Welcome to March’s edition of Design Challenges. For this month and next, we will look at a large landscape project and discuss the design challenges it presented. In this edition we will give the background, note the challenges, ask the questions but answer them in our next edition (like a good mystery novel).
The project I’ve chosen is typical of many backyards in the Folsom/El Dorado/Rocklin area where a portion of the yard is given over to a slope. The percentage of level ground versus the percentage of sloped area varies with each yard. In some yards, the slope is only 20% of the yard; in others it is just the opposite, making for a very challenging job. This particular client’s percentage of slope varies, depending on whether we are viewing the west side or the east side of their yard. The pictures shown here are of the west side where about 20% of the yard is a slope. Next month we will view the other side, which is about 70% sloped.
Looking at the pictures, you can see the Before, with a bare yard and a block wall under construction, and the After. The difference is more than aesthetic. This design, like all good designs, needed to address the concerns of the homeowner. What were those concerns and what design challenges did they present? Aside from the bareness of the yard, there were three. Continue reading ‘Mar.:Design Challenges Part II’
