Honored Among Los Angeles Business Journal’s 2022 Women of Influence

 
Cassy Aoyagi, president of FormLA® Landscaping, aims to transform every space she can into a vibrantly beautiful, optimally sustainable, place to connect with nature.

Aoyagi promotes an authentically LA landscape aesthetic, relying on use of native and climate-compatible plants, innovative permeable hardscapes, and smart water infrastructure. Her dedication to this distinctive approach resulted in the Los Angeles Business Journal honoring her among its 2022 Women of Influence: Construction, Architecture and Engineering.
 

 
Aoyagi is a board member of the thought-leading LA Chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC-LA). She is one of the rare practitioners aggregated in both its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) and Sustainable SITEs programs. Aoyagi sits on the LA County Planning Department’s Significant Ecological Areas Technical Advisory Committee (SEA-TAC) and previously served as board president of the Theodore Payne Foundation for Wildflowers and Native Plants.

Perpetually curious, Aoyagi has developed specialized expertise in fire defensive landscaping. In 2017, after evacuating for both the La Tuna Fire and Creek Fires, Aoyagi looked to enhance the safety of her own home and that of her clients. She then worked with Theodore Payne Foundation and USGBC-LA to inspire and develop fire risk reduction programs.

Aoyagi’s work has been covered in InStyle, Sunset, Dwell and Form Magazines, as well as on HGTV and in the LA Times. She has contributed expertise to the Los Angeles Times’ SoCal Garden Clinic and Houzz, as well as the USGBC’s Green Home Guide. FormLA Landscaping and Aoyagi’s work is frequently featured on area garden tours.

In 2018, Aoyagi was recognized as a Woman in Business Honoree for the 25th Assembly District, and she previously received the small business of the year award for the district. The Los Angeles Business Council has also recognized her for her work educating the public about water conservation, and Los Angeles Business Journal named FormLA Landscaping among LA’s most influential family owned businesses.

Aoyagi earned her bachelors in environmental horticulture at California Polytechnic, San Luis Obispo and co-founded FormLA Landscaping with her husband and FormLA co-founder Kirk Aoyagi in 1997.

When her mind isn’t adding green space to every square inch of Los Angeles, Aoyagi is likely cooking for her family, delighting in the antics of her son and Portuguese Water Dogs, (Salvia) Dara and Poppy, or enjoying the trails of Tujunga.

Get to Know Cassy Aoyagi:

 
Cassy leads us through the fire defensive features of a treeful property, nestled into a Tujunga hillside:
 

 
 
Tour a beautiful fire defensive Mandeville Canyon property with Cassy:
 

 
 
Aoyagi moderates a discussion among experts from the fields of wildland fire management and education, home-hardening, defensive landscaping, and fire-safe community organizing:
 

 
 

Co-Founder and Vice President, FormLA Landscaping

 
Kirk Aoyagi ensures each outdoor space FormLA® Landscaping builds goes beyond saving water to water positivity using the latest technologies and most sustainable practices. He is energized by matching that technical goal with the opportunity to complement the varied, distinctive architectural styles of Los Angeles.
 

 
Kirk has a deep understanding of sustainable landscape-supporting technologies, particularly those related water conservation. He is an EPA-accredited WaterSense manager, a certified water manager and a CLIA, Irrigation Association irrigation auditor. Kirk knows the ins and outs of sophisticated smart irrigation systems, weather-based controllers, as well as low impact runoff prevention and mitigation techniques. This knowledge supports FormLA® Landscaping’s ability to develop water positive landscapes and to retrofit existing irrigation systems to conserve water.

Kirk and his wife Cassy founded FormLA Landscaping as C&K Landscape Design in 1997. By 2000, their interest in ensuring everything their clients experienced was “just right” led them to building a full-service firm. Cassy and Kirk’s work has been featured in a multitude of Los Angeles garden tours, and garnered significant press coverage.

In addition to his water-focused credentials, Kirk is a registered sustainable landscaper and a licensed landscape contractor. He earned bachelors of science degree in environmental horticulture science at California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo.

