Key advice to getting started on your new landscape

Meet Jonathan Stalvey, Design Principal for TerraWorks Studio

Good things happen when old college friends reunite to follow their dreams. The partners at TerraWorks Studio joined forces years after leaving Cal Poly Pomona to combine their skills in landscape design, irrigation and maintenance, and are creating thoughtful and sustainable landscapes throughout Southern California.

Dream designs Q&A

What’s the best way to get started on a landscape transformation?

Jonathan Stalvey: Just start, make that first mark and start generating ideas. Write down what you’re thinking, and if you ever get brain fog or designer’s block, you can always go back to those first marks to stay on track. Some of the best ideas have started with napkins at a restaurant or bar. 

What key design elements do you recommend to homeowners?

Stalvey: Keep it simple. Avoid the urge to complicate your design, and focus on elements that make sense for what they do. Don’t put a bioswale at the top of a slope where it won’t collect water. Design your planted areas based on available sunlight, and give your plantings the room they need to grow to maturity.

Any other words of advice?

Stalvey: Maintaining your landscape is important for the success of your new landscape. Make sure you have a good maintenance manual that includes details like when to mulch, or the types of fertilizers to use on which plants, and when. You can do the research yourself, or have a landscape designer like TerraWorks prepare it for you.

This content originally appeared in The Dirt, IRWD's quarterly gardening newsletter. See the full issue at IRWD.com/thedirt.