FormLA Landscaping

Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers

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FormLA Landscaping

13 Reviews

Historic Mid-Century Architecture

FormLA Landscaping owners Cassy and Kirk Aoyagi wrapped their midcentury modern home with a lush, leafy, low water landscape. Featured in the LA Times and Flora, the magazine of the California Native Plant Society, new additions to the garden include an ember resistant Zone 0 and an expanded tree canopy.

Others who worked on this project: Lesly Hall Photography

A vibrant meadow filled with California native foliage provides a beautiful view from the home. Can you see the retaining wall? An abundance of tree canopy, the only pre-existing foliage, cools both the home and garden.

Mid-Century with Meadow

While less densely built than Altadena or the Palisades, most of the foothill-adjacent neighborhood's historic mid-century homes sit within 100-200 feet from one another. With this proximity, one home's wildfire protections will impact the safety of each neighbor.

Wildfire Prepared Homes Protect One Another

The new, ember resistant area extends beyond the home's delicate, historic wood eves. Foliage on the patio is now in mobile containers, and furnishings are non-combustible metal. The swing of human-made materials is removed from the tree when not in active use, and established, low-growing,...

Zone 0 Patio Extends Beyond Eves

The established trees brought shade and greenery while the young garden established itself. The oak's branches extended over the roof, dropping an abundance of litter and posing the risk of falling branches.

Before | Oak Branches Engage Roof

As recently as 2019, a protected and beloved Coast Live Oak's canopy extended over the home's roof. This presented risks of structural damage due to breaking branches, leaf litter, and pests gaining entry through the roof.

Oak Tree Engages Roof

The live Oak is now trimmed away from the roof for safety and clearance of solar panels. This was done over a period of years to ensure no more than 10-15% of the tree was ever cut at one time. Now there are no Oak limbs over the roof, yet the Aoyagis still basque in its shade and the habitat it...

Tree Canopy and Safe Clearance

A well-established Toyon sits just outside of Zone 0. It's branches are kept trimmed away from both the wood siding and the roof. It is higher mass than we would now plant this close to a home. That noted, while no plant is fire proof, Toyon is known for its ability to stay healthy in high, dry...

Zone 0 and Toyon

We understand the property's tree canopy to be one of its greatest defenses from flying embers, a primary source of home ignitions. While canopy no longer touches the roof or eves, it does still shade them. The rooftop sprinklers are a home-hardening measure.

Fire-Ready Behaviors Matter

Like most Angelenos, the Aoyagis once stored their bins against the side of their garage, along with tools and other ready-to-go items. These human-made materials are often the most easy to ignite and explosive materials in any landscape. These bins are now stored against a concrete masonry block...

Before | Garage-Side Storage

As the California native foliage grows, it hides the dry stack, natural stone garden wall Kirk Aoyagi lovingly restored. It forms a cascade of foliage between the home and meadow with an array of blooms that evolve through the seasons.

Natural Stone Garden Wall

Even when the garden was young, Kirk Aoyagi could see its full glory in his mind's eye as he leaned against the Hackberry tree. The dry stack wall he restored between the meadow and the home could still be seen through the foliage in 2019.

Hackberry Heaven

The garden is a laboratory where the Aoyagi's enjoy growing rare California native plants, particularly those hyperlocal to the northeast of LA. This Gooseberry grows in the deep shade of the Coast Live Oak and Hackberry.

Flowering Gooseberry

Pitchers Sage forms part of the cascade of foliage at the edge of the meadow. It scents the garden with an earthy, minty scent and delights birds, butterflies and humans with these delicate blooms much of the year.

Bell-Like Blooms of Fragrant Pitchers Sage

A towering Eucalyptus Tree once cast shade across the entirety of the meadow. The Aoyagis deeply appreciated its beauty, even as it dropped large branches during Santa Ana winds, understanding it was near the end of its lifecycle.

