Earlier this year we were fortunate to meet Terra Basche of Terra Malia Designs in Santa Barbara.  She was looking for pots for the new Sonos location in Santa Barbara and found them at Eye of the Day.  We caught up with this busy woman and asked her a few questions about her blooming career.

How did you become interested in landscape design and what was your path to your current career?
I completely fell head over heels in love with succulents back in 1996 when I was attending UCSB. I remember the very visit to Santa Paula Nursery where I ohhh and ahhhed over the variety of colors, textures and structural make up of each individual one. I tried to fit as many in each fist as possible, as I headed to Ivan at check out.

I naturally have a design eye, as those on my mom’s side of the family have practiced every kind of art. I designed succulent centerpieces for my own wedding in 2001 and proceeded to design pots, weddings, gifts and mini-landscapes for friends and family until I started getting offers from others who would actually pay me to do what I loved. When my oldest daughter was born, I quit my 9 to 5 to be a mom, but began to lazily pursue my love professionally on a very part-time basis. Terra Malia Designs was my “second born” back in 2008.

My business presently is a healthy mix of artistic interiors/exteriors for residential and business and wedding floral with a healthy dose of untraditional elements including mixing succulents, tillandsias and other living props, so the plants in tablescapes can be reused and planted back into the ground, so unnecessary waste is eliminated. My business model closely mirrors my life models and beliefs about sustainability and what makes sense. Plain and simple…it feels good!

What are your clients asking you about water-wise planting and hardscaping?
Most often, clients seek me out for my succulent design. I have almost always reached for plants that require low water, as they are just as lovely as those other plants that need lots of water. Saving resources when necessary is responsible.

How do you design a plan that addresses water issues but is welcoming and pleasing to the eye?
There are so many varieties of succulents and cacti; it is easy to create a design that has enough variety for the eye. I enjoy combining succulents with grasses to add movement potential and texture. The continual exotic blooms from succulents create a softer feel, while adding interest. Using the neon green Crassula, mixed with Aloe Striata and Blue Fescue for color variation, for instance, provides the viewer with color difference so each plant can be appreciated, and the style boasts both soft and hard lines with movement in the Blue Fescue.

How did you approach the Sonos project in order to solve the physical issues of a “parking lot?”
Sonos wishes to maintain their offices in the city of Santa Barbara…which means convenience for their employees, but at the same time, means not as much potential for green space. Terra Malia Designs has helped to transform parking lots, patios and rooftops into greener spaces where a more natural environment can be enjoyed.

The Sonos headquarters, located at 614 Chapala Street, has a staff parking lot that backs up to the building. Sonos wanted to create a patio area where staff could go to have an outdoor meeting or sit and have lunch. Terra Malia Designs utilized the Cassetta Liscia Atlas Italian terracotta pots from Eye of the Day placed side-by-side to create a barrier between the parking lot and the patio zone. Visually, the barrier is essential to differentiate the spaces and as the planting has filled in, it has created a space that is more pleasing to spend time.

To see more of Terry Basche’s work, please visit Terra Malia Designs 

Book Review: The Inspired Landscape: Twenty-one leading landscape architects explore the creative process by Susan Cohen

I planned on liking this book before I opened it, but it had me at the dedication:

“For landscape architects – whose works, grounded in the practical, are elevated by their imaginations.”

Since we opened our business in 1994, we have met many, many landscape architects and some have been using Eye of the Day as their source for Italian terracotta, French Anduze pottery, Greek pottery and American concrete since our first year. This is a well researched book that I wish I could give every one of those loyal customers.  The Inspired Landscape by Susan Cohen features professionals from around the world and with drawings, plans, photographs and resources attempts to portray the creative process experienced personally by these individuals through specific projects.

The landscape architect forms a plan by taking cues from topography, light, client style and natural conditions.  Included in this book are designs of public places, botanical gardens, modern landscapes, country homes and on top of structures.  Cohen spots and magnifies the initial flicker of creativity and follows it through to the resulting design.  This book is a series of investigations into the inspiration and process of these twenty one specific designers, and a great resource for anyone looking for insight into and inspiration from landscape design.

And this is Interesting about Susan Cohen, too: besides being a landscape architect herself, she is a teacher and lecturer on landscape design and history and is the coordinator of the Landscape Design Program at the New York Botanical Garden where she founded the Landscape Design Portfolio Series.

Blue Agave Landscape Design Project

After whetting your appetite for planting your own meadow and inspiring visions of golden grasslands,  we want to show you a different way of using the “no lawns” concept.

Adan Venegas of Blue Agave Landscape in Santa Barbara used lots of Italian terracotta rolled rim pots for planting (surprise!) agaves and placing them throughout the area which was at one time planted in lawn.

