The Garden Conservancy continues to astonish and delight with its Open Days Program. Earlier this month, I visited two outstanding gardens in Southern Marin. The first, located just outside Stinson Beach, features remarkable granitic outcroppings. Thanks to the Garden Conservancy's many volunteers, who make visits to gardens like this possible. For further information on the Open Garden program, visit the Conservancy's website by clicking here . #bolinas, #californianatives, #gardencolor, #gardenconservancy, #gardenofsculpture, #georgehargreaves, #granite, #grasses, #marin, #opendays, #poppies, #rock, #stinsonbeach

Lisa’s story on the Lovelace Garden, designed by Isabelle Greene, FASLA, is in the current issue of Landscape Architecture Magazine . The garden is best known for its beautiful swimming pool. Greene pioneered the use of natural stone in swimming pools and spas, and the Lovelace pool is one of her masterworks. The article focuses on Greene’s design process, which resulted in the superb fit between site and program. Photos by Marion Brenner, Associate ASLA, accompany the story. Isabelle worked with owners Jon and Liliane Lovelace for forty years to perfect the garden. We hope you enjoy reading about this superb and enduring landscape masterpiece. All photographs by Marion Brenner #isabellegreen, #FASLA #jonandlilianelovelace, #lovelacepool

On Tuesday, September 29, 2015, Lisa will be participating in a 90 minute webinar exploring the fundamentals of mid-century landscapes. Hosted by the California Preservation Foundation, the webinar will be moderated by Neutra scholar Barbara Lamprecht and will feature five presentations by noted landscape architects and historians. Lisa will focus on her landscape design for Richard Neutra's Hafley House. The restoration of the house, headed by Kelly Sutherlin McLeod Architecture, was recently honored by both the Los Angeles Conservancy and the California Preservation Foundation, and received a Docomomo 2015 Award of Excellence.

RESTORING, REFRESHING, REVEALING We recently had the pleasure of restoring a beautiful garden originally designed by Cleo Baldon in the 1980s.  For those of you who don’t know Cleo, she is a multi-faceted designer and co-owner of Galper Baldon, a landscape design firm that created landscapes throughout Southern California.  Cleo recently organized a tour of three of her gardens in Brentwood, and our assignment was to ready one of the gardens for the tour in early June. The author of “Stairs and Steps” and “Reflections on the Pool”, Cleo’s work spans a range of design vocabularies.  Common to all her projects are a gracious sense of scale and a clear concept of procession. Cleo’s design was restored and refreshed with strategic additions and subtractions that clarified the structure and heightened the drama of the garden. We selectively removed trees and shrubs that muddied the clarity of the original design and blocked views of the mature Silk Floss grove surrounding the house. In the pool area, we added giant bromeliads and textural philodendrons to anchor the pool.  Richly textured planters and pots were also added to enhance the resort like character of the pool and adjacent terrace. Linda White's selection of the brilliant green upholstered furniture echos the new planting surrounding the seating area. We were ready for the tour.  Linda White and Jayne Mair set the table for the guests.   Welcome to Cleo’s restored landscape! Landscape  Contractor : A New Leaf Landscape Renovation Fabrics and Furniture:  Linda White, White Design #cleobaldon, #gardendesign, #gardenrestoration #landscape, #losangeleslandscapearchitects, #landscaping #lisagimmy, #poollandscaping, #privatelandscaping, #tablescape, #tropicalplanting

Meet Lisa and tour one of her most artful landscapes as part of The Cultural Landscape Foundation's 2013 Southern California Garden Dialogues program. Lisa and the home's owner will lead guests on a tour of this unique property and moderate a lively discussion illuminating how they worked together to create the beautiful and sustainable landscape for this modernist gem. Learn more at The Cultural Landscape Foundation's Website

Presented by the Cultural Landscape Foundation Speakers include: Julie Bargmann, D.I.R.T Studio • James Corner, james corner field operations • LISA GIMMY , Lisa Gimmy Landscape Architecture • Kathryn Gustafson, Gustafson Guthrie Nichol • Gary Hilderbrand, Reed Hilderbrand • Raymond Jungles, Raymond Jungles, Inc. • Christopher LaGuardia, LaGuardia Design • Elizabeth K. Meyer, UVA School of Architecture • Charles Renfro, Diller Scofidio + Renfro • Michael Van Valkenburgh, Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, Inc. To learn more about this and other future events, please visit TCLF.ORG

How do patrons and designers work together? What makes for a great, enduring collaboration? The Cultural Landscape Foundation’s Garden Dialogues provides unique opportunities for small groups to experience some of today’s most beautiful gardens created by some of the most accomplished designers currently in practice. Join Lisa Gimmy at Richard Neutra’s Kun 2 where she and the Owner will discuss the development of the landscape design for this iconic modernist house in the Hollywood Hills. To learn more about this event or about future TCLF garden dialogues click HERE .

