Monthly Archives: October 2009

October 2009 Newsletter

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VALUED CUSTOMERS & FRIENDS+

Thank you to the clients who offered feedback, opinions and great ideas through our FormLA Landscaping client survey!

You offered savvy suggestions for new services and maintenance communications processes. We are incredibly grateful for your ideas and hopeful you have already noticed us taking action in these areas.

Your feedback has been so instrumental, we have placed the link at formlainc.com/contact, so you can easily and anonymously share your feedback at any time. As always, we also welcome your ideas and comments via email, phone and in person!

We hope to see you at one of our upcoming events and wish you a very Happy Halloween and October!

Sincerely,
Cassy and Kirk Aoyagi

LATEST NEWS+

Tour the Markota Garden
Learn Post-Fire Strategies
Design for LEED
Win a Sustainable Plant
Get 10 Percent Off

UPCOMING EVENTS+

Native Plant Garden Design
USGBC Green Gala
Cherokee Studios Opening
Wild Eats Hike and Learn

TEAM UPDATE+

Meet Isara Ongwiseth
Dara in the Garden

UPCOMING EVENTS+

The FormLA team has garden installations at several events
this Fall, and we would
enjoy seeing you:

October 17, 31, and November 14, 9:00 AM – 1:00 PM: Native Plant Garden Design with Cassy Aoyagi, hosted by the Theodore Payne Foundation. Get details

October 29, 5:30 PM: U.S. Green Building Council, Los Angeles Annual Green Gala. Get details

October 29, 7:00 – 10:00 PM: Rock n’ Platinum Launch Event at Cherokee Studios Benefits Habitat for Humanity. Get details

October 30-November 17: Lofts & Cherokee Studios Open for Public Tours. Get details

November 7, 10 AM: Wild Eats Hike and Learn with Cassy and Kirk. Get details

TEAM UPDATE+

Isara Ogwiseth

Meet Isara Ongwiseth
Isara Ongwiseth designed the Lofts & Cherokee Studios greenroof to provide serenity in the City, using waves of undulating grasses to mimic the nearby ocean. More

Dara

FormLA Mascot Dara Aoyagi promoted native meadow playgrounds October 7th

CONTACT FORMLA+

Cassy and Kirk Aoyagi, Principals: Cassy@formlainc.com

Mark Britten, Production Manager: Mark@formlainc.com

John Avakian, Bookkeeping: John@formlainc.com

Noe Granados, Maintenance Care Supervisor: Noe@formlainc.com

Cara Barnard, Horticultural Care Technician: Cara@formlainc.com

LATEST NEWS+

Tour the Markota Garden

Sanchez Theodore Garden Tour Client Story: Michele Markota needed updates to the kitchen and the landscape of her home at the base of the trails of Eagle Rock. With two BBQ grills, birdbaths made from her favorite antiques, and a serene landscape featured on the 2009 Theodore Payne Foundation garden tour, Michele decided the kitchen can wait. More

Learn What to Expect (and Do) Post-Fire

By Cassy Aoyagi: Last week, heavy rainfall simultaneously contained the most deadly Los Angeles fire and reminded Angelinos of the dangers of erosion on desiccated slopes. While our ecosystems appear destroyed after expansive fires, great value exists on a burnt slope. More

Design to LEED® with Greenroofs

By Cassy Aoyagi: Rooftop foliage adds dimension and vitality to the best of views. It can also reduce energy costs, improve indoor air-quality, and earn high Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) ratings. More

Win A Flowering Ground-Cover!

Congratulations to Barbara Cohen who correctly identified Adenostoma Fasciculatum as a lovely, sustainable option for creating a privacy hedge of delicate, creamy-white flowers. Learn about Adenostoma and enter-to-win a sustainable, flowering ground-cover. Win!

Receive 10% Off a Month of Maintenance!

Client referrals are the foundation of FormLA Landscaping’s business. Last year, FormLA began providing a 10 percent discount on maintenance for each client referral. This practice continues, as we truly cannot thank you enough for the impact your kudos have on our business and the level of joy we take in our work.

SERVICE UPDATES+

Expect FormLA teams…

  • leaving holiday pumpkins with recipes and wildflower seeds on client doorsteps… check them out and contact us if you would like seeding advice!
  • pruning conifers and other deciduous trees
  • feeding fruit trees
  • turning down irrigation controllers
  • planting fill-ins
  • continuing to cut back thriving natives and native grasses as they experience growth spurts through November
info@formlainc.com • PO Box 441 Tujunga, CA 91043
phone 818.353.7030 • 310.979.9002 • fax 818.353.6837 • www.formlainc.com
View Past Newsletters

Native Plant Garden Design

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Date: October 17, 31, and November 14, 2009

Time:  9:00 am – 1:00 pm

Location: Theodore Payne Foundation, 10459 Tuxford Street, Sun Valley, CA 91352 (map)

Registration: Pre-registration is required. These dates are currently booked to capacity. Theodore Payne Foundation offers this course taught by Cassy Aoyagi and other landscape designers throughout the year. Please call (818) 768-1802 to waitlist or enroll in an upcoming course.

Cost: $135 members, $180 nonmembers; $195 member couples, $255 nonmember couples.

 

This comprehensive three-session course for home gardeners will cover:

  • a sound foundation in the design process
  • the importance of sustainability
  • design styles
  • how to model a garden after patterns in nature
  • devising a base/plot plan
  • hardscape materials, irrigation, soils, and more

The instructor, FormLA Landscaping President Cassy Aoyagi is a board member of the Theodore Payne Foundation, which strives to increase knowledge about and use of native California plants.

JT Wilkinson, Maintenance

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JT Wilkinson joined FormLA Landscaping in 2019 as maintenance care manager. In this role, JT protects client health and wellbeing through use of optimally sustainable landscaping practices. He leads and trains onsite maintenance teams in California native and drought tolerant horticultural care, the latest smart irrigation technologies, as well as overall landscape safety and management. He’s particularly passionate about the impact of our work on wildlife.
 

 
JT thinks long term and is perpetually looking for how to improve our client service, day-to-day operations, and team training and satisfaction. His ability to move through the day-to-day while keeping his eye on the future keeps our maintenance team evolving.

JT sets high standards for the work to be accomplished by FormLA teams onsite. Care of natives and drought tolerant materials require specialized knowledge and techniques, as well as an understanding of the architecture of each landscape design. FormLA’s commitment to use of natural environmental management techniques instead of toxic chemical fertilizers and pesticides means technicians quickly spot and address imbalances in the garden environment. In addition to in-depth horticultural knowledge, JT ensures technicians apply expertise and hands-on know-how to manage the latest in smart irrigation technologies and hardscape care.

Prior to joining FormLA Landscaping, JT gained experience with sustainable landscape construction, maintenance and team leadership. He’s worked on Catalina Island and in the Caribbean rebuilding homes after Hurricanes Maria and Irma. In addition to earning a landscape construction degree with a focus on sustainability, JT is a Certified Landscape Technician through California Landscape Contractors Association.

When he isn’t saving the world with sustainable landscaping, JT still stays outside! His greatest joys are hiking and camping with his partner Gerardo and dog Cleo. Their favorite spots are icons of California’s authentic beauty, including Joshua Tree, Big Bear and Yosemite. JT is also a fountain of knowledge on LA thrifting and vegan hot spots!