26. Great Happenings in 2013 for Rhyne Designs
As we all seem to do in January, I’ve been looking back at what a great year it was for Rhyne Designs. I’ve been fortunate to work on a fascinating variety of projects that's kept me on my toes, using the full breadth of my experience. Officially I’ve been in business for a year now (even though things started brewing a little before that) and I’d like to report on all that Rhyne Designs has been involved with so far:
Small Scale Residential
Here in the urban parts of the Bay Area, I’ve enjoyed working with several families to brainstorm landscape design ideas for their yards. I’ve sketched out various fun ideas for maximizing the beauty and functionality of small outdoor spaces including a mid-century modern garden in Kensington. For those on a tight budget, I’ve been happy to provide low cost design concept drawings and plant lists to work from. Although these are not complete construction drawing sets, they are enough to convey the design ideas and can be taken on by do-it-yourselfers or a good landscape contractor – sometimes a little experienced design input can go a long way.
Large Scale Residential
Up in the wine country of Napa and Sonoma, I’ve been helping a few clients develop large residential properties in a rural but modern farm style appropriate to the region. This has included the landscape for a new home on a 1 acre lot on the edge of St. Helena; master planning and management of phased construction for a beautiful 2 acre property on Sonoma Creek; and the design of an amazing 3.7 acre estate near Yountville. On this large property, no vineyards were desired, creating a great opportunity to design a whole series of interesting gardens. These include a spacious area of raised beds for edibles, an orchard and Olive grove, gravel stroll gardens of flowering Mediterranean shrubs, and a grove of trees for a kids camping area. I’m really excited to see the construction get started on this project in a few months!
Landscape Consulting
In addition to my own residential projects, I have been consulting with several different Landscape Architecture firms. Prior to starting my own business I spent many years managing large public and commercial landscape projects, so I’ve made use of those skills to assist at the firms of Gary Strang (GLS) and BASE Landscape Architects with various multi-family housing, office building, and school projects (company web sites are listed below). I’ve also enjoyed being a regular helper at Jay Thayer Landscape Architects, putting together drawings for many beautiful gardens in San Francisco and Marin County, such as the one shown here. I’ve also been involved with some creek bank landscape design in residential yards for the firm Geomorph Design. The variety has been great!
Off and Running in 2014
Things are already moving fast in 2014, and I’m enthusiastically off and running! I’m excitedly watching the mail for the Winter edition of Grasslands, the California Native Grasslands Association publication that will be featuring an article I wrote, based on my Native Meadow Experiment writing in this blog. We’re having an exceptionally dry winter which has allowed landscape construction to move quickly, and the importance of drought tolerant landscape design has never been more critical. I’ve been improving my expertise on the lowest water use plantings and become even more familiar with calculating irrigation water use, so I’m ready to help you exchange that thirsty old landscape for something better!
References:
BASE Landscape Architecture http://baselandscape.com/
Geomorph Design http://geomorphdesign.com/
GLS Landscape | Architecture http://www.glsarch.com/
Jay Thayer Landscape Architect http://www.jaythayer.com/
California Native Grasslands Association http://www.cnga.org/