Backyard Pavilions and Shade Structures When the weather is great—as it often is here in Southern California—you want to spend as much time outside as possible.  And with that comes adding amenities that bring the comforts of home to your backyard. Pavilions and shade structures are the first step [...]

Artificial Turf – It’s OK to Fake It We can thank sports fields and the 70s for the bad rap that artificial turf gets when it comes to using it on our own properties.  But in the decades since AstroTurf first became a household name, the technology and process for manufacturing artificial turf [...]

Low Maintenance Landscaping Landscape designers hear it all the time: “I need a landscape that is low maintenance.”  But good designers know that their clients usually want a landscape that is beautiful, one that will spark compliments from every guest they invite over.  Why would they hire a landscape designer, otherwise? It’s for [...]

Budget Design for Better Resale The housing market is hot right now, so you may be considering putting your home up for sale.  If you are, your first thought probably goes to how the house presents itself from the outside.  The landscape design and lawn, especially, will generally represent the condition of the [...]

Are You Overfertilizing Your Plants? Nothing exemplifies the adage of “there can be too much of a good thing” like fertilization of our outdoor and indoor plants.  And the home gardener can easily be tempted into trying more fertilizer when plants begin to show signs of stress.  It’s a natural response, too, considering [...]

Fire and Water: How a Fire Sprinkler System Can Save Your Property All other major news stories aside, this summer has shown Southern Californians just how susceptible to fire damage our buildings are.  Sweeping wildfires across the region have home and business owners thinking about ways to protect their properties from fire damage [...]

What is Stymying Your Efforts to Control Weedsn As homeowners, our lawns are a source of pride.  It’s the first thing we and our guests see when we pull up.  It’s the surface our kids play on and it might be where we relax with a good book.  No matter what we use [...]

Make a Plan - Why a Design Will Save Installation Headaches This is the year, you think, that your vision will come to life. You survey your backyard, knowing exactly what you want to do with it. You can see where the new patio will go, almost able to taste the cold drink [...]

The Gift of Time: Using Winter to Plan for Spring Fall comes on with a certain melancholy for those who dread shorter days and colder nights, especially because they can mean less time outside.  But if this fall snuck up on you before you had a chance to really make the changes to [...]

Getting a Handle on Crabgrass in Southern California There is something here that homeowners share with those across most of North America.  Crabgrass is the bane of residential lawns, despite being the right shade of green.  This coarse, spreading weed loves the heat and drought that is so typical of our summers. [...]