Activity

The choice of a monoculture of Gingko reminds me of the over-use of the American Elm in this country and how that fostered the spread of Dutch Elm Disease.  Apparently that lesson has been lost, or just not understood and heeded by mayors with delusions of grandeur.
The US has done such large-scale plantings in the past.  Remember the Dust B…[Read more]

A little something to brighten your day:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/28/business/economy/new-indications-housing-recovery-is-under-way.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20120628
 
So, first that supply of existing homes has to be bought up.  That takes a few years maybe?  Then they’ll start building more seriously again.  I’m thi…[Read more]

Considering the air quality/respiratory health issues over there, some of the efforts are understandable, so long as it isn’t designed solely as an aesthetic.  The attempt west of Beijing to reforest in an effort to stave off the desertification also is a fascinating one – anyone know how it’s holding up?
In some sense, the projects under FDR may…[Read more]

We are kind of having the same discussion in the US Congress right now with the transportation bill. There are a lot of ‘questionable’ projects that have a poor track record of sucess. ASLA is trying to get as much money as possible for things like streetscape renovations and bike lanes, which would help a few (the last round of transport spending…[Read more]

i would recommend writing the note:  “DESIGN ONLY. NOT FOR CONSTRUCTION” on each of your drawings unless your drawings are Construction Documents or unless they are being used to attain approval from Building or Planning. This note will clearly speak to the fact that you are not intending the drawing to be built as drawn and will help prove (if…[Read more]

hilarious, great reply….

Yes, I have found that lawyers understand the hourly rate concept very well, and yeah, they know they’re overpaid….

I have found lawyers to be some of the most flexible and least contentious clients–perhaps because they know what a losing proposition it is to go to court (for everyone).     
They also don’t mind an LA’s hourly rate–probably because it is about 1/3 of theirs!

I know a few good lawyers as well, mostly real estate, that provide a valuable service and one is very design oriented for what he does. He had handled a lot of pioneering stuff with brownfields and liability.
 
Then there was the ambulance chaser in my hometown, who had replaced the car stereo in his dated SL500 with a Cobra police radio…[Read more]

That is written into our contract…if we have to sue them for fees they owe us, they pay lawyer fees as well.

I must add that lawyers can be great clients.
I’ve had many great lawyer clients and am currently working for two
very good ones…..

Jason, you are absolutely right!
If only the bottom dwellers in this country would subscribe to this…
of course, half of them would not get paid…and that’s the reason they won’t do it.

Better idea: “Loser pays” or the English Rule. Most countries in the western world use a fee structure that makes the loser pay of the case pay the legal bills and court costs of the victor. (Thank you trial lawyer lobby). This all but eliminates frivolous lawsuits.

Perhaps we should all file a class action suit against these clients– maybe “breach of humanity”.  The mental anguish has to be worth something…
Or, maybe  we could put a spec in the middle, starting with “in the event the client becomes insane….”  🙂

I think you should ask him if he also wants to sue you for leaving so much dirt in the bed…and that pesky breeze that kicks up.

Yep. Raining today. Labor issues were a challenge at the beginning of the season. It is a lot of work, and we never feel like we know enough. We have some people that look for lawn/irrigation by low bid…but for a design if they have called us 85% of the time they want us. We are still working out whether to sub irrigation/seed…we have a few…[Read more]

We had a guy threaten to sue us and picket our house because he took an auger out and punctured his own irrigation line. I kid you not. Insanity. He seemed to realize he was off his nut after leaving several crazy messages. We had a lawyer draw up a contract for us this year and we are ready for crazy. BRING IT ON! haha.

Thank you JS! I feel pretty good about the components, just haven’t attempted to memorize that formula.

A law suit for bad soil? That is un-earthly. Land as it is wild has many types of mineral forms that provide food source for many type of wild plants. Weeds, are wild plants and are found in grasslands of all kinds. To get rid of them you just have to pull them out from the root until they stop growing. You cannot fortell if the grass provided…[Read more]

Erika, there were no calculations (at least for me), but you should understand the components of the formulas and the general intent of the Model Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance.