I find inspiration everywhere and in everything...

I always carry a sketchbook with me because an inspirational moment can be found anywhere and anytime – from the texture of a plant to the shape of an old twig or the colors of seashells.

Trees inspire artists and touch our souls...

Like those in the drawings of van Gogh and the prints of Hokusai, trees are the inspiration for sculptors, painters, photographers, and designers alike. They are the living ‘bones’ of the works of landscape architects… they reach to the skies and provide homes for the gentlest of creatures… they whisper in the breeze and speak to me. I am humbled by the responsibility of planting trees today that will hold secret conversations with the hearts of others.
Vincent van Gogh, Winter Garden

I love the form... I love being able to see through the trees... to see the structure... the topography, the brown and the blues, the graphic quality of the branches.

After the snow fall...

The snow is so incredible on the trees - it outlines the form in a way that one would normally never see – it defines the deep contours and separates the individual branches… Icicles glimmer in the winter light illustrating the bone structure of each limb.

I’ve learned that the landscape can contain all one’s activities or fantasies and become places of spiritual contact.

The site can tell you where to define little rooms, where the micro climates are… It’s a way of thinking: the site gives you the constraints and opportunities for design.

Creating "rooms" within the landscape...

My early perceptions of gardens as rooms is a concept that I still feel is the essence of the landscape. I design gardens with defined spaces which mirror the rooms of a house. The floor is the base plan... lawn is carpet... hedges, shrubs, fences and stone walls create corridors and walls... changes of grade are stairs... framed views are windows... trees, trellises and umbrellas are the ceiling... Furniture, sculpture and lighting are all included as the elements that give the space an animated use.

Elemental Pressure

What keeps the design process moving is the awareness of multi-dimensional pressures being exerted into the solution/design. What is the overall concept? What elements are part of this space? Who should have the loudest voice? Which geometry is the overriding force? As factors such as wall lights, lighting, manholes, planting, seating requirements bend to each other the design evolves through a sequence of connected permutations. The trace overlays tell the story of how loudly the voices speak, how immutable the pressures. The winning solution reflects either stasis – balancing of forces – or the surprise of a new birth, forced into being from unresolved conflicts.