The Kobrinsky Garden Experience: A Construction Perspective
A fire pit is the nucleus of the Kobrinsky garden, visible from most windows in their home and the celebrated hub of activity for both human and hummi…
Plants: Foliage plants, grasses, and succulents
Reaching Far for the Best Plants
Many nurseries rely on plants available to them as tissue-cultured plugs, which come with built-in marketing programs and wide public recognition. Kel…
Great Plant Picks 2011: A Few for Sunny, Dry Gardens
The Great Plant Picks list includes almost 800 trees, shrubs, perennials, bulbs, and vines, many of which withstand the dry conditions of maritime Pac…
Aeonium in Habitat and Cultivation
I’ve had numerous sorts of Aeonium in my garden for many years; most were gifts from fellow gardeners that arrived without pedigree or identification; some…
The Evolution of a Native Garden
Creating a native garden has proven to be more challenging and more rewarding than I ever could have imagined when I began thirty years ago. The oak a…
Out with the Ivy
The process of ripping out the ivy, creating “structure” on the hillside with rocks, logs, and branches, and selecting, placing, planting, and obs…
Just like Olivier
One of California's top nurserymen and his wife debate the need for summer irrigation in their garden, which is dominated by native plants and those f…
A Succulent Oasis at Sherman Library & Gardens
A complete renovation of the succulent section at Sherman Library & Gardens in Corona del Mar, California was undertaken in 2006. Succulent enthusiast…
Knap: To Chip Rock
Mike Knapp and Jim DuBois are stonemasons who have worked in Seattle with their hands, hearts, and brains. Using stone-rich paths and walls, they have…