Also in place of green grass, there is now the lovely soft golden hue of decomposed granite, offering an interesting textural and color contrast.  The lines of the fountain feature complete  the design with a complementary architectural edge.

Adan, along with photos of another of his designs is featured in our Look Book as well. See the rest of his Designer Profile here.

“We’ve reached a stage where we can no longer follow past practices unthinkingly, particularly when those practices are wasteful and injurious to the environment. It’s time to get rid of the old-fashioned lawn and embrace a sane and healthy future: the designed meadow.” – John Greenlee

In The American Meadow Garden: Creating a Natural Alternative to the Traditional Lawn, “grass guru” John Greenlee leads us into a new way of thinking about grass.  He uses the words “glade,” “grassland,” “mead,” “savanna,” “pasture,” “sod,” and “meadow” among other terms, to describe areas around the world that are largely treeless, grass-covered landscapes.

These words paint an image of golden or green grassy carpets, rippling in a breeze. In this beautiful book, we are given a portfolio of meadow gardens and a guide to grasses for meadows and how to maintain them.

We’re constantly looking for ways in which to cope with our water-challenged world in California and Greenlee offers alternatives to our lawn habit. In many areas, aquifers are dwindling and water is increasingly scarce. There is no longer enough of it to supply lawns. Growing populations and dwindling supply is our scary future and our landscapes must change with the times. The American Meadow Garden was published in 2009, but the relevance of the information and ideas within its covers increases every year.

The American Meadow Garden: Creating a Natural Alternative to the Traditional Lawn, by John Greenlee, Timber Press 2009

GROUNDSKEEPING:  Austin, Texas

Being from California, born and raised, I have always had a prejudice towards Texas.  They were cowboys and we were beach people if not surfers.  They like six guns and we like bongs, they eat TexMex and we eat real Mexican food.  Girls in Texas have big hair and wear lots of makeup and who doesn’t still dream about California girls.

Texas is a desert and so is most of California. We both have major water issues and we both landscape our homes and developments like there is no bottom to the aquifers that provide much of our water.

Travelling to Austin to visit my family I have come to really, really enjoy it.  This hilly area along the Colorado River (different Colorado from the one we know in California) is a fun and exciting place and I enjoy driving the neighborhoods and suburbs when I’m there.  On a recent trip I went out to visit different landscape architects and design firms.

Several were in the Tarrytown neighborhood just west of the downtown which is doing its best to emulate the high-rise culture of many large cities today.  Tarrytown is an area of old and new residences that fit the description of “stately”.  With their use of Texas limestone for structures, walls and pathways and stairs, there is a feeling of substance and earth filled with lush landscapes that make one appreciate the humidity and heat in a way that as a Californian I didn’t know I could.

There are many, many architects and developers in the busy and growing Austin area and the design elements are trending to mid-century modern and contemporary.  The populace is very conscious of their outdoor areas and driving the neighborhoods shows a diversity of styles when it come to containers they use.

This historic estate makes the most of its entrance with lidded finials on the entry posts and two Campania concrete vase planters on the front porch.
 

Next is an empty tree planter downtown Austin on Willy Nelson Blvd.  Metal and wood, built for public traffic.  A new, modern twist on the Versailles planter used all over Europe with a very western feeling.  Perfect for walking on the sunny side of the street.  

Another commercial application, this project is in the University of Texas neighborhood – a large, metal square.  I like the scale and simplicity of its design and size in front of this office building.  

If you haven’t been and think of Texas the way I used to, I suggest a trip to the Austin area.  Great food, great music, the home of Whole Foods and a great place to experience the South and easy livin’ in great gardens.

A LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT DESIGNS FOR THE DROUGHT

While landscape architect Sally Farnum of SE Farnum Associates has been taking the time to educate her clients about how to deal with their outdated, thirsty landscapes—especially rolling, green lawns—she has designed and implemented an outside environment for her own home that is water-considerate and still lush, inviting and peaceful.

The first task was to remove a large front lawn and some accompanying flower beds.

BEFORE: Water-thirsty lawn

DURING: Removing lawn and introducing granite

Next, grading, drainage and landscape plan was translated to the area. Decomposed granite was used as the base of the pathway from the driveway, culminating in a keyhole design, at the end of which a dry-stacked rock wall would serve as a retaining wall as well as the background for a Gladding McBean fountain conversion.

ALMOST FINISHED!
Flanking each side of the pathway are two Antique Green Gladding McBean Oil Jars, preparing the eye for the fountain.  Planting on the perimeter of the path area includes a variety of water-friendly plants and trees.

STAY TUNED
Check back next month on Sally’s design in progress for photos of the finished project.