Inspired Design

This Berkeley Hills Garden is a work in progress.
The design worked with the existing retaining walls and hot tub enclosure with the goal of creating a usable patio and play space for the home owners growing family.

Existing raised beds were faced and capped with Mangaris, a south american hardwood.  

Here you see the steps leading up to the hot tub enclosure are no longer closed off from the remaining patio space.

Check back in a few weeks to see the completed project.

All Grown Up

This San Francisco garden makes us appreciate winters in our moderate climate.  A recent renovation in 2015 converted the lawn area into a patio space surrounded by herbs and blooming perennials.

After a single growing season, our Bay Area gardens come to life with flowers and foliage attracting beneficial insects, birds and bees.

This Berkeley cottage garden designed in conjunction with Planted Earth was installed about 3 years ago.

Garden Face Lift

This small Berkeley front garden got a face lift by adding permeable flagstone walkways and plantings suited to the local planting conditions.

After

Before

By eliminating the strictly linear front walkway we were able to create planting spaces that felt more naturalized.  The flagstone path leads from the driveway to the side entry and connects to the main pathway leading to the front steps.

The cracked concrete driveway was removed and replaced with Blue Pathway decomposed granite.  

Winter Blooms

Unseasonably warm weather has forced early blooms and new growth on many perennials.
I say 'Enjoy it while we can!'.

Magnolia

Camellia at Flowerland

Hellebore at Flowerland

Golden Feverfew

Verbena 'De La Mina' & Rosemary

Berkeley hills parking strip planting

Say goodbye to blah parking strips! We designed and planted this parking strip and renovated some areas inside the fence of this Berkeley hills residence about two and a half years ago. Plantings had to be tough, drought tolerant, low maintenance, and deer resistant! We planted tough but colorful evergreen shrubs like 'Razzleberry' loropetalum, 'Sunset Gold' Breath of Heaven, and added structural perennials like santolina, leucadendron 'Jester' and African daisy. These plantings only require quarterly maintenance to keep them looking their best.



Below: Leucodendron 'Jester' is in the foreground, purple loropetalum in the middle, santolina is the fuzzy silver mounded perennial in the back, african daisy is the low silvery perennial in front, and lime thyme is the bright green ground cover.




Below: close-up of the multicolored leaves of the 'Razzleberry' loropetalum

Hope everyone is enjoying the sun again! The rain is great for the gardens and my allergies but it sure has been soggy working outside! Mya

Tropical flavor

We love this little garden we take care of in the central Berkeley flats. We recently added a few more plants to add color and texture through interesting foliage. The existing fountain (which looks to me like a tropical island talisman) was recently moved over and we planted ferns, grasses, and and oakleaf hydrangea to surround it with lush vegetation. The garden has some interesting collector plants in it, including this super cool and very unusual green(!) flowering lavender.



Kitty approves.