Tropic Fusion The Spring 2013 issue of LUXE (Orange County edition) features a Huntington Beach home showcasing the inspired collaboration between a client and a design team - landscape architect Lisa Gimmy, architect Jeffrey Dahl, interior designers John Wooden and Dustin Dorr, lighting designer Rosemarie Allaire, and sculptor Yoshikawa. The homeowners wanted to respect the neighborhood context and requested a modern take on a Craftsman bungalow, but they also wanted to evoke the relaxed sensibility of the Hawaiian resorts they enjoy on vacation. The seamless transition from the refined, elegant interiors to the tropical courtyard demonstrates the design team's ability to work together to create a unified design statement that delightfully fuses the client's aspirations. #craftsman, #jeffreydahl, #johnwooden, #dustindorr, #rosemarieallaire, #yoshikawa

In November 2011, Lisa was honored to speak at New York's Museum of Modern Art as part of The Cultural Landscape Foundation's Second Wave of Modernism II conference. Lisa discussed the complexities and rewards of recreating the landscape for Richard Neutra's iconic Kun 2 . Our thanks to Jared Green and The Dirt . #TCLF, #RichardNeutra, #MoMA

Congratulations to KSMA and the project team for being recognized with a 2015 Preservation Award from the Los Angeles Conservancy for their work on the Olan G. and Aida T. Hafley House! Kelly Sutherlin McLeod Architecture, Inc. led the project team consisting of Mannigan Design (Contractor), Griswold Conservation Associates, LLC (Architectural Conservator), Structural Focus (Structural Engineer), Barbara Lamprecht, M. Arch (Architectural Historian /Neutra Scholar) and Lisa Gimmy Landscape Architecture in the restoration this Richard Neutra gem. This residence is a rare example of Neutra’s design in that it features a pitched roof and was designed in tandem with the adjacent Moore House. The new landscape design creates a seamless relationship between inside and outside, and its simplicity and spareness compliment Neutra’s design. The geometry of the garden echoes the strong horizontal lines of the architecture, and the rough gravel and exposed aggregate hardscape compliment its precision. Sculptural succulents punctuate the ground plane and establish a dialogue with the linearity of the house. The lawn at the rear of the house is shared visually by both residences. The existing turf was replaced with native Bent Grass, which maintains the historic visual element but is low-maintenance and low-water use. For more information on the Hafley House and its award, click here . All photographs by John Ellis. #hafleyhouse, #l osangelesconservancy, #richardneutra

Lisa Gimmy, ASLA, worked closely with the owners of this mid-century modernist Los Feliz hom e , designed by Eugene Kinn Choy in 1952, to update the courtyard and the area around the pool for this active family with young children. Graceful steps now separate the outdoor dining terrace from the pool area and lanai; groupings of planters and a bench soften the edge between the pool and the tall retaining wall. Trailing rosemary at the top of the wall and colorful drought tolerant succulents are important components of the new plant palette. Join Lisa on Saturday, April 26, 2014, from 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. for a dialogue with the owners and gardener Sabine Hoppner of Waters Edge Gardening.

UCLA's Franklin D. Murphy Sculpture Garden will be a focus of The Cultural Landscape Foundation's What's Out There Weekend (November 8-9), featuring the long and fruitful career of Los Angeles landscape architect, Ralph Dalton Cornell. Ralph Cornell was the campus landscape architect at UCLA and was responsible for the look and feel of the campus as it expanded beyond the Royce Quadrangle. Cornell's signature plantings of Canary Island pines, Eucalyptus, and sycamores continue to give UCLA a beautiful and distinctive landscape character. Cornell's best-loved work, the Sculpture Garden , lies at the heart of the north campus, where it took the place of a parking lot. The process of this transformation will be discussed on a tour co-led by Lisa Gimmy and Leslie Cozzi, Curatorial Associate of the Grunwald Center Collection at the Hammer Museum. Additionally, they will be bringing to light the little-known design contributions made by Cornell's partner, Howard Troller, and sculptor Malcolm Leland. Leland, best known for his architectural pottery and facades for the Los Angeles County Hall of Records and the American Cement Company Building , collaborated with the landscape architecture team and designed the bridge that forms the connection between Bunche Hall and Dickson Art Center. More information and registration for this free event on Saturday, November 8th can be found on the TCLF website . #thefranklindmurphysculpturegarden, #lesliecozzi, #ralphcornell, #malcolmleland, #howardtroller, #UCLA