green·eye·design, llc

Looking Back

david bockman — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 22:15:00 +0000

One of the administrators kindly sent me a photo of this garden, designed a number of years ago for a small private school in Northern Virginia, looking splendid in summer:

I thoroughly enjoyed designing this space, including the stone benches, which I sketched from scratch and had hand carved.

Client Appreciation For The Holidays

david bockman — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 19:18:15 +0000

Each year I like to send out a gift to our clients, as a way of saying thanks for their business and as a way of expressing my appreciation for their trust in allowing me to shape their home or business spaces. For several years I have been aware of a stockpile of vintage mason jars in our basement– the previous owner of our house was an ardent canner and ran a huge veggie garden in our backyard. This year I brought up a bunch, cleaned & sterilized them, and now we’re using them to ship ridiculously tasty (if I do say so myself) home made granola. The recipe is a riff off of a nice one by Alton Brown. Whereas Alton calls for vegetable oil, we’re using unprocessed coconut oil, which imparts wonderful flavor to the mix. We’re also adding:

Cinammon

Dried fruit (apple, pineapple, plums, currants, raisins)

Sunflower seeds (unsalted, roasted)

Oak Park Updates

david bockman — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 21:40:57 +0000

So I was very happy to learn that the residential clients for the project on Elmwood Avenue in historic Oak Park, IL wanted to move forward before things got really cold (and the ground unworkable). These past few weeks have been controlled insanity as a major renovation/addition project is ongoing at the house, so what’s a little major foundation planting? Why not, right?

click image for much larger version

A few photos the clients kindly took for me on this very rainy & cold windy day:

Almost too wet to work, still the ground was not clumpy or sticky so on we go with the install.

Looking down the driveway towards all the construction materials. The long side of the house will remain undeveloped until the spring, this will allow freer access for all the large construction vehicles and also ease the repaving job. Plants would scald pretty easily being so close to burning hot, newly-laid asphalt. As well, painting the house will be much less time-consuming without having to work around foundation plants.

The beds are laid out and hedging spacing adjusted. The Degroot’s Spire Arborvitae are just gorgeous, and the encircling boxwoods healthy and full.

Tidied up, edged with new sod, and hardwood mulch laid. There are several shrubs & one tree, a Chinese Paperbark Maple (Acer griseum), which will be planted in early spring.

Some Scenes From Sub-saharan Africa

david bockman — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 17:21:38 +0000

As our charity: water fundraising campaign we’re calling 200 Miles, 1 Well charges ahead, I thought you might like to see some footage of both the problems and the wonderful solutions

formal

david bockman — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 13:39:06 +0000

formal, originally uploaded by greeneyedesignllc.

conceptual early sketch

200 Miles, 1 Well

david bockman — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 21:54:16 +0000

For the past month we have been actively soliciting donations for our first annual charity: water fundraising campaign we’re calling ’200 Miles, 1 Well’. Why water? Several weeks ago I spoke about this issue while out on a training ride, check it out:

The idea for the fundraiser is simple: In the second week of November, Dave Bockman & a select group of equally crazy cyclist friends will hop on our bikes and not stop until we’re 200 miles from where we started. Consider making a personal or corporate donation? Thanks from all of us!

A New Fairfax Client

david bockman — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 21:36:33 +0000

One thing I really enjoy about this profession is the incredible diversity of client wishes that are incorporated into master planning. For example, last week I was approached to do a real top-to-bottom makeover– a client recently purchased a home which– while truly lovely otherwise- had some crazy chaotic plantings throughout the space (banana trees? Yep!) This coupled with the client’s desire for Best Management Practices when it comes to Tick abatement as well as generous outdoor program elements like a fireplace, spacious patio, outdoor kitchen, and robust privacy screening led to a very satisfying design process.

What is Tick abatement? It turns out one can seriously reduce the instances of Tick bites (and subsequent risk of Lyme disease) by creating a dry barrier around one’s property. This ‘barrier’ should be at a minimum three feet in width and consist of either an impermeable surface or a permeable stone surface like river gravel. Ticks require cool & moist conditions on their travels, and simply cannot make it over such a breadth of hot dry material without expiring. In this design, I have added steel edging to both contain the gravel (washed Chesapeake river gravel) as well as add some heat to the situation. By allowing the steel edging to stand proud a bit (say, an inch and a half?), we help create a situation where the Sun will help the steel to radiate heat into the gravel, adding to the barrier’s effectiveness. Aesthetically, I think it looks attractive and I have designed its course in such a way as to suggest a gravel path, especially over to the far left where it disappears between tall evergreens– a kind of ‘folly’ in that it doesn’t actually lead anywhere but does suggest more room and spaces beyond. Looking forward to seeing this space realized over the coming months!

click picture above for the large version
click here for humongous version

The Oak Park Clients

david bockman — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 16:57:36 +0000

So we’re moving forward on the front facade:

click photo for humongous version

I need to open up a satellite studio in Oak Park!

Alexandria Edges

david bockman — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 01:46:06 +0000

Here is the rendering for the makeover of the single family home which inspired my little podcast about edges (which I realize I need to conclude in a followup):

click image for uber-huge version

With an established landscape, often all that is needed is tweaking and finesse. This space needs a dose of simple planning and harmony to reflect and point up the warm nature of the home and family.

Edges!

david bockman — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 21:27:48 +0000

In which I bloviate about ‘edges’ as a conceptual framework for good design, let me know what you think!

Greeneyedesign001_Edges