pedro botto

Hey Folks! Just a quick note to say hello and introduce myself. After completing the 2009 report, I resigned as project manager of the Sustainable Sites Initiative to pursue other opportunities and spend more time with my 7 month old son. I am interested in the practical application of landscape sustainability in residential settings and look…[Read more]

Nashville adopts form-based code for downtown

Hands-on all-day workshop on Modeling Residential Sites with Slope in Google SketchUp (for intermediate/advanced users) in San Francisco Feb. 20th, 2010

tal_sketchup.pdf

hai nice to join in this group

Just a thought from Soil Science perspective on reducing the water requirements for any plant. Use lots of organic material and or peat moss around the plant,(not too much) and surround other areas with sand. Make sure the drip is going on the water holding material. Sand has the lowest affinity for water while clay has the highest and organic…[Read more]

Hello, Hope to exchange knowledge and experience. Regards to All. ümit harite from turkey

Chris-
I know exactly what mean. It would be almost impossible to be a true advocate for the client if you were being paid a sales commission from the contractor. The commission I was referring to is more like maybe a “finders fee”, if you will. I run across all sorts of projects and not all of them are appropriate for a designer. So I refer the…[Read more]

Chirs,
Here in Texas we are not required to be licensed for landscape contracting. Sometimes I wish we were because every guy that has lost his job in the last few months has become a landscaper/maintenace contractor. I am sometimes bidding against people that are brand new in the business.
I am working with several Landscape Architects like…[Read more]

Hey Chris,
We are in Phoenix, and we do mainly design and subcontract the work out on high end residential designs. I believe we are the main contractor, and the work is divided accordingly.

Chris,
I operated a design/build company for 25 years where most of the work we did in-house with some sub-contracting on the specialized features. I now work by myself designing and then managing the projects. I have a network of contractors that work on these projects. I have a design fee and then negotiate a management fee with the…[Read more]

Elif-

I have learned that high-level or not, clients don’t read a lot of text. They’re swayed by images, sketches, pretty colors, and your passion. If you say Mondrian, show them what/who that is so they don’t have to ask. Have images that clearly delineate the connection between a Mondrian piece and your design (for example). If you communicate…[Read more]

Chris-
My advice:
If you love design, find a couple of good contractors you can send work to on a regular basis. They will (or should) pay you a commission or referal fee for the work you refer to them. They will in turn send you work, some of which they will pay you for directly. Probably a little at first, then more as your relationship builds.…[Read more]

Hey Chris,
My principal here in AZ is a licensed contractor. It’s pretty involved here, but definitely opens up many opportunities…

Charles, This is probably easier to deal with in Phoenix as most people don’t really expect anything to live here without water. Even natives. I don’t know how you can expect a plant that is used to regular and frequent irrigation at the grower, to suddenly become a plant that thrives with irregular and infrequent feeding.

Ya Bill, all I know is when a local suburban city requires the planting of natives in parking lot islands that get hammered by not only the heated asphalt but also the vehicle exhaust, I tend to shake my head. With pedestrians tromping through and no irrigation, it is just tough sledding. What we need is to educate the planners who write the…[Read more]

I Navid, the pine like plant looks like a grevilia flower. I’m not sure but it’s similar.

Ya Charles, all the natives around here grow in balls and cubes. You never have to water them and they never grow past the 3′ dia. ball or cube. They even flower in colors that contrast well with the building they are planted next to. I love natives. They’re truely the answer to all your sustainable dreams. You just need more experience, buddy.

We are being asked more and more to do less and less irrigation on our projects here in and around Seattle. One might think, “so what, it is always raining in Seattle.” This is not quite true. We have had a very dry summer here but we are only about an inch below average for the year. Many native and non native plants are suffering, and will not…[Read more]

Hi Guys”
Greetings!!!!!
An innovative design in stone surfaces that offers a customizable line for interior and exterior wall claddings
Cheers / Bharat Mishra

Hi folks, it’s me on my lounge in Cairo, but active now in Abu Dhabi.
This is the place to try all this xerophytic plants and other material.
Whenever I come into a new arid area I try to studdy the the vegetation off the beaten tracks. Potential natural vegetation is the best indicator to meet climat and geology. We only (I guess that is the…[Read more]