Leafing an impression :)

Continuation of a landscape design installation in sunny (?) Seattle Washington.
Its done! Okay, a small portion is done, but that counts. (And the flower doesn't stink anymore.)

Another great thing about stucco is it has a life of it's own. It draws on the light around it and really reflects depending on the texture and stroke that it was applied with. It even ages, like a fine wine. As it wears, it develops a efflorescence as the minerals come to the surface. It's complicated but basically, it doesn't stay the same, and most people are used to things staying somewhat constant. We have to let people know ahead of time when they choose stucco as a material that it is not anything like paint, and it will change as it ages depending on the environment that it is in.

Oh, what are the holes in the wall? This planter is table height to make gardening easy for the client. As an added feature the walls have spots for removable kneeling boards (made with clear cedar) that can be placed into the holes.

The curve of the planter nestles into the curve of the patio. They like each other :) Irrigation has been prepped as well (that's the tubes that you see) and will be set on timers to make the garden as worry free as we can.Prepare for a personal rant: Timed irrigation is a must in the gardens we plant because really, do you want to go out at 10 and 3 every day to water each plant? No, you don't. You may say you do, but I am telling you... it's just a chore after a while. Plus, it's really fun to hear the irrigation do it's first little spurts of water when it goes on. AND! the landscape designer has each plant set to a certain watering so nothing is over or under watered. That is why you hire a professional. Bonus feature, we take out lawns. Because again, do you really want to spend your Saturdays mowing the lawn? (not to mention aerating, weeding, trimming, watering, and on and on when the lawn looks like....the way it does anyway, waste of time if you ask me. Yeah, I have an opinion :) Now if everyone would take out their lawns, we wouldn't have to listen to the mowers all day Saturday either. Okay, I'll quit and look back at the planter photos now :)

Yup. I want one.

Saturate me!

The world is just better in color. Technicolor understood this, and you should too. :) Of course at this point you are way past Technicolor and may have a TV bigger than most large dogs. So yes, you understand.

And because color alone is not enough, I always like to add texture and pattern. Eventually in this garden 2 large maple trees will need to be removed. It's okay because they are in really sad shape and have been hacked to bits by the electrical company. Why we plant trees under wires is beyond me. Why the wires are not underground to eliminate the need to alter our tree planting is even further beyond me. I mean save the trouble (trees falling, constant limb trimming, wind, downed lines) and just find a reasonable way to put them underground. Plus they are darn ugly and I could go on but I will step down because this post is about stucco :) So these trees will still be used in the garden, and as acknowledgment of their service to the world their leaves are being memorialized into the stucco texture. They will either be used as woodchips in the raised planter area, or the clients may have them made into furniture if they are able. There is a company called Urban Hardwoods that makes some great items out of "discarded" trees.

This is the stucco coat in progress. James goes along and presses it onto the wall, and I get to smooth it out to get the texture we are going for. I also press in leaves that were chosen from the maple trees. (There are 3 Ginkgo leaves in it as well because, it's what we do.) The leaves are carefully smoothed over and when the stucco has set just right, I pull them out and with some luck (technique) they come out perfect. I love how they make a matte texture in the wall.

But there you have the color, with the stone caps in place and all that fun stuff.

A fun find in the garden. In the process of working in a persons garden, we tend to watch plants. At a certain point we have to decide what stays, and what goes. In most gardens, things are at such a sad state that it all goes. This one is a little different. Clearly a plant lover has lived here in the past and has planted some really unusual species. Not necessarily rare, but different than the typical Northwest Rhododendron and Juniper combination.

Here is a plant we had been watching to see what the heck it was. The flower finally came out today and it is just so cool! I know you want one! Okay, so this plant has a secret. Well, it's a secret to those of you who don't already know what it is, or cannot smell it over the computer.

Look closely...

See the flies? Yeah, so it smells like doodie. Here we are trying to stucco and wondering how a dog got into the fenced garden...

However, despite that, I still want it! It's cool looking! I have enough space in our garden to plant it somewhere away from paths and things. And it will certainly stand out from there. Definetly not a courtyard plant though. It only stinks for a day, like a yearly event to mark on the calender. Like waiting for the first crocus of spring, right?

Dracunculus vulgaris, a phallic gothic stinking plant that I think is too cool! (Yeah, they call those kinda looking plants amorphophallus. Wanna see more?)