For their article about the best places to live in South Carolina real estate company Redfin recently invited me to comment about why living in my hometown of Charleston is great. In my comment, I stated that communing with the natural environment of the South Carolina Lowcountry is a transcendental experience. That is, the beauty…
Daniel Island is a pretty place. The houses are gorgeous, and green spaces are abundant. However, Daniel Island landscape design isn’t without its challenges: Much of the island looks man-made. In many ways, there’s less harmony with the natural Lowcountry environment on Daniel Island than there is in other parts of the Charleston area. Notably,…
In Charleston landscape design, details are important for a number of reasons. Obviously, paying close attention to details is an integral part of harmonizing Charleston area properties with the natural Lowcountry environment…my native, low-maintenance landscape design philosophy. is predicated on the fine details of the unique maritime ecosystem that is the South Carolina Lowcountry. Similarly,…
Ubiquitous and soft due to the large quantities of water they hold, native palmetto trees were used to line the walls of Ft. Moultrie during the Battle of Sullivan’s Island in order to minimize the impact of cannon balls fired from British ships. The iconic native species did an admirable job of protecting the fort:…
As residents of the Lowcountry, we’re able to enjoy countless serene coastal vistas: creeks winding through our salt marshes, the Atlantic Ocean caressing our beaches, pelicans resting on our docks. The list goes on and on. Unfortunately, despite the abundance of tranquil seaside views the Charleston area offers us, few of us are blessed…
Now that I have a moment to catch my breath from my landscape design and installation job, I’ve been able to compile some recent shots from my landscape photography hobby: I love the look of backlit leaves, especially from palms and tropicals. Banana plants, like this one on Johns Island, certainly aren’t native…
One of the tenets of my landscape design and installation philosophy is “keep it low-maintenance”: I frequently incorporate evergreens in my designs because they don’t require being cut back in the winter, and I use native plants in almost all of my designs because they’re best suited for local conditions. (Besides, native plants contribute…
This is an image of the front of a new apartment complex on James Island. Located just 3 miles from the sands of Folly, the complex’s primary selling point is its proximity to the beach. The property’s location is so important to its brand, in fact, that the complex has adopted the slogan “closest…
The other day, a local landscape architect inquired about my academic landscape design credentials. I replied that, while I don’t have a degree in landscape architecture, I started my Lowcountry landscaping career when I was 9 years old, I have an eye for design that you can’t learn in school, and, as a Charleston…
