Get to Know Natives


Glendale News Press. May 19, 2010. By Riley Hooper:  Karen and Peter Veloz are living in sustainable luxury in the hills of Glendale. About two years ago, with the help of FormLA, a Los Angeles landscape design company that focuses on sustainability, they ripped out their back lawn and put in hardscapes amid a landscape of California-native plants.

The concept behind the design was to create outdoor living spaces, Karen Veloz said, and so the backyard features outdoor seating areas, a fire pit, barbecue and bar, wine cellar and infinity spa pool, or “spool.”

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May 2010 Newsletter

VALUED CUSTOMERS & FRIENDS+

We had a great time with you and La Cañada Valley Beautiful at the Gardens of the World celebration last weekend! Special thanks goes out to generous donors and exhibitors with products we love, including: Asian Ceramics, Eastside Water Alliance, PHAT Solar Energy, and Theodore Payne Foundation.

At the end of June, we’ll be exhibiting a chic modern outdoor living space at Dwell on Design. We’ll be providing updates and chances to win tickets through our Facebook Page, so please stay tuned!

Sincerely,
Cassy and Kirk Aoyagi

LATEST NEWS+

Bring the World to Your Garden
Tour Our 2010 Showcase Garden
Vote for FormLA’s Garden
View Cassy’s Tips
Win a Pink Rock Border!

UPCOMING EVENTS+

No Sweat Gardening
Dwell on Design Los Angeles

WHAT TO EXPECT+

TEAM UPDATE+

La Cañada Event Photos
Dwell on Design Updates

UPCOMING EVENTS+

The FormLA team would enjoy seeing you:

June 12, 2010, 10 AM – 1 PM:
No Sweat Gardening with FormLA President Cassy Aoyagi, sponsored by the City of Santa Monica’s Green Garden Academy.
Get details

June 27-28, 2010
FormLA exhibits and Cassy Aoyagi speaks at Dwell on Design Los Angeles. Get details

See All Events

Contact us to request a sustainable landscaping presentation for your green organization.

TEAM UPDATE+

Cassy Aoyagi

See photos from the La Cañada “Gardens of the World” Event on the FormLA Facebook page. “Like” us to see Dwell on Design updates, including a chance or two to win tickets!

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

USGBC FormLA on Facebook

 

 

LATEST NEWS+

Bring the World to Your Garden

Home Wizards with Cindy DoleNews: Listen-in on Cassy Aoyagi’s conversation with the always-vibrant Cindy Dole of Home Wizards about incorporating plants from Australia, Chile, the Mediterranean basin, and South Africa into your California garden, the FormLA-designed strolling garden at Pasadena Showcase House, and what to do with clover in your lawn. More

Get to Know Natives

See the Ownby and Veloz Gardens in the Glendale News PressNews-Glendale News Press: Karen and Peter Veloz are living in sustainable luxury in the hills of Glendale. About two years ago, with the help of FormLA, a Los Angeles landscape design company that focuses on sustainability, they ripped out their back lawn and put in hardscapes amid a landscape of California-native plants. More

Tour Our 2010 Showcase Garden

Pasadena Showcase House of DesignClient Story: Missed your chance to stroll the sustainable, formal French knot garden FormLA designed for the 2010 Pasadena Showcase House of Design at the historic Craven Mansion? Take the online tour. More

Vote for FormLA’s Coastal Garden

Santa Monica Planting Plan ContestTips: Need a simple, beautiful, water-wise outdoor living space design? Here it is! FormLA’s ready-to-go sustainable landscape design is one of three finalists in the City of Santa Monica contest to design its next sustainable landscaping demonstration garden. Voting closes May 31st, and we need your vote!
See the Garden
Vote for FormLA!

Win a Precociously Pink Rock Border

Win a Precociously Pink Rock Border!Congratulations to wet-to-dry winners Leslie Hope, Michele Markota, and Lulu Schwarz! Each won dancing purple posies for identifying Viola as the California native option. Learn about the trade-offs between Viola and the more common, thirsty Serbian bellflower, or just enter to win a precociously pink rock border in this issue’s Wet-to-Dry Exchange. Win!

WHAT TO EXPECT+

Expect FormLA teams…

To prepare your landscape for a long, dry summer.

