FormLA Landscaping

Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers

Review me

FormLA Landscaping

13 Reviews

(Fire) Defensive Foothill Garden

This eclectic, art-filled garden in northeast Los Angeles County protects its home and people, wrapping them in privacy, shade, fire-mitigation, and supporting their resilience.

Project Year: 2010

Can you ID the fire-wise measures taken here? You won't be alone if your eyes go straight to the gravelscaped front garden. While this area provides defensible space, there are several other protective qualities. Among the most important fire-wise measures are the home's features, the a tile roof...

Gravelscape Sits on Uphill

Established California native greenery fills the back garden. Native, edible White Sage, Manzanita, and Catalina Cherry wrap a more traditional edible garden. The charming wooden shed offers convenient storage for outdoor furniture cushions and tools . The ability to store these items lessens the...

Lush and Leafy Can Also Be Fire Wise

The St. Catherine's lace along the path fills with large, delicate blooms in spring. Butterflies love buckwheat! Photo: Lesly Hall Photography

Saint Catherine's Lace Brings Butterflies

Not far from the wood shed, a wood fence and play-set also offer dry fuel for fire. Both are separated from the home by vibrant, hydrated, well-maintained foliage that can serve to slow a fire's path. Photo: Lesly Hall Photography

Hydrated Foliage Separates Wood & Home

The well-established hedge separating the fence and home is of a non-native material. It was left in place to support privacy in the backyard. Meticulous maintenance and monitoring is needed to ensure it contains no dead material and maintains its hydration in high heat. One fire-wise,...

Catalina Cherry Stays Hydrated in High Heat

The outdoor nursery is tucked into a quiet, fragrant corner of the garden wrapped in butterfly-attracting Cleveland Sage and Catalina Cherry that fills with blooms in spring and cherries in fall. The gravel playspace patio creates a delightful crunch for running kids and separates the more...

Native Foliage Delights and Protects

Kids of all ages love California native Salvia Clevelandii! It's magic wand-like blooms attract butterflies and hummingbirds and have an earthy, minty fragrance.

Salvia Is a Hummingbird Feeder

While a formal swing set and play area ensure young kids have a spot of their own, as they age they prefer crunching gravel trails, hidden seating, and discovering fruits and veggies in the edible garden near a charming wooden shed. Photo: Lesly Hall Photography

Defensible Space Protects the Shed Too

The queen of any garden she enters, California Flannel Bush fills with giant, sunshine yellow flowers in late February, a welcome sign of spring for any Angeleno! This beauty provides shade to the spa and is physically distanced from both the wood shed and the home. Photo: Lesly Hall Photography

California Flannel Bush Steals the Show

California native Flannel Bush (Fremontedendron) flowers add sunshine to the end of winter and signal spring is near. The shrub's can be trimmed to form a tree or hedge, and its leathery dark leaves provide abundant shade and privacy. Photo: Lesly Hall Photography

Flannel Bush Blooms Bring Sunshine

Traditional veggies love living alongside native foliage that draws pollinators - they'll increase their yield in happiness! Then It's a bit easier to leave an artichoke or two free to proceed its other-worldly blooms. Photo: Lesly Hall Photography

Artichoke Blooms Feed Joy

Long before the native foliage grew to its full size, it began attracting feathered friends and wildlife. Photo: Orly Olivier

Natives and Water Attract Feathered Friends

As we turn back toward the home, we see stucco on the back of the home's exterior protects the home from fire, supporting the ember-repelling efforts of the tile roof. Cozy but flammable outdoor seating cushions can be stashed in the nearby shed to remove the greatest danger visible in this picture...

Hardened Homes Are Less Likely to Ignite

Even at it's most narrow point, where brick pavers transform from patio to walkway, there is 10 feet of defensible space for the home. While embers may collect in the intersection of brick and stucco, these materials are among the best at fighting ignition. Photo: Lesly Hall Photography

Defensible Space Is Critical to Home Safety

The low, chaparral native foliage closest to the home have mastered the art of maintaining hydration and resisting fire. Planted areas can "catch" embers, preventing them from rolling and bouncing along a hardscape to collect at the base of the home. On red flag days, the mobile BBQ can easily be...

A Long Patio Serves As Defensible Space

Trickling sounds from a mid-patio waterfall and burbling from the nearby hot tub wrap the heated al fresco dining area that sit around 15-20 feet from the home.

Heated Patio and Hot Hub

The bright, low greenery of Dwarf Coyote Bush and silver, spikes of Yucca Whipplei provide delightful visual contrast. Their chapparalian design is perfect for maintaining hydration in high heat, and they are among the most fire-wise plants. Because they also root deeply, even if entirely burned...

Fire-Wise Foliage Protects a Steep Slope

While we've been trained to see trees as fire dangers, there are places in which they can serve to protect our homes. This line of trees is at a defensible distance from the home's roof. It serves as a first line of defense to "catch" flying embers before they can reach the roof. It also provides...

Trees Shade and Protect the Home

Beneath a canopy like this, temperatures can be as much as 20 degrees cooler than the surrounding area. Not only does this make for more pleasant space, it helps foliage and soil hold their hydration. This hydrated quality is protective. Photo: Lesly Hall Photography

Tree Canopy Shades Patio and Cools Home

Deep tree canopy also adds privacy from the neighboring property at the top of the slope. When enjoying the spa or brunch al fresco, the garden wraps the space and the home in verdant, varied, blooming greenery.

Abundant Greenery Can Be Fire Wise

Are you interested in the backstory? Here is the front garden before renovation. The high-heat of Sunland-Tujunga made keeping turf-grass green in dry, hot summer months next to impossible. Photo: Orly Olivier

Before: Turf Grass Fights the Sun

The spa, edible garden, and shed, now obscured in deep greenery were once easily visible from the home. Fast growing White Sage, Cleveland Sage, and Indian Mallow provided form and interest almost immediately. This kept us patient with slower growing Manzanita, California Lilac (Ceanothus) and...

Before: Mix Fast and Slow Growing Natives

Young and establishing native foliage left the structure of the garden trail more visible. Without the foliage, an expanse of gravel might allow embers to roll from a burning wood fence toward the home. As it is, it provides mini fire breaks between the fence, foliage, and the home. Photo: Orly...

Before: Create a Fire-Break Trail

As native foliage establishes, the faster-growing edible garden and patterns in the hardscape take center stage. While petite, a garden of this size can keep a family stocked with favorite herbs and veggies.

Before: Feed the Family

Now virtually unseen, the charm of the retaining walls was on full display when the garden was newly planted. Photo: Orly Olivier

Before: Reinforce Slopes

Effectively planted slopes and fire wise landscapes will leave adequate space for fully grown foliage. While it means living with a little barren space as the foliage grows, this strategy reduces ongoing needs for brush clearance and leads to better foliage health. Photo: Orly Olivier

Before: Plant Smart, Save Work

The established tree canopy provided shade and cool to the garden as it developed. Now that this slope is full of mid-sized foliage and shrubbery, the space is still noticeably cooler. Photo: Orly Olivier

Before: Shade with Trees, Cool with Shrubs