This is without question one of my favorite plants for Colorado landscapes.   Native to eastern Asia, Maiden Grass (Miscanthus sinensis) is hearty, easy to grow, has beautiful fine textured foliage and late season feathery seed heads that are magical in evening sunlight.  In fact, I suggest making a point of locating them where you can enjoy sunlight coming through them.  There are roughly ten cultivars that are sold in Colorado nurseries including Stricta that has a narrow growth habit, Variegata with white margins, and Zebrina with horizontal yellow and green stripes across the leaves.  Maiden Grass prefers full to partial sun, moderate water and well drained soil.  Most cultivars grow 4-6’ high but there are some dwarf and giant versions.  Mix Maiden Grass with large hearty perennials such as Black-eyed Susan, Shasta Daisy, or Coneflower for a big sweeping border.  They make a great accent plant and are suitable for almost any garden style whether it be a native-looking Colorado garden, an English flower border, or a contemporary garden.  It’s hard not to love this plant.

Each year I work on quite a few landscape “remodels” many of which include an existing deck that is either dated, poorly designed, or just plain dangerous.  With a little inspiration, however, a dated deck can be revitalized to become a great outdoor living space.  The deck above (see the existing photo at the bottom) was actually in fairly good shape, was structurally sound and had plenty of room for a dining table and other seating.  The homeowner’s, however, felt that it was dated and really didn’t get used that often.  Not to mention the color didn’t tie into the house at all.  Also, there was a large space underneath the deck that was essentially wasted space.  Opportunity waiting to happen….

After a lot of discussion with homeowners about how they live and how they would like to use their deck we came up with five main goals for the deck:   1) they wanted to cook and eat outdoors regularly 2) the deck should be more conducive to entertaining 3) the deck material should match the house and become an extension of the house 4) take advantage of the wasted space below the deck and 5) create a better relationship between the deck and the lower patio.

The remodeled deck, which is slightly larger, now includes an outdoor kitchen with a large sandstone countertop, bench seating along the perimeter, and a wide stairway down to the patio.  We resurfaced the deck with a composite decking  of which there are many options now (Trex, Timbertech, Evergrain…) Although the composite materials are looking better all the time I still often recommend using wood for the posts, rails, and trim.  An entire deck out of composite material looks a little too…plastic.  We also added some nice ambient lighting on the deck for evening dining and entertaining.  And here’s the part that the clients really love: by weather-proofing the underside of the deck with a product by Undercover Systems, Inc. the entire space underneath the deck, which is about 350 square feet, is now a weatherproof, lockable storage room.  It was a really cost-effective way to pick up valuable storage area.

I am happy to say that our client has been using this deck for several years now and is very pleased with look and functionality of the deck.

If you are looking for an easy to grow, low-maintenance perennial that provides long-lasting  lavender blue  mounds of flowers in your Colorado perennial garden, ‘Walker’s Low’ Catmint (Nepeta racemosa ‘Walker’s Low’) is a great candidate.  Mix ‘Walker’s Low’ with salvia, roses, and California or Oriental Poppies for a European country garden look or let it spread over a natural meadow or hillside.  ‘Walker’s Low’ grows about 2-3’ wide by 18-24” high, likes full sun, and doesn’t require much water.  It’s great choice for xeriscape gardens.  Shear it back after the first bloom for another strong bloom later in the season.  All Catmints are fairly aggressive so give them some room to grow or plant them with plants that can compete.  If you’re a cat owner, select a different variety as this one is not as appealing to cats and would be denying them one of the great pleasures in life.

One might assume that when designing new residential architecture and landscapes in China that the style would reflect the historical architecture of the dynasties with large multi-planed roofs, low horizontal mass, and bright red accents.  Or maybe they would take on the some of the contemporary style represented by the facilities for the 2008 Summer Olympics, which in my opinion, were outstanding.  The truth however is that the Chinese, like much of the world population, are not immune to the universal appeal of Tuscan style architecture.

