I love projects where the brief is simple:

“Make it beautiful, have fun with it, I trust you”

Gotta love that, right? This project (construction will begin next month) was too much fun to design. The client gave me one word to describe the planting plan… “Dense” and said that word should inform the design of the plant material. Being a small space, we can go dense with the plants and still maximize the water usage. The plan will incorporate a new Ipe deck (to match existing decks elsewhere on the property) a concrete patio with decorative saw-cuts with a gradient-stain pattern, a simple and demure water-feature, retaining walls to add dimension and scale, and generous lighting. Here are a few before pictures, and some renderings. More to come

existing steps will remain

Renderings

    

So this would be my first post in 2010 and I am really going to try hard to post more photos of my projects, more ideas, more photos of stuff I like, etc.

After talking to several friends and clients, people actually read what I write…. who knew?

So, taking all the feedback into consideration I will do my best to make this site even more of a resource in 2010 for designers, homeowners, and contractors. Look for posts about my personal vacations, Falling Waters projects (in various stages of progress), new plants, great local nurseries, designers and Architects that inspire, new books for the industry, friends of mine who are doing amazing work, and of course general information I find useful.

Your feedback is always appreciated:

info@fallingwatersweb.com

Oh, and check back soon for the new and updated website with more projects and more information!

Thank you everyone for your continued support,

Ryan Prange

The diversity in San Diego is fantastic… OK we’re no SF or NY, but we are a melting pot (or is it a salad bowl?) of various cultures, ethnicity’s and backgrounds. I grew up in a little place called Encinitas, once the Flower capitol of the world (we gave up the title when the Ecke’s and various other local flower operators decided to downsize and outsource to places like Columbia and Mexico), it is now more famous for Skateboarders, Surf breaks and Soccer Moms. Encinitas - a coastal hamletbordered by Rancho Santa Fe to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west - is a great place to grow up and establish your world view… if your world view is that everything is clean, a 5 minute drive away, and magically 70 degrees year round. So maybe I didn’t receive the most objective upbringing, so what? I was so happy thinking that the earth was flat and that there was nothing of interest north of Carlsbad or south of Del Mar.

After I married (gasp! She is from La Mesa) and we moved down to Hillcrest I realized that the bubble I was brought up in had popped. I was forced into an urban environment with no defenses. I was like a DE-clawed cat sent into the wild to fend for himself. I discovered metered parking, San Diego’s homeless problem, and alternative lifestyles… just to name a few. We lived walking distance to the farmer’s market and spent Sundays cleaning up beer bottles thrown into our yard, followed by walks down to the market for fresh fruit and Gyros. There were sirens blaring 24/7… we realized we lived on an Ambulance thoroughfare. We walked to Sushi, healthy Mexican food, and to the local liquor store when we ran out of tonic for cocktails. When we got the puppy I walked even more. I walked and walked and as I walked I realized something… I never walked in Encinitas. Never. Why would I? Everything was a 5 minute or less drive. In Uptown you walk, its just what you do. During my walks I began to notice Architecture. I studied the house next to ours, a 1908 Sears Roebuck catalog house that was falling apart. I noticed the Mission cottages, the “Craftsmans” perfectly sited on the roads hugging the cliffs. I wondered at the size of the lots, the colors, the trim, the beautiful simplicity of an A-frame. I began to scoff at the apartment complexes, imagining what gem of a home was torn down to make way for this concrete disaster. I shook my head at the quaint little homes run down, overgrown with weeds, neglected, wondering “Why? How could you let this happen to such a great place?” What really happened on those walks and the subsequent research was that my appreciation grew. It grew exponentially for well-planned and thoughtful design of Architecture and landscape design. New neighborhoods opened their doors to me, places I never knew existed. After being commissioned to interpret a concept plan for the Vess residence on Mt. Helix, I delved into the Mid-Century movement. That led to modernism, which led to neo-modernism, which forced me to learn why something is called modern, which forced me to go back to the basics. I began to self-teach the history of my profession: Landscape Architecture… just to understand why already love it so much.

My education continues and is a constant. I try to bring a little of me, a little of my client, and a little bit of everything else into each project I work on.

My point is… not everyone grows up in a place like San Diego, or even more specific: Encinitas. Most of us live in non-descript tract houses or apartments that offer little in the way of “charm” or “character”. It is up to us to enrich the spaces in which we occupy, to make them quintessentially “us”. Be it a ubiquitous Eames rocker (I still want one no matter how many houses in Dwell parade them around), a “real” Tiffany lamp from our grandparents or parents, an item hauled home in your backpack after a month in Europe, or a rock you found on the beach where you met your wife… what matters is that you put yourself into your space. I still love Encinitas, it will always (tragically) be home to me. Wherever you grew up, or wherever you hail from… welcome to San Diego. Pardon our traffic, our freeways have been under construction for close to two decades. Don’t mind the weather, it will be like this all year. Whether you live in an Encinitas tract house, a Vista apartment, a Mt Helix MCM, or a 100 year old craftsman, make it your own.

happy landscaping

Its been really difficult to make this decision but I have decided to it is time to leave the 2911 building.

It has been an inspirational place to work and interact with other like-minded business owners. While I hate to say goodbye to such a unique environment, I’m hoping that our new space in Encinitas will be equally inspirational and open up new opportunities to expand and grow Falling Waters.

Our website and # are the same.

Thank you to Lorrie, Joseph, Jeff, Jimmy and everyone else at the 2911 for being great friends and wonderful business coaches!

Our friends Modern Cabana (www.moderncabana.com) are at it again in this month’s issue of Sunset magazine. They teamed up with the crew at Sunset to develop the “Modern Cottage” as a solution to all of us ’spatially challenged’ people who are looking for a place to work, live, or play.

The cottage roughly equals two standard Cabanas with a breezeway in between. Built-in seating, raised decks, and low water plantings complete the scene. Flora Grubb, a trend-setter and landscape Guru, added her touch of flare with a succulent wall hanging like fine art on the outside of the Cabana wall. The resulting scene is as inviting as it is eco-friendly and chic.

Pictures to come soon… or just check out Sunset magazine

Other contributors:

CB2.com

Fuego outdoor Grill, fuegoliving.com

Tuuci.com

Timbertech.com

Belgard pavers, belgard.biz

T3

My sister-in-law, Jojo sent me a link to this great blog “Inside the Loop” . She figured I would enjoy the Japanese Ikebana arrangements… and she was right. It made me think about some of the arrangements that I have done in the past, mostly with succulents. Succulents are SO easy, and the fact that most require very little water and can handle filtered sun makes them perfect for office windows, indoor table-tops, and really anywhere else. A great idea: keep one arrangement outdoors in elements, and the other in your favorite spot indoors.

Using simple pots in basic shapes ensures that the pot will compliment, not compete, with the plant scheme. Depending on the plant choice, I like to either plant en masse or take two or three varieties and place them according to growth pattern. This is where it helps to know how the plants will grow. If you are using succulents, check out this website (www.plugconnection.com) for comprehensive growth information on several different succulent varities. If grasses are more your style, stick with the festucas or mondo grasses (ophiopogon japonicus). If the container is large enough, Mexican Feather Grass (Stipa) or any of the pennisetum varieties make great specimens surrounded by creepers like trailing rosemary, Tradscantia, or Ipoemia.(Potatoe vine).

I like to dress the pots with decorative gravel, sand, or glass. Wood bark is too messy and degrades over time. I also prefer to use concrete, terrazzo, glazed ceramic, or fiber-cement containers. Terra Cotta pots are cheap and can be planted up and placed in a more-expensive container and top-dressed. This is especially useful if your using a container that doesn’t hold up to the elements, like Zinc or wood.

I especially love the tray planters that we manufacture and sell. They are created with either stainless steel or weathered and lacquered steel. I use bromeliads, succulents, Air plants, orchids, and whatever else is lying around that needs a home. They are called trayscapes and come in three sizes T1, T2, and T3

They are available for purchase at Mixture in Little Italy and Grounded in Encinitas. Custom arrangements and commissioned pieces available upon request.

