garden in Vallejo from a couple years ago. This is my most favorite veggie garden of the past (not counting my mom's garden in Newtown, CT that was so big and productive I will always be envious and remember it. We grew so many things in that garden from corn to watermelon. I was 9 years old and I grew peanuts; I thought that was so cool!).

I grew a lot in the Vallejo garden. I had some space and I built two big raised beds (if you have the room this is one of the best ways to grow veggies) faced with recycled fencing. I then surrounded those with gravel paths and on the perimeter had more, at grade, planting beds. We grew artichokes, beans, tomatoes, peas, strawberries, squash, herbs and other kitchen garden veggies but my favorite part was that I grew 3 different types of grapes (Flame, Thompson seedless and Black Corinth ‘Champagne grapes’ - so yummy). I had replaced the existing side-yard fence with a new grey stained fence that had a trellis feature on top so that I could grow grapes. There is something so rewarding about growing grapes. Maybe it’s because they are so delicious, maybe it’s how they grow. Whatever it is I found great pleasure from growing them and the family and friends loved eating them. There were so many I even made some into raisins.

Grapes are fairly easy to grow. They need good pruning, a sunny spot and a trellis (so many options there) but given that there are many varieties that will work in many different climates. On top of the fruit they provide great shade, dappled sunlight that is inspiring on a summer day and brilliant color in the fall. Really in a class by itself the grape, grown for centuries, can be a great addition to your contemporary landscape.

The next post will have some photos of the grapes. I did take pictures of those!

Let it Grow....Time to plan out that veggie garden

Ah the start of spring!!!!!

One of the most exciting facets of contemporary landscape is the renewed interest in growing your own food. Many residential, resort/hotel and even some commercial projects include areas set aside for vegetables and fruit. The next couple posts will focus on growing food, how growing your own food has an impact on the environment and how this all plays a very important part in Contemporary Landscape.

The first day of spring arrived this weekend and with it warmer temps here in Northern California. As it seems every year at this time I started thinking about my vegetable garden. The first warm days of spring have a way of waking me up from winter and immediately inspiring me to plant the years veggie garden. After years of experience though I know to take things slowly. Those first warm days that can get you thinking not only of veggies but sunscreen, taking out the outdoor furniture and even the beach can quickly be replaced by cool nights or a late season cold front bringing rains. The soil needs to warm first before sowing the seeds or setting out those transplants. I will wait a couple more weeks before doing either of those. That didn't stop me from getting out there and starting to turn the soil, clean up from the winter and start to think about this years crop. I encourage you to do the same. I will post some more about planning a veggie garden soon but I encourage you first and for most to think before you plant. Sounds simple but really...what do you want to grow? What will you and your family eat? What grows best in your area. What do you need to do to prep your veggie garden area for planting? While the threat of cold temps still lurks around the corner I will think and plan out my veggie garden.

In the beginning....

Land Studio C is now entering the blogosphere!!
I hope this is a fun and enjoyable way to spread the word of
Contemporary Landscape Architecture.

"Using innovative, sustainable, and environmentally friendly solutions to address your landscape design needs.

www.LandstudiocC.com