Words We Use and Survey Update

Survey Update
We've got quite a few survey responses and we're hoping for a few more. Thank you to all who took the time to fill it out. I really appreciate the positive comments as well as all the suggestions. I'll be posting some of the results here in the coming weeks. If you have not yet had a chance to fill it out, click here. It's only 13 questions and goes quickly. Thanks.

Words We Use
A few friends have provided some phrases and words they use when communicating design ideas to clients. Here's a sampling:

The first come from Bernard Trainor of Bernard Trainor + Associates in Pacific Grove, CA. Bernard will be one of the featured speakers at the upcoming APLD conference in Pasadena.

• “The landscape and architecture will merge together seamlessly.”
• “Trees will anchor the building to the larger (borrowed) landscape.”
• “The driveway is the most used part of the landscape so make it memorable!”

The following come from Pete Wodarz of Milieu Design in Wheeling, IL. Pete has helped me out in the classroom, and is one of the more talented designers I know.

• "We use these plants to create a tapestry of color throughout the season."
• "These elements combine to give the area a strong sense of place."
• "Creating a sense of mystery and a desire to explore further"
• "Framing the view"

Joel Lerner, author of Anyone Can Landscape (among many others) and president of Joel M. Lerner Environmental Design in Chevy Chase, MD offers these:

• "My job is to put you in touch with your property to make it reflect the essence of your personality -- LERNSCAPING(TM)."
• "Progressive realization, not seeing the whole picture at one time, is the way to add mystery (interest) to your design."
• "Creating garden rooms (is) a way of subdividing your yard, and subdividing tends to make a property look larger."
• "Make smooth transitions from one space to another, like using the edge of forest plantings to go from lawn to woodland."
• "More comfort in spatial enclosure"; "12-month interest"; "create smooth indoor/outdoor relationships."

You may have heard Jeff Korhan of Treemendous Landscape Company speak at an industry conference this off-season. He's been on the docket at a number of them this year. His professional speaking site is here. Also, visit his blog here. Following are a couple of his contributions:

• "A house is just a pile of lumber, bricks, fasteners etc. But a beautiful home is the arrangement of these elements to create something special, unique, and functional. It's the same with landscapes. Anyone can throw a bunch of plants together, but it takes training, talent, and time to arrange them for an intended purpose."
• "I've made thousands of mistakes and learned from them. So you, Mr./Ms. Client, don't have to take risks because I've already taken them for you. I'm not experimenting with your money."

If you have any you would like to share, feel free to post a comment here, or just send me an email at tim@aaldweb.com!