If you see a mountain bike whizz by you in the LA foothills, it just might be Kirk. Mountain biking is a great passion, as is being the best dad ever to the couple’s son and two Portuguese Water Dogs.

Interviews with Cassy Aoyagi:

1. There Is No Such Thing As an Indoor Kid, Fatherly
2. These 7 Plants May Save Your Home, LA Times
3. Native Plants Can Transform Your Yard – and The Planet, Dwell
4. Going Native, LA Times
5. What’s Next in LA Green Building? Green Home Builder Magazine (Byline)

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A four-time Sustainable Innovation Award-Winner, FormLA® Landscaping Lead Designer Isara Ongwiseth consciously honors the natural and cultural history of the sites he beautifies.

Design Projects

Isara earned Sustainable Innovation Awards for his work on two projects that beautifully harness rainfall, feed their residents – and spark imagination. At the Gateway at Willowbrook, a multi-story, mixed development property for seniors, Isara transformed a small space between the structure and the 105 freeway into a peaceful retreat for residents. A front garden bioswale and edible garden at the Matloff Residence in LA’s storied Hancock Park turns heads and proves innovation and historic preservation can go hand in hand.
 
You may recognize some of Isara’s projects from local garden tours. The Art of the Garden tour featured this once-sunny Pasadena property into a shady oasis. Join homeowner Tom Schumacher and Isara for a tour here:
 

 
Additional projects, perennial favorites on the Theodore Payne Foundation’s annual Native Plant Garden Tour, feature more than 50 percent native foliage and showcases the tastes and lifestyle of the owners.   Located in Granada Hills,  Playa Del Rey (left), Santa Monica and Sunland, the gardens also reflect the needs of the environment found in their unique LA microclimate and neighborhood history as well as each home’s distinctive architecture.

For example, at the Weiss residence in Santa Monica, Isara designed to complement an historic farm home recognized by the Santa Monica Conservancy for its
extraordinary restoration.  The gard
en preserved fruit trees and incorporated visually striking edible gardens.  It has been featured on multiple Santa Monica Conservancy Tours, and its two IdealMow lawns and vivacious California native foliage make it a perennial favorite on the Theodore Payne Foundation Native Garden Tour.

Isara’s work at a French provincial home in La Canada earned placement on the Art of the Garden and USGBC-SGV garden tours, placement on the International Greenbuild Tour, a Certificate of Recognition for environmental stewardship from the California State Assembly, and two La Canada Valley Beautiful awards. Here, his architecturally-relevant design replaced a boring traditional lawn with a Mediterranean garden full of vibrant coors and textures.

Isara also contributed compelling value for several developments and public gardens.  At the LEED® Platinum Lofts @ Cherokee Studios designed by Pugh+Scarpa-designed, the greenroof design evokes the legendary musical history of the site.  Gardens surrounding Sierra Madre City Hall save water and energy while reflecting the area’s history as a bread basket for Native American nations.  Isara also contributed to the lush, low-water design of the New Look for LA at Descanso Gardens.

Click photos to see more of each project.

 
Beyond his residential designs, Isara contributed to the Authentic Foothill Gardens at Sierra Madre City Hall, becoming an expert in the region’s historic role as a breadbasket for native people’s and the rare geology of its nearby alluvial fan. His work on the New Look for LA garden in the Center Circle at Descanso Gardens made led to its unusually long run on center stage and fueled his contributions to the evolution of Descanso’s California Garden.

Prior to joining FormLA Landscaping, Isara conducted extensive research into the design of many urban centers, including Los Angeles’ historical Olivera Street, Los Angeles Union Station, and a Pomona pocket park. He earned is bachelor of science in Landscape Architecture at California Polytechnic University, Pomona.

When Isara isn’t designing the outdoor dreams of our clients, Isara is growing his own garden in Alhambra or perhaps heading out to Redondo for some time at the beach.

Get to Know Isara:

1. Tour a Shady Oasis with homeowner Tom Schumacher and Designer Isara Ongwiseth
2. Grow Money on Trees, LA Times
3. Create Long Haul Love,
4. Design-In Community
5. Change Your Lawn, Change Your Life

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