The LA Times has run a wonderful feature story about our transformation of concrete slabs into gardens.  More photos can be found in our portfolio (see the “Roseview” garden), showing the garden with its spring and summer flowers.

Here are links to the article and associated items…

Green transformation of gray patios — latimes.com

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Susan Carpenter, LA Times’ Realist Idealist, has been working with us to redesign her backyard.   It’s been a great opportunity to combine sustainable design principles with urban farming and to explore how locally native California plants can fit into the edible landscape.

Her small backyard presents a few special challenges, the biggest literally being a mature ficus tree in the center.  While it holds a darling tree house, it also shades much of the back yard.  Figs can be big bullies – their roots notoriously consume concrete foundations and they aren’t friendly companion plants.  And the shade, while wonderful, limits the types of fruit trees and other edibles.

Sue also wants to harvest all of her rainwater.  In a previous article, she discussed waterwalls and other means of active catchment, and she now has a large waterwall next to her garage.  But this only holds the garage runoff.  Her next installment will discuss how we are dealing with the thousands of gallons that the house’s roof can harvest in a single 1″ rain event.  Stay tuned for that!

The plant palette we’ve chosen for the back yard now includes locally native edibles (the new berm will be covered with different fruiting native currants)  and shade tolerant native vines (honeysuckle, dutchman’s pipe, clematis) will adorn fences, the treehouse, and the waterwall.  Covering the ground, between urbanite paths, her existing deck, and a new gravel patio, will be a new kind of “lawn.”  We will be seeding the ground with a mixture of native wildflowers, grasses and sedges which should thrive in the shade and provide a lush, walkable meadow.  One that needs no mowing and no fertilizing, and just an occasional drink of water.

This backyard will provide berries, flowers, and more traditional fruit (Sue has already planted a small grove of plums in the back, and we’re adding a large grape-covered arbor to shade the deck).  And all the plants feed someone – if not Sue then the butterflies, bees, birds, and other pollinators.  It’s wholesome food, too.  By selecting locally native plants she’ll be giving them the nectar and berries they’ve evolved with, over thousands of years, and it’s when and where they need it.  It’s nectar that’s missing from the exotic plants that we’ve been filling our gardens with, and it tastes like home.

This month, Garden Design asked their contributors “What’s the best green idea you’ve discovered in a garden this year?”  Contributor Debra Prinzing replied:

Southern California is a sea of backyard concrete, which is anything but sustainable. So I’m impressed with the way L.A. garden designer Stephanie Bartron, APLD, of SB Garden Design makes her clients’ concrete patios both permeable and artful.  She redesigns dated patios by cutting out sections of concrete as decorative bands, grids and other patterns.

We’re honored!

The Roseview garden is one of our favorite examples.  And, to be fair, we were inspired by the brilliant Jay Griffith and Rob Steiner, who’ve been cutting up old patios all over this city for some time.

We’re celebrating by sharing California’s Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) new “Emergency Building Standards – Part 5″ (PDF).

It’s 15 pages long, so it may take a while to open…

And we’re ready to help you start graywatering!  Working with a licensed plumber, we can help coordinate getting the water out of your house and into your garden.  The new code requires that outlets be covered by 2″ of mulch or gravel and that the water is sent either into a mulch basin (surrounding a fig or banana tree perhaps) or into an infiltration pit, where larger trees will send their roots to drink and any extra water can slowly filter down to our aquifer.  It’s a good thing!

Shockingly, the long-taboo (to City Government at least) gray water is becoming legal for garden use!  Send your bath & laundry water to your fruit trees without fear!

As intrepid LA Times eco-reporter Susan Carpenter reports:

If the state’s Building Standards Commission approves the new code, as expected, certain types of residential gray-water systems could be installed or altered without a construction permit starting Aug. 4.

Quoting their recent post:

We’ve noticed a particular style of bohemian modern gardenscape evolving in LA, involving firepits, midcentury-inspired patio furniture, bright outdoor fabrics, and plenty of exotic foliage. A roundup of spaces designed by some prominent practitioners.

So thrilled that they included us in this impressive group!

Stephanie has completed the G3LA sustainable design program and is now a G3 Certified Landscape Professional!  This program included training on water harvesting (both active and passive), low-water irrigation systems, organic gardening and soil amendment, lawn alternatives, water use and budgeting calculation, and much more.

We are excited to be part of the sustainable movement in landscape design, and looking forward to LA’s transformation into a truly green city; verdant, bountiful and beautiful!  Vive la revolution!

Our entry in the recent LA Garden Show, as part of the APLD group booth.

Filled with herbs, salad greens and edible flowers, these vintage Samsonite suitcases were recycled as portable salad gardens.  Perfect for apartment dwellers with a sunny window or small patio!

Just got these pictures from a client. He celebrated the New Year with friends at his fab new pad, designed by Barbara Bestor. The house is all about “floating clouds,” and we referenced the cantilevered upper story with a levitating path and patio. And just wait until spring time when the house will be fronted by a cloud of white flowering trees!

In the meantime, these photos reminded me that I haven’t blogged about firepits. I think they are the best “bonus” feature you can add to a garden. Especially in LA, where we always end up outside at parties, even when it’s 50 degrees out in December! Plus nothing makes an evening more magical and relaxing than watching the flames dance around.

I am a big fan of gas fires. They are clean-burning (less pollution!) and don’t throw out any sparks – a big deal in our flammable city. You can still roast marshmallows on them (I did last night with my 3 year old), though it does take a little longer than with a traditional camp fire, as they aren’t as hot.

Add some low-voltage lighting (I’m really excited about the new LED fixtures finally coming out – more on that soon), and your garden is ready for nighttime fun.

One of our recent projects has just been profiled on the Apartment Therapy Blog! The beautiful shots of the garden are at the end of the slide show, by the way.