Native Contemporary Landscape

I am proud to be part of a team restoring a native wetland high on a hilltop above the Napa Valley. We had a site visit last week to finalize the plant selection. It was a beautiful day in California and the team is very excited to recreate mother nature's contemporary garden. Wetlands play an important role in the natural environment from providing habitat to water quality control. The project will start construction in the fall of 2012.

Some Residential

Went for a walk on a Living Roof

This week is off to a great start! This morning I had a private tour of the California Academy of Sciences (CAS) Living Roof. I walked the entire 2.5 acre roof and learned about the roof’s natural systems, the many micro-climates on the roof, the unique challenges the landscape and maintenance crew face, the various plant species, the roof’s soil, the irrigation system, the design process, and what has worked and what hasn’t. It is a wealth of information that I will take to future projects. I wasn’t able to take many pictures but check out the link below from the CAS web site. It is a very interesting read with a good video (I’ll let you know that the Sea Thrift and Stoncrop have not thrived and there are very little of those plants existing, there are however many more species then those originally planted growing on the roof today). The CAS living roof is an incredible garden and a natural work of art!!!
http://www.calacademy.org/academy/building/the_living_roof/

Informative, Contemporary, energy efficiant landscape video

ASLA - American Society of Landscape Architects put together this very informative video of how the landscape around your home can improve your home's efficient use of energy. As a global village we all need to reduce our demand for energy, especially energy derived from fossil fuels. Contemporary landscape architecture reduces energy - Every lit bit counts!

Energy Efficient Home Landscapes from ASLA on Vimeo.

Frontyard curb appeal?

Newer home owners or those with a limited budget may benefit most by landscaping their front-yard first. Studies have shown that homes with good curb appeal sell faster then those without and also result in a higher sale price. Curb appeal landscape projects can range from dramatic to simple spruce ups. Some tips to consider when undertaking a curb appeal project are; work within a budget that allows you to fully complete the project, quality counts - buyers will notice a quick low quality job, current contemporary features are in high demand - Low maintenance - low water - environmentally friendly landscape are aspects buyers are looking for.

Thinking about a New Landscape? What can you expect for a return on your investment?

Home owners who invest in a new landscape can typically expect a rate of return of 70%-90%. Depending on the features and age of the landscape (rate of return can increase as the landscape matures to 100% and higher). In addition, a recent study by Clemson University found that homes with good or excellent landscape had a 14%-17% higher sale value then those with poor or average landscapes.

Cool Contemporary architecture

I attended two seminars yesterday as part of the Design San Francisco event. One by Russell Abraham and the other by Robert Swatt of Swatt-Miers. Both were fantastic. Russell takes beautiful pictures of stunning homes and Swatt-Miers is creating some of the best landscape embracing architecture today. Really stunning buildings that allow blending of indoor and outdoor spaces. They say modern but i think it is truly contemporary architecture! Check out the video

California Cool from Eric Sahlin on Vimeo.