Head's up, if you're just here for the pictures there's a slideshow at the bottom...  You know, sometimes it’s easy to underestimate California. The intensity, the ruggedness, the heat, the diversity it’s above and beyond a gentle forest, my friends. It is needle grass and foxtails in every inch of your socks. It is swelling poison oak blisters on your face. It is a burning sun sucking up every bottle of water you have in your backpack and you brought four. It is steep gutted-out dirt roads pot-holed from sudden rains and sandy soils in a little rental car you never should've brought ..read more

Love getting out in nature but still get a lil freaked out?? I took my 3-year-old daughter into a small wildlife sanctuary recently and was struck by how uncomfortable she was being in a wild space after we had spent the week in manicured parks. It felt scary to her, the tangles of foliage, the spiny weeds, the coyotes and jack rabbits that darted into the shady hollows of unpruned trees. So we talked about it. We talked about what the made space different and what felt unpredictable about it.  And I realized that I too, used to feel that way in wild spaces. Before I had spent seasons hik ..read more

We were SO excited back in March of 2021 to be contacted by the Making it Media team behind Amazon Prime TV's Destination L.A. ! It's a modern-style show that features local cutting-edge businesses here in L.A. and the stories of the people behind them.   Check out our Spot Here   So in early May we went to one of our favorite client's gardens in Pasadena and filmed a few hours of awesome interviews, footage and suuuuper sexy spring plants. The crew was amazing, the weather cooperated perfectly (yay! the ONE sunny afternoon in May) and we all had a  ..read more

Landscape Design can come in many forms. From a custom designer at your door to a simple preplanned package, here's an overview of how to get great designs in the ground.  Custom Landscape Design The landscape design industry is perhaps a little slower to change than the flashier more TV-adored industry of interior design. But landscaping is an important component of how we can move forward with improving our planet's habitat and improving the overall health and feeling of our outdoor spaces.  Many architects & designers in this industry are still old-school. They draw plans by ..read more

Business is blooming....  We were contacted back in  March to trial their new Shopify video tools on our site and man did we hit it off with their crew! Here's a snippet from the story of how I created California Wild Gardens:  Founder Briana Lyon was on a camping trip in the craggly landscapes of Southern California when the seeds of her low-water landscaping brand, California Wild, were planted. “I was just spending the morning observing the wildlife and the ecology, and realized I was only a half an hour drive from the heart of the city, if that,” she recalls. “But the e ..read more

Kurapia ... or the Genius behind our Ultra Lux Alt Lawn California's best-kept lawn secret is NOT A LAWN... Kurapia is the most recommended lawn-like product on the market for Los Angeles and the great gold state. It can handle any outdoor carpeting purposes you can imagine.  While the initial price tag might make your brow furrow the perks are just downright desirable. Because Maintenance and water savings pay for themselves in as little as a year (when compared to conventional lawns) Kurapia is an ultra green alternative to conventional lawn care ..read more

Get ready to transform your Southern California yard with our easy to install preplanned gardens.  We offer beautiful plants in great combinations for winning landscapes on a bank-friendly budget. You pick your style, double check the garden you like matches the amount of sun and water your yard will get and your off to races! We craft all our gardens according to natural design patterns inspired by the most beautiful California and mediterranean-climate landscapes.  Drought tolerant is another huge priority in our design methodology. Plants should be improv ..read more

I once attended an art exhibit in Vancouver. The focus was technology. Clouds made of lightbulbs. 5 screens showing the same action from different angles. Virtual Reality rooms where you danced in neon stars. It was electric. But man did it give me a headache!  So. Much. Stimulus.  Then in a backroom, off a narrow side hallway there was a small room hung heavily with plants. Spider plants, money plants, peace lilies, simple house plants really. All suspended at head height with leaves hanging tantalizingly low towards your chest.  The concept w ..read more

Weeds - they’re going to suck the first spring you put in a new garden, but things will get easier. In Permaculture & Ecodesign, we believe weeds aren't there to piss you off, they're there to help repair soil... They're just too aggressive to let your new plants thrive. Or way too pokey or seedy for your comfort. We weed a lot in the spring, to favor the plants we love and care about most. And to give valuable domesticated flora a chance to outcompete the vigorous hard workers that have survived the soil nutrient apocalypse (aka industrialization hehe). Eventually the plants you do ..read more

It goes without saving that avocados, citrus, rosemary and thyme should be growing in everyone's garden in California. They're beautiful year round, can withstand drought and deliver potent food and medicine.  If there's one thing we know it's that growing food should be easy, affordable and damn good looking. You know that our region is home to one of the most productive farm belts in the world. But did you know California is also a paradise for perennial crop production? We've put together a list of our favorite ultra easy low-water food producing crops so you can always have some ..read more