Radiating Water Circles in Stone

This turned out to be the cutest job... I made radiating circles in stones (Blue-gray in color) centered at the fountain. On the other side of the design is a sun made from different colored rocks that radiate out (Orange in color) and reach the gray radiating lines somewhere in the middle. Meandering through this whole design (which you really can't see right now because the plants are too small) is a caterpillar of mondo grass (Blue Fescue). Once the grass grows it will be just the cutest thing in the world!

Backyard Rock Garden

I had a couple of days... took up half my grass and put in a colorful rock garden in its place. I found that by making a track out of two lines of garden edging, I was able to pour concrete in the spiral shape that you see. This opens up limitless possibilities for making personal and lasting design lines in the garden.

Pebble Mosaics

I just recently discovered a book called Complete Pebble Mosaic Handbook. This is a really beautiful and permanent way to incorporate art into your garden design.A pebble mosaic can be a small touch- a door mat- or an entire walkway. Two artists in particular, Jeffrey Bale and Maggy Howarth are well worth the look. This is right up my alley, obsessive and time-consuming! Let's put some into some San Gabriel Gardens!

A River Runs Through It

This family requested a front yard that you don't water at all. Ever. I gave them a sitting area under the Jacaranda tree (where you get there by crossing the river bed on big stones), a dry stream bed that runs from one side to the other, and a flagstone pathway that meanders beside the stream bed and around to the sides of the house. Stabilized DG covers most of the yard. The next step is to add a Japanese bridge over the stream (with another little path), and to stain the main concrete sidewalk. After that I'll put a few grasses at the edge of the river bed, and a couple of pots at the front porch entrance.

This was a fun way to bring flow and interest into this yard- with no maintenance as the ultimate goal!

On the Fence

Think outside of the box when it comes to fences... if we're going to box ourselves in, let's do it with individuality!

A calm garden for a mid-century house

Looking for a low maintenance, calm, peaceful yard to highlight a low mid century house, we decided to rip up all the front lawn and put in a rock garden. We then made some custom rakes for raking patterns into the gravel, painted some concrete pavers red, built a planter for some horsetail, built a privacy screen in front of the gate, and put up a fence with frosted fiberglass screens (all, of course, while keeping a mid-century look to the property). It's simple, striking, and very effective.

1639 Broadview Drive, Glendale, CA

Unfortunately I don't have a before picture that shows the whole front lawn. Just know that it was a front lawn of St. Augustine grass. Nothing more. My whole idea here is that I was making a color field painting. It begins at the house with a few kangaroo paws and a transition to a blue-gray rock strip, followed by light green ground cover and dark green ground cover (with a little snake shape of pink Arizona flagstone). In front of that is a path of buff colored Mexican pebbles. Once the ground cover is grown in, it will be a color field painting with plantings in front of that stepping its way to the sidewalk with help of scalloped stone planting beds. Come see. It's way fun!

The story of the Artful Eye

The artful eye was born out of a desire to see good design, personality, and whimsy in mine and my neighbors front yards. Since we here in Southern California are under water-rationing, many people have taken out their lawns and had massive amounts of mulch brought in to surround their decomposed granite pathways. Not that I have anything against decomposed granite pathways and mulch-but there is so much more fun that we can have with our yards!
Think of your yard as pure design potential. You can have little private sitting areas, fun places to sit, play, and relax. You can have a vegetable or herb garden. You can have wondering paths with whimsical details. The point is your yard should reflect your sense of playfulness and wonder.

Rocks come in all shapes, sizes, textures, and colors. Decomposed granite even comes in a variety of colors. Salvage yards are full of possibilities in terms of architectural and garden detail. Why have the same landscape your neighbor has? It takes a little more planning and effort but your garden will thank you for it, as will your neighbors!

In this blog I will show you work I've done as well as things that I find interesting.
Hope you enjoy it.

Cindy Jackson, theArtfulEyeLandscape, 818-371-3046