Dry Season, 2010
What spectacular weather! What a beautiful world!
The dry season has moved in, and a lovely dormacy has settled over the land....
Meanwhile, we keep designing and building gardens. It's a busy time for us, and we are greatful.
We are pleased to announce that Andy Weinstein has joined our team. Andy brings deep experience in both garden design and construction. We feel fortunate to have him as a new team member, and we hope he will be with us for a long time. Welcome, Andy!
Lectures and Workshops
Michael presented a lecture to the South Bay Chapter of the California Native Plant Society. The meeting was well attended, and the presentation well received. There is rapidly growing interest in the use of California natives in the designed landscape.
It's been a busy few months of meeting new people and sharing ideas about sustainable garden design, construction, and management.
Co-owners Michael Thilgen and Linda Juratovac presented an overview of native plant garden design to an enthusiastic overflow crowd at Annie's Annuals, a fine local nursery. We're happy to continue our longstanding relationship with Annie's. http://www.anniesannuals.com/
Michael re-visited the Sausal Creek restoration project in Dimond Canyon for a presentation to the Alameda County Watershed Forum. "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly: Invasive Species Identification, Removal and Revegetation" The Sausal Creek restoration project is coordinated by the Friends of Sausal Creek and supported by several public agencies. http://www.sausalcreek.org/
He also presented a training program for City of Oakland Parks department workers in earlier this year. As sustainably designed landscape projects become more common, there is a real need for well-trained maintenance staff. This seminar was a step toward the goal of a knowledgeable work force in Oakland's parks.
Michael spoke to an interested group of home gardeners at the Moraga Garden Club, where we discussed the use of art in gardens, and the value of California native plants in the home landscape.
Garden Tours
As part of our commitment to spreading awareness of ecologically sustainable landscaping, Four Dimensions participates in local garden tours each year.
Bringing Back the Natives Garden Tour was held on Sunday, May 2. It was a wonderful tour! This year, four gardens by Four Dimensions were featured. Linda and Michael presented several talks during the day, as did Steve Cochrane, our maintenance department supervisor. You can learn more about the tour by following this link: http://www.bringingbackthenatives.net/
Projects
We typically have several projects in design and construction, and that is the case now. We are hard at work designing new gardens that will be constructed later this year.
In addition to our work on private gardens, we're involved with several public projects. Later this season Four Dimensions will return to the Arroyo Viejo Recreation Center, a City of Oakland park, where we participated in a creekside habitat restoration project back in 2002.
Seven years later, the plants have grown up, and the park is ready for some pruning, clearing, and replanting. We're looking forward to the next phase in the lovely jewel of a park, hidden in the wilds of East Oakland. Landscapers, there will be lots of willow and dogwood cuttings available - contact us if you would like to have local native material for your creekside projects.
We are also working on renovation of another City of Oakland creekside project at Cesar Chavez park, and another in Dimond Park is coming up.
Our maintenance staff has been working on vegetation establishment over the last year at the creek restoration project at the Oakland Zoo. The hard work is paying off - the plantings are establishing beautifully.
Awards
We are happy to announce that the California Landscape Contractors Association presented two first place awards to Modern Landscaping for their work on the Myers garden. Mike Hertzer, owner of Modern Landscaping, worked closely with Four Dimensions staff while installing our design. Congratulations, Mike! For more information on the Myers' garden, visit their website, www.casadosrios.org
Last year Four Dimensions participated in the repair and revegetation of a sizable landslide in the City of Oakland's Joaquin Miller Park. Our role included consultation, planting design, and installation for erosion control and habitat restoration. We are delighted to learn that the project was honored with an award from the American Public Works Association.
Publications
We're very pleased that on one of our favorite gardens was featured in the Fall issue of Pacific Horticulture Magazine. Jean Myers wrote a nicely illustrated summary of her native garden in Gilroy, with particular emphasis on habitat value. We're honored to appear in such a high quality publication as Pacific Horticulture. www.casadosrios.org
Last year we worked with StopWaste.org to help produce their new Bay Friendly Landscape Guide to Recycled-content and Salvaged Materials. This newly published booklet is aimed toward landscape professionals. We have many years of experience finding ways to lessen the flow of waste to the landfill, and we're delighted to participate in this new effort. To see our previous work with StopWaste.org, check out the Bay Friendly Landscape Guidelines at
http://www.stopwaste.org/home/index.asp?page=188.
Gail Schino's garden was profiled in a San Leandro Times article on sustainable landscaping. We're especially pleased with Gail's garden, and its popularity at the last year's Bay Friendly Garden tour.
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We were happily surprised to open our water bill and discover that EBMUD chose one of our gardens to support their message on water conservation. The Eichenfeld garden illustrates our commitment to making beautiful, functional, drought adapted gardens that support ecological health. The photo was taken from EBMUD's Plants and Landscapes for Summer-Dry Climates, which we helped to produce. http://www.ebmud.com/conserving_&_recycling/plant_book/default.htm
Co-owner Michael Thilgen was interviewed for an article in the San Francisco Chronicle. The focus is on the new generation of "smart" irrigation controllers. Here's a link: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/07/19/HOU610SQ4D.DTL
The Myers garden was featured in an article in the Gilroy Dispatch. The article focuses on the native garden and it's contribution to ecological awareness. You can read it online at http://www.gilroydispatch.com/special/239460-a-healthy-coexistence
That's the news for now.... We're wishing you all a healthy and happy season. Enjoy this beautiful weather!
To learn more about our services, you may contact us by email at office@fourdimensionslandscape.com, or call us at (510)893-1999.