Fax your fire inspection notice to us, and we’ll take care of the rest: 818-353-6837. We will take the following steps to prepare and protect your landscape and home:

  • Maintain proper spacing among plants,
  • Raise lower branches on shrubs to keep foliage off of the ground,
  • Remove all dead material and weed growth,
  • Open shrubbery and reduce volume of flammable material with structural pruning
  • Clear material away from roof lines and eaves
  • Follow fire code restrictions within 200′ of structures

Count on FormLA teams to protect you from “tier 2” water prices. We will:

  • Eliminate run-off and overspray
  • Inspect common sprinklers for leaks and floods and ensure drip irrigation and common sprinklers provide proper coverage
  • Manage timers for optimal watering on minimal days,
  • Water by hand where necessary
  • Provide recommendations for irrigation retrofits and improvements
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

Ready to Go Coastal Garden

Beach and Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance Friendly Design

This garden was designed to demonstrate beach friendly landscaping consistent with the City of Santa Monica’s extensive sustainable landscaping incentives and guidelines. The design balances privacy concerns with the desire to welcome and entertain guests, maximizes water efficiency, and will maintain a lush appearance year round.  If you have a home in Santa Monica or another Los Angeles Beach Community, this design might be a great starting point for you!

Ready-to-Go Coastal Garden

This ready-to-go sustainable landscape design answered the City of Santa Monica’s challenge to design a coast-appropriate sustainable garden. The City asked that the designs be easy to recreate, neighborhood appropriate, and ultimately sustainable. If you live in Santa Monica, or one of Los Angeles’ walkable beach communities, this design may work for you.

The Vision: A Customizable Sustainable Landscape Design

FormLA Landscaping sought to create an easily replicable, thoroughly enjoyable and ultimately sustainable landscape design, appropriate for both frontage and backyard space in coastal areas.

Ideally, a sustainable landscape design minimizes the effect of landscape construction and landscape maintenance on the air, water, and fossil fuel resources. This landscape design uses a LEED® best practices to accomplish these goals, namely:

  • Using green building and plant materials readily available in Los Angeles and incorporating recycled products wherever possible
  • Designing plant groupings that like the same amount of water for a simplified irrigation layout and optimal water use
  • Selecting climate-appropriate plants, including our IdealMow™ lawn alternatives to minimize the ongoing maintenance needs, production of green waste, need for chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and consumption of water
  • Incorporating edibles to save the occasional trip or two to the grocery store

These same LEED® strategies ensure homeowners using the design can easily recreate the sustainable landscape and spend more time enjoying than maintaining their outdoor living space.

The Design: Easy, Enjoyable, Sustainable

While landscaping challenges can be daunting, FormLA’s coastal garden design provides a variety of ways to transform outdoor spaces into safe, healthy, easy‐to‐maintain, sustainable landscapes.

From the street, this sustainable landscape presents a balanced and inviting picture. The first step into the garden is a broad landing, surrounded by low vegetation, such as Thymus pseudolanuginosus or this Dymondia margaretae (Silver Carpet). The large, square permeable concrete pavers that lead toward the home complement most home designs. However, to complement more rustic or Spanish homes, color can be incorporated into the pavers, or they may be overlaid with slate or flagstone for a rich, warm appearance.

As we continue on our path, we are ensconced by shade the shade of a ficus tree, protected throughout Santa Monica. On both sides of the approach, the plant height layers up to 1-4 feet. With large agave and tall foliage like this rich purple Lavandula stoechas buffeting either side of the path, the approach gains a sense of intimacy.

Our next step takes us to a small seating area, a neighborly introduction to the home. There is space provided for placement of a sculpture, water feature or pottery to provide additional visual interest from the patio. Visually compelling foliage like this Euphorbia characias adds interest, fragrance, and privacy to the seating area.

Looking toward the street from the doorstep, tall foliage such as Cordyline australis surrounds us. We see the full length of the approach, while having the sense that we have entered protected space.

The Result: A Ready-to-Go Design

If you live in a Los Angeles beach community, this design is a ready-to-go option for you! Do it yourself, or invite us to help customize the design to your needs and site specifications.

Regardless of who does the heavy-lifting, effectively customizing this design should include:

  • Analysis of the microclimates on your property to determine which of the recommended plant options will thrive for the long term
  • Effective placement and setting of irrigation systems to ensure plant communities with different needs get the just-right amount of water
  • Consideration of existing trees or hardscapes that can be integrated into the design or reclaimed and repurposed in your new sustainable landscape
  • Choosing materials that match the architecture of your home and rules and regulations of your community

Read more Sustainable Landscaping Tips