Micro-Climate Defining Eucalyptus

Cassy and Kirk Aoyagi dreaded the loss of the Eucalyptus - and still dread the day the Hackberry also fails. They've planted a young Valley Oak next to Cassy (in black and green). In 2019, it was just knee-high! Two of the three trees that would compensate for the loss of older trees are growing...

Tree Succession Planning

The Eucalyptus canopy was so high, it provided little nearby shade or privacy. A mix of native hedge plants along the property line filled that gap.

Abundant Canopy, Little Privacy

When the Eucalyptus collapsed of its own accord, the Aoyagi's replaced it with this still-young Sycamore. They planted it quite small to ensure its success, and in just three years effectively shades the patio. As it grows, it will eventually reach the heights of the Eucalyptus it has succeeded.

Young Sycamore

While they miss the architectural beauty of the Eucalyptus, the garden feels more private and green as succession trees take hold. The Engleman Oak in the corner was planted before the loss of the Eucalyptus. The native Elderberry had nearly attained full size by the time it failed.

Sycamore, Elderberry and Oak Succeed Eucalyptus

Native Elderberry provides an abundance of privacy and habitat with its spring blooms and summer berries. The silver of the White Sage and Canyon Rye at its feet call attention to the blue of its berries and add still more blooms and seeds to the mix of native wildlife-supporting foliage.

Elderberry Tree Succeeds Eucalyptus

White Sage at the base of the Elderberry mirrors the spectacular silver-blue of its berries.

Elderberries and White Sage

Concrete steps lead from the gravel patios to a vibrant IdealMow meadow of Carex sedge peppered with California native accent grasses and wildflowers.

Stairway to Meadow

California native Apricot Mallow is a great way to bring Living Coral, the 2019 color of the year, into a landscape. These beautiful blooms fill its silver foliage 10 months out of the year.

Apricot Mallow's Coral Blooms

A wide variety of blooming and berrying native hedge plants line the back fence. In the spring, birds attracted to the nectar sing for the supper. In the fall, they sing for seeds and berries. The meadow stays lush year round without fertilizer and uses about 50 percent of the water needed by turf...

Harvestable Hedges

California Lilac (ceanothus) is one of the California native hedge plants lining the back of the garden. Its fragrant blooms are a great support for native bees. It buzzes with life! When not in bloom, it's dense, shiny, dark green leaves offer an effective privacy screen.

Blooming Hedge | California Lilac

Another favorite, the fragrant, wand-like blue blooms Woolley Blue Curls of mix with other mid-sized California native foliage between the patios and natural meadow.

Woolley Blue Curls

Western Columbine and Seep Monkey Flower fill a vernal pool, created to absorb rainwater. Natural stones encircle the area, creating a path accessible even when the pond fills with rainwater.

Vernal Pool Playground | Spring 2019

During the rainy season, the vernal pool fills to become a pond - and favored play space. Note the young Engelman Oak growing in the bottom left of the photo. While it blends in at its current size, it will eventually shade the entirety of the vernal pool with an expansive, evergreen canopy...

Vernal Pool Playground

Towering Humboldt Lily blooms emerged from the vernal pool in summer of 2025. Behind the blooms, the Engelman Oak is coming into its own, adding shade. The black metal fence recedes into the background.

Humboldt Lily in Oak Shade

Just after the Hurriquake of 2023, the vernal pool is full of vibrant blooms, including Western Columbine, California Aster, California Buckwheat and Seep Monkeyflower.

Vernal Pool | Late Summer 2023

The Aoyagi's consciously built green screens and shade on the opposite side of the garden from the Eucalyptus. After all, that is where it threw its dappled shade! They mimicked its impact with rare Catalina Ironwood trees.

Rare Catalina Ironwood Canopy

In just 5 years, rare Catalina Ironwood trees have grown to provide dappled shade and an effective privacy screen. Across the meadow, the young Sycamore, Elderberry, and Engleman Oak cover the neighbor's' wood fence and add privacy.

Succession Trees | Early Summer 2025