Outdoor fireplace for a small garden

I came across this image of a outdoor fireplace by Scot Eckley serving double duty as a privacy wall. For a small urban or suburban garden, this is just such a fantastic use of space!

You'll need a ventless or back-venting firebox to do this (these guys make some, and so do these guys). The payoff? You get a wonderful outdoor living space that feels like a courtyard, and you get to borrow your neighbor's tall shrubs or trees to soften the background. And, in this case, you get to grow gorgeous boston ivy on the wall so it looks soft, and kind of secretive (okay, maybe I read the Secret Garden a few too many times as a child, but who doesn't love a wall covered in vines?) and for a garden that is really mostly hardscape, it looks like a green refuge. So even though the plants used here are vibrantly green, this is a waterwise garden because their are so few of them.

After I ogled this image for a while (did I mention how much I adore the bluestone pavers?), I decided I needed to learn more about Scot's work, and came across this small fountain with a stainless steel scupper and organic stone bowl. And yep, that really is fake grass. The ground cover needed to be something permeable since the bowl spills over into a basin that is hidden under the "grass". You could use gravel if you are ethically against fake grass.

And then I found this lovely alfresco dining room. I'm always an advocate for gravel as a really good patio option. Yes, it is spikey and you won't want to walk on it in your bare feet, but it is also so classic (think villa in Italy), inexpensive, permeable (and permeable is so Green)....

The key with a gravel patio is to use gravel that is fairly uniform in color (otherwise it looks speckled like confetti). I like cream colored gravel the best, but anything neutral is nice. I like the way the chairs at the head and foot of the table aren't the same as the rest of the chairs. I think these ones are from Crate and Barrel, but Cost Plus has a decent knock-off right now.

© Kate Wiseman 2012. In San Diego? Want your own waterwise landscape design? I'd love to help! Please visit www.sageoutdoordesigns.com for more info.

Modern swimming pool (or just another teal moment)

You all know about my current obsession with teal. (Yes, I know it is a problem. Let me know if it has grown into something I need to seek professional help for.....)

In the mean time, this pool made me positively gleeful. Clearly, it was the teal that caught me but I have to also give it more credit than that. It has nice lines, wonderful plantings, a gorgeous deck. I love the grand stairs inside the pool. I like the glass tile mosaic on the water feature wall. I like the sheet flow scupper fountain. I even like the pool interior finish. And the furniture. Oh, and the limestone pool coping. Yep, I could live in this space quite happily.

It is by Bonick Landscaping out of Dallas, Texas.

© Kate Wiseman 2012. In San Diego? Want your own waterwise landscape design? I'd love to help! Please visit www.sageoutdoordesigns.com for more info.

Garden Brights: this season's trend is bright color

Summer is coming and this year there is an exuberance in the air. Maybe the economy is finally easing up a bit and we're all feeling a little bubbly about that, or maybe this summer is going to be a hot one and somehow we all sense it. Whatever the reason, there is a definite craving going around.... for color. Lots of it. Bold, bright, in-your-face color. We're talking only slightly more restrained than the late 80's neons. These colors are glaring orangey-reds, rich purples, lime greens, and flaming oranges. You'll see these bright colors everywhere (especially in clothing stores right now).

These colors are begging to come outdoors and cheer up your summertime get-togethers. Here are a few garden finds to brighten up your outdoor living space:

1) Crate and Barrel 'Alfresco' line

2) Crate and Barrel 'Arbor' lounge set

3) Baur 22" Oil Jar planter (also available through Potted)

4) Circle Pot by Potted

5) Vitex trifolia purpurea: it's richly purple leaves make this plant a garden show-stopper. Make sure to put it somewhere where it will have room to grow into it's full glory. It can be a small tree about 6' tall.

6) Helichrysum 'Limelight': this easy to grow rambling groundcover has soft fuzzy leaves that are a cheerful lime green. It is perfect for your waterwise garden, just make sure to cut it back severely in winter or it can start to look a bit shabby.

Need more evidence? Check out the newly redesigned hotel by the company that brought us the Ace Hotel in Palm Springs: the Saguaro Palm Springs. Let's just say they didn't pull their punches....

© Kate Wiseman 2012. In San Diego? Want your own waterwise landscape design? I'd love to help! Please visit www.sageoutdoordesigns.com for more info.

Outdoor furniture for your Barnwood Modern garden

We've all seen it around, but don't have a name for it yet. It's a distinct style; it's very now.... but what do you call it?

It blends Industrial salvage materials with clean modern lines, a few bespoke fixtures blended with some wonderfully rusty antique finds. You'll see lots of Cor-ten steel and reclaimed barnwood, peeling paint, and lots of succulents. Whenever possible, there will be irony. In San Diego, you'll see it at Craft and Commerce, the Station, Counterpoint, Bankers Hill. I want it to have a name (why doesn't it have a name yet?), so I'm going to dub it Barnwood Modern.

Unless you are the type to prowl through Architectural Salvage and Etsy endlessly, it is tough to find fun and funky furnishings for your Barnwood Modern garden. So here are a few to get you started:

1) Vintage Biergarten Tables by Napa Style, $499 each.

2) Fermob Rendez-Vous collection chairs. Fermob is available locally through Chicweed on Cerdros.

3) Tractor Garden Seats, from Napa Style, $129 each

4) Wire planter baskets by A Rustic Garden, $50-$80, and make sure to check out all the other wonderfully rusted things on their website.

© Kate Wiseman 2010. In San Diego? Want your own waterwise landscape design? I'd love to help! Please visit www.sageoutdoordesigns.com for more info.

Gorgeous shade options: using canvas

 It has been hot in San Diego this week, and it has me thinking about good shade options for summer. One of my favorite ways to add shade while still keeping a project feeling light and breezy, is to use canvas. These are called horizontal roman shades, and I like them best in light colors (just like with cars, light colors like cream and white really do look cleaner outdoors, despite what most people assume). Some of them are done on cables so that you can pull them back like curtains if you want sun instead of shade.

The ones here are from:

1) Home Infatuation: their Sombrero Canopy is freestanding and gorgeous. The price tag is around $10K.

2) This local family-owned company, Moran Canvas, is my favorite for custom shades. Their customer service is incredibly good. You have your contractor build you the "frame" (in this case wood beams and stucco columns) and they do the canvas and cables. Their part usually is in the $5K range.

3) This one is the best deal in town. It is from a Flag wholesaler, flagemporium.com! They are less than $1K and are made from super light-weight parachute material, so you don't need much structure to hold them up.  The one in the photo shown here only has four posts and two beams, nothing else! The cables and the canvas do the rest.

© Kate Wiseman 2010. In San Diego? Want your own waterwise landscape design? I'd love to help! Please visit www.sageoutdoordesigns.com for more info.