My Little Paradise in San Diego

My Little Paradise in San Diego

From another recently satisfied customer: “After returning from our honeymoon in Hawaii, I just couldn’t get enough of the beautiful tropical life, so we contracted SquareRoot Landscape Group to bring a little of Hawaii back to San Diego! I say they did a great...
Beauty Without Water

Beauty Without Water

From another recently satisfied customer: “Upon hearing that mandatory water restrictions were coming to San Diego, CA, I immediately called Brian at SquareRoot Landscape Group in San Diego and told him that I had to have an amazing yard, but I didn’t want artificial turf and I had to conserve water. Brian came up with the incredible design that you see here. I couldn’t be happier with our yard or with Brian and his team at SquareRoot.” A little about the plants in this photo: Little Trudy® is a new dwarf form of catmint with tiny leaves, showy flowers and is sterile! Sea kale is the large white flowering plant (Crambe maritima), and to the right is Purple Mountain® sun daisy (Osteospermum barberiae), another Plant Select®...
Mandatory Water Use Restrictions Now in Effect

Mandatory Water Use Restrictions Now in Effect

REGION-WIDE DROUGHT ALERT DECLARED   After months of record-breaking high temperatures and concerns about statewide water reserves, the San Diego County Water Authority declared a Level 2 Drought Alert in July, triggering mandatory restrictions by local water agencies in the region. As a result, new water use restrictions for Oceanside residents and businesses are currently in effect. Over the years, the Oceanside community has done a commendable job making water conservation a way of life. With drought conditions growing more serious, water saving efforts need to be re-evaluated and may be increased to prepare for a potential fourth consecutive dry year. Together, the Oceanside community can increase water savings and make a difference for a more sustainable...
landscape design: a creative process

landscape design: a creative process

Hello everyone, and welcome back to our world for a few minutes. We just wrapped up the concept plan phase (above) for a family in San Elijo Hills, CA, and produced a video (below) to demonstrate the process. We’ve partnered with John Kennedy, of Nature Designs (no, not THAT John Kennedy, silly. THIS John Kennedy..), and they will be performing all of the construction services on this project. Upon completion, we will have the tangible product here in full for your viewing pleasure, in the form of another video short. Things have been busy-busy here, as you can tell not only by the pace of this video, but also by our extended absence from here. We hope to be more present in this space, and realize we have some unfinished business in our other endeavors here too (i.e. ‘the avoidable alphabet’ and ‘go.give.feel.great.’). So, we promise to tie up those loose ends shortly as well. In the mean time, we present to you: “Landscape Design: A Creative Process”, so sit back, relax, and enjoy. Thanks for your patience and continued support. See you...
Backyard adventures

Backyard adventures

Thanks to two recent articles in the Pittsburgh (PA) Tribune-Review and Pittsburgh (PA) Post-Gazette, I am reminded of the alternatives to backyard amenities such as a pool/spa, BBQ/outdoor kitchen, fireplace/fire pit,  etc. Even though these elements can be big hits with the little ones (you know you wish you had a dime for every time they’ve asked you to dig a pool),  they require adult supervision at the least, can be much too expensive or impractical to implement and maintain on a regular basis, or require more space than is available in your kingdom. For those with kids, you know that the simplest of things can sometimes offer hours of entertainment. Aren’t convinced yet? Do you remember a few birthdays ago when your child paid more attention to the packaging and wrapping paper than the $100+ toy that came inside, that you went to four different malls to find? With a little creativity and not a lot of money, you can provide an endless array of attention getting (& keeping) ideas to not only keep them busy, but also encourage them to learn about their surroundings. Below are some low-cost, highly interactive strategies to get your kids outside learning about their natural environment, and away from the television and video games they so desperately rely on. Sandbox: A sandbox is simple to build or inexpensive to buy compared to the enjoyment and imagination it will provide. It’s not quite the beach, but with a little water and some buckets, the castles can be just as grand. Keep in mind that they aren’t the neatest things in the world, so...
Adjectives, or whatever

Adjectives, or whatever

I recently found a survey that I had filled out for my web guy/good friend, Jesse Watkins, over at Cybernetic Visionaries. I was drawn to one particular question that read, “Adjectives: Please list 5 (or more) adjectives that you think describe your company in order of relevance.” As I read through the following list, I began to expand on each. Then, with a little sarcastic guidance from my better-half, I realized I had come up with a list of transitive and intransitive verbs instead, not adjectives. Sorry, Ms. Cavanaugh, I never really did grasp that part of grammar. All I know is that my new company would sound much more interesting through verbs than adjectives. Nevertheless, I began to expand on each, to really figure out why or how these words, whatever-the-hell you Lit-majors call’em, were important to not just my company, but to the entire field of landscape design. If you find yourself in conversation with someone involved in some capacity in the landscaping industry that uses these words, you know you are in good hands. Since some of the words and definitions overlap, I’ll save you the redundancy, but here they are, in no particular order (I know, this breaks the only other rule in the original question): Inspire – This one is first because it appears in our slogan, “Inspiring Solutions For Every Environment.” This may seem obvious, but if you’re about to drop tens of thousands of dollars on a renovation project for your property, you better be inspired, at least to some extent, by the design. Anyone can go to Home Depot and buy...