Over the past few weeks I’ve been designing the landscapes and pool areas for several high-end Tuscan style villas for a new development in China.  It’s not often that I get to design with an almost unlimited landscape budget so it’s been great fun to go wild with negative edge pools, spas, water features, outdoor kitchens, fireplaces, sculpture and art.  One exciting design feature for several of the homes is walking across stepping stones “floating” in water to get to the front door of the house, something rarely done in the lawsuit-happy United States.  The fairly steep site called for large stone retaining walls which supported the Tuscan feel and became great opportunites for waterfalls throughout the site.

Per client request I can’t post images of the project so in the mean time enjoy these images of Tuscany….and imagine them in China.

February. It’s that time of year here in Colorado when our landscapes are looking a little drab. Most everything, with the exception of evergreens, have browned out and dropped their leaves. Even some of the plants with nice seed heads and stalks have started to look a bit shabby from the heavy snows. One plant to rely on for a bit of winter color is Redtwig Dogwood (Cornus sericea). As the name suggests, this deciduous shrub has brilliant red twigs that grow in a nice vertical clump. Mix these with several different colors of evergreens, some ornamental grasses that hold their seed stalks and a few nice boulders and you’ve got a nice winter garden. There are several varieties of Redtwig Dogwood that range in height from 4 to 10 feet high. Also available are Yellowtwig Dogwood, a dwarf version of the Redtwig called Kelsey Dwarf Dogwood (Cornus sericea ‘Kelseyi’) which grows 2-3 feet high, and a variegated leaf Dogwood.  Very hearty in Colorado, Dogwood prefer moist locations and do well along stream banks and low-lying areas.

I have seen Oaxaca black pottery around over the years but never knew much about it until recently when I came accross it twice.  The first while watching “Outdoor Room with Jamie Durie” on HGTV which, if you haven’t seen it, is worth watching for several reasons: 1) he’s a great landscape designer; 2) watching him piss off his landcape contractors is great Saturday morning entertainment; 3) ladies are sure to like his Australian accent.  The second time I came accross the black pottery was while searching for 1970′s educational films (for an audio project I am working on, maybe that’ll be a future post).  This particular documentary was filmed in 1952 and I find the old grainy film and distorted sound fascinating and somehow beautiful.  You can view the film here.

Back to the pottery.  Oaxaca black pottery is made in a small town south of Oaxaca, Mexico called San Bartolo de Coyotepec using a dark clay that is found nowhere else in the world.  Every peice is hand-made and unique.  Apparently they still use a primitive firing technique which gives the pottery its beautiful black finish.  While probably not the best for potted plants these make for striking accent peices for both traditional and contemporary gardens.  If you were to mount a light inside they would make a fantastic lantern for spreading the light patterns accross flat surfaces.

Last summer I designed a unique garden in Boulder that called for primarily silver, blue and deep red foliage mixed with white flowers. The garden turned out to be striking in both full sun and shade conditions. Husker Red Penstemon (Penstemon digitalis ‘Husker Red’) fit the bill perfectly.  The attractive foliage starts out green and turns to deep red or burgundy. And the more sun you give them the redder they get. The small white flowers, which sometimes turn a slight lavender color,  float delicately on vertical red stalks. Like most Penstemons, Husker Red prefers full sun and moderate moisture but are adaptable to a variety of conditions. They grow 2-3′ high and spread 18-24″. I will definitely be using Husker Red Penstemon in future foliage gardens and borders.

Fire pits and outdoor fireplaces have become one the most requested features for outdoor living spaces, patios, and family gathering spaces.  Until recently there was a pretty limited selection of gas burner systems available for outdoor use.  As a result, designs were somewhat limited to the standard circular fire pit or gas log fireplace.  This presented a challenge when it came to designing contemporary outdoor fire pits and fireplaces. SPARK Modern Fires now offers a nice line of linear burners designed to compliment modern architecture and landscapes.  SPARK also has a nice selection of fire objects to surround the flames including glass, sand, and moonstone.  Nice stuff.