A friend who is in Israel for a wedding sent me this picture. I love how something so simple - umbrellas - become something wonderfully beautiful when used en masse and in an inventive way. These colorful umbrellas reminded me of a picture I took earlier this summer of a recently renovated apartment building on Eastlake. Each apartment front door is a painted vivid accent color. Together, the doors create a colorful, dynamic and wonderfully unexpected and happy facade for wha

I know we’re all getting tired of this year’s rainy and cloudy spring. I just heard someone refer to it as “Maytober”. There is one positive aspect of this, however. All the cloudy and overcast days are great backdrops to showcase our gardens and all the different colors of green as the new foliage emerges. Pantone must have had this in mind when they selected this year’s color of the year – “Greenery”. As I was putting my daughter to bed a couple nights ago, I looked out int

Here’s an outdoor living space we finished last year in Kirkland. I like how the mix of materials, colors and patterns make the space visually interesting and give it a lot of energy. The space looks great all year round and appears much bigger than it is. In fact, there are just a few plants – the columnar Aspen, evergreen Jasmine, and Creeping Jenny and Hops vine in the steel planter. The plants peaking over the top of the fence are borrowed landscape thanks to the neighbo

The current issue of Garden Design magazine includes a great article with 20 strategies for designing small spaces. Read Functionally...

A few years ago, Sunset magazine featured my garden in Small Yard Makeovers . They recently re-released this special edition. It will be on newsstands until May 12th . It has lots of inspiring gardens and design ideas. One of favorite pictures is this simple collection of containers designed by Daniel Nolan. Daniel works for Flora Grubb in San Francisco. If you don’t know about Flora, her store or her coffee shop, check her out here .

Recently, I was getting ready to leave a job site when the client came out and said her 5 year old son had something for me. I went inside and he gave me a ‘work order’ with a few things he wanted included in the garden. He let me know that he definitely didn’t want a chalkboard outside as he and his little sister already had one inside. However, he was adamant that we include a hot tub and soccer field in the plan. The picture at the bottom of his work order is a hot tub. W

I was scrolling through the photos on my phone this evening when this picture caught my attention. It is of a garden on Capitol Hill that we installed last winter. The reason I originally took this picture – and why it caught my attention again – is that it captures the essence of much of our work. There is a strong hardscape design with a mix of materials, so the garden looks great all year long. Interesting details (like the shadow line on the stair’s riser and the Ipe cap

Here’s a great BBQ when space is limited. t is the SIGMAFOCUS made by Focus Creation in France. Their core business is making an wide range of modern indoor fireplaces. Two of my favorite are the RENZOFOCUS and the ECLATE GEANT . The Sigmafocus costs 1114 and you can order directly from Focus .

After this week’s snow on Monday, followed by torrential rain on Wednesday and high winds on Friday , I wish I had spent the weekend in Southern California. Instead, I could only dream of being in Southern California when I passed by these Eucalyptus trees Saturday afternoon while out on a walk with my daughter and son. I’ve seen other Eucalyptus trees in Seattle occasionally, but none this big.

Last November, I went Portland to give a talk the weekend after the Presidential election. My top three highlights were: Visiting Boxwood Gardens , a nursery in the Willamette Valley that specialize in what else -- boxwoods! As I walked around, I imagined I was in England. Avoiding the anarchists who were smashing cars a few blocks from the hotel where I was staying. An amazing mocha complete with cat foam art.

We completed this entry courtyard last fall. I love its simple, graphic design. It will look fantastic every day of the year, offers a different experience when you enter and leave the courtyard, and is easy to maintain. The main feature is the basalt column and its polished, mirror-like top. Conceptually, I envisioned this as a tree that had fallen over in the forest and requires you to walk around it. It’s placement was carefully considered to greet visitors and to direct t

I have mentioned before that I am always intrigued when things aren't as they appear. It took this picture in Eastern Washington last summer.  Check back soon and learn why this caught my attention.

We currently have a couple clients with small back yards who want to install hot tubs, but don’t want to sacrifice all the usable space...

If you have driven through the Washington Park Arboretum lately, you may have noticed construction has started for the "loop" trail. As part of this, a number of trees have to be removed to make room for the trail.  As I was driving through the arboretum this weekend, this Western Red Cedar stump and a couple of 'rounds' from the tree caught my attention.  The stump (at the back of the picture) and the 'rounds' look more like shapes you would find in Puget Sound tide pools.

Looking back at my college years, I can’t forget how fortunate I was when graduation season approached. By the time I finished Landscape...

It's a lawn -- and a driveway!  The lawn is grown through a plastic grid that stabilizes the soil and prevents rutting.  It's the perfect solution for this home outside of Washington DC that I toured last fall.  The owner keeps his "weekend" cars in this secondary garage and only accesses them occasionally.

When space is tight and you have a long list of goals for your landscape, you have to make every design element and feature count -- at least twice.  You can't design something 'just because it is pretty'.  Features need to have multiple uses and functions to maximize the space. Check-out the lawn below.  Do you know what it doubles as?  Check-back next week for the reveal!

I took this picture at the University Village Ravenna Gardens last summer. I was reminded that colorful folding furniture can be a great design element – both when it is being used or folded-up and stored on a fence, wall or the side of a house. The furniture shown here is from the French company Fermob . Here are all the colors their furniture comes in.

Since seeing them in a catalog a few years ago, I have been a big fan of Atelier Verkant containers. Here’s the link to my first posting about them. In December while in Miami, I was finally able to see them in all of their glory. They are just as dreamy in person as they are in the catalog. I loved this all white collection. I also appreciated many of the of the design elements in this seating area: notice the hanging light in the tree, the willow screens behind the rectan

In December, Devin and I took trip to Key West, Florida. We wanted to get away from Seattle, hopefully to find the sun and enjoy a little break before welcoming baby number 2. During our stay, we often walked throughout Old Town and enjoyed it’s eclectic mix of over 3,000 wooden buildings from the late 1800’s to the early 1900’s. Almost every home had a white picket fence. I really appreciated how even common elements – like fence pickets – are a chance for thoughtful design.