T1 with bromeliad, and succulents

T2

Almost everybody has a hard time visualizing what a landscape looks like if they’ve never seen it before. Some of us have better imaginations than others, but for the most part we all need to SEE “something” before we can believe it.

When I meet with potential clients I usually within the first 5-10 minutes of touring their space will know what I would do with it. This can be helpful, but it can also hinder the design process. Why? Most of the time my client’s budget is nowhere near my imaginary rendition of their yard. I will sometimes cut off the person mid-sentence and pull out a piece of paper and furiously draw a plan view schematic of the yard or will sketch a three dimensional element that will be pivotal to the design. It baffles me every time, but invariably my chicken-scratch of a drawing does more to explain my vision than I could ever care to articulate verbally.

There are a number of 3D programs out there, some good, others painfully soulless. So imagine my happiness when I came across Sketch-Up. Yes… it has been around for awhile, mostly used by Architects and interior designers. But when applied to the landscape world, Sketch-Up allows one to take the blurred visions of a left-brained plant guy and translate them into eloquent and startlingly beautiful pictures… from any angle… of the prospective new space. Check it out…

Rough Pencil Sketch

add some color...

et viola... Finished product

Pretty cool.

This landscape was completed back in December of 2008. Here are some updated photos… Thats Emily the bulldog

First off all, Zach and I want to thank you all for entering our humble little contest. We recieved over 246 entries!

Kelly and Ralph Hallett of Bay Park won the free design from Falling Waters. I’m looking forward to working on their Mid-Century home and documenting the progress here.

For the rest of you that expressed interest in our services we encourage you to contact us and take advantage of a special offer. Please email me (Ryan@fallingwatersweb.com) or give me a call at 619-955-5595 to learn more.

On a side note, in this economy all of us are struggling and I really believe that not only will things get better, but when they do all of us will be better people for having endured through these hard times. I have to believe that the hardships our friends and family are going through will eventually result in something good. We are all learning how to live with less… is that such a bad thing? I’ll leave you with a story…

A boat docked in a tiny Mexican village and an American tourist complimented the Mexican fisherman on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.

“Not very long,” said the fisherman.

“But then why didn’t you stay out longer and catch more?” Asked the American.

The Mexican explained that his small catch was sufficient to meet his needs and those of his family.

The American asked, “But what do you do with the rest of your time?”

“I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children and take a siesta with my wife. In the evenings, I go to the village to see my friends, have a few drinks, play guitar and sing songs… I have a full life.”

The American interrupted “I have an MBA from Harvard and I can help you! You should start by fishing longer every day. You can then sell the extra fish you catch. With the extra revenue, you can buy a bigger boat. With the extra money the bigger boat will bring, you can buy more boats until you have an entire fleet of trawlers. Instead of selling fish to the middle man, you can go directly to the processing plant and maybe even own your own plant. Then, you can leave this little village and direct your enterprise from Mexico City or even New York City!

“How long would that take?” asked the Mexican.

“Twenty, maybe 25 years.” replied the American.

“And after that?”

“Afterwards?  Then it gets really interesting, answered the American, laughing. “When your business gets really big you can start sellingstocks and make millions!”

“Millions? Really?  And after that?”

“After that, you’ll be able to retire, live in a tiny village near the coast, sleep late, play with your children, catch a few fish, take a siesta, and spend your evenings drinking and enjoying your friends!”

To everyone out there weighing big decisions, remember what you are working for. Work hard, continue to reach for “success”, or at least the definition according to Emerson…

To laugh often and much
to win the respect of intelligent people
and affection of children; to earn the
appreciation of honest critics and
endure the betrayal of false friends;
to appreciate beauty, to find the best
in others; to leave the world a bit
better, whether by a healthy child
a garden patch or redeemed
social condition; to know even
one life has breathed easier because
you have lived. This is to have
succeeded.

-Ralph Waldo Emerson