Monthly Archives: November 2024

Exceptional Views, Mandeville Canyon

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defensive landscape further prepares a well-hardened home

A frequent Native Plant Garden Tour favorite, we’ve evolved this garden several times throughout our nearly three decades serving the homeowners. With each evolution, we incorporate more fire defensive, wildlife and slope supporting native foliage. Recently featured in Sunset Magazine, this property illustrates effective home hardening and a treeful strategy for fire defense.

Deep-rooting native foliage beautifies steep slopes on three sides of the property.

It’s fire-defensive to invert the typical landscape…
place large ember-catching trees and shrubs at a distance from the house, and
lower foliage as you near the home. This makes it easier for you to evacuate
and provides more defensible space for firefighters to safely defend your home.

Sunset Magazine 2024

Project Snapshot

Effective wildfire preparation will look different for each property and homeowner. Cassy Aoyagi walked through preparations at this property during a 2020 webinar.

As those in high fire severity zones prioritize their wildfire preparation strategies, we recommend we think home first. The owners of this Mandeville Canyon home did just that – they directly addressed the home’s vulnerabilities before investing in our latest evolution of the garden.

From there, we addressed the human-made materials in the space nearest the home and looked for ways to “nudge” fire defensive behaviors, like storing umbrellas, cushions and other materials, when they are not in active use.

While the property’s coastal canyon location maintains cooler temperatures and sees more precipitation than those in LA’s eastern foothills, we still prioritized foliage known for resisting high, dry heat. For example, the garden’s latest evolution incorporated Dwarf Coyote Bush, Manzanita, and Island Snapdragon.

Copper-ionized Spa
Ember Resistant Zone 0
Windows | Value and Vulnerability
Biological Pond | Enclosed Storage
EncloseD Under-Deck Space
Low Foliage Sits Away from Balcony

See this garden’s evolution in the full gallery in Houzz, where you can save your favorite ideas. Learn about more fire defensive landscaping strategies in our Resources section.

Plant Palettes

If you are looking to defend a home from wildfire, check out the following plant palettes in Pinterest, where you can save your favorite ideas.

Bea’s Secret Garden, Pasadena

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This once-sunny Schumacher Garden Retreat calls in awards, tours – and shade

The Schumacher Garden Retreat’s curb appeal evolved from an expansive lawn to lush, leafy layers of distinctive foliage. The fragrance of roses, California native sages and citrus now intermingle and transform its the appeal to sidewalk appeal! As you pass the garden on foot, you’ll hear birds and bees, and meet butterflies delighting in this Certified Wildlife Habitat.

Tour goers check in for The Garden Conservancy’s 2024 Pasadena Open Days.

Of course, we’d love to take full credit for the garden’s extraordinary beauty. We can’t! Bea and Tom maintain the garden themselves and have evolved Isara Ongwiseth’s design, adding bursts of native wildflowers, and the Dr. Seuss-like blooms of Bea’s native South Africa.

The Schumachers are also evolving the space to prepare for wildfire. In 2025, the garden was challenged by embers from the Eaton fire. Shortly thereafter, updated Cal Fire maps placed the property in a high fire severity zone. To inspire and comfort fellow Californians accustomed to thinking of fire prepared as barren, Cal Fire interviewed Bea Schumacher and showcased the verdant Retreat in a video encouraging defensible space.

While the Schumachers have made small changes, they have not altered the aesthetic that inspired the Pasadena Beautiful Foundation to recognize the property’s curb appeal with a Golden Arrow Award.

Creative Arts Group’s Art of the Garden Tour 2019

In fact, while the Creative Arts Group was the first to feature the garden on the Art of the Garden Tour when the front landscape was newly installed in 2019, it has not been the last. The space continues to attract attention as it matures.

Art of the Garden Tour 2019
Art of the Garden Tour 2019

Houzz Editor Annie Thornton featured the garden as a Yard of the Week in 2021, interviewing Bea and Tom about the space and sharing before photos for perspective. The space was featured among the 10 most popular garden profiles that same year.

The Schumachers | Pasadena Open Days 2024

“One aesthetic I longed for is from reading
‘The Secret Garden’ as a child,” Bea Schumacher says.

Yard of the Week, Houzz, 2021

The Garden Conservancy featured the garden on it’s 2024 Pasadena Open Days tour. The space also earned coverage of its delightful candle-lit spa.

Project Snapshot

The Schumachers maintain both the front and back gardens, integrating new California natives, propagated cacti and succulents, and foliage native to Bea’s childhood home of South Africa.

Roses in Native Foliage
Sulphur Buckwheat
Spa-Adjacent Lounge
Pasadena Open Days 2024
Bea Shumacher | Coastal Tidy Tips
Coastal Tidy Tips
Shumacher Editble Gardens and Fire Pit
Shade-Loving Alumroot

See the full project gallery, including before photos in Houzz, where you can save your favorite ideas. Learn about the Schumacher’s experience with lawn freedom in our Client Insights section.

Plant Palettes

Looking to transform a sunny microclimate into a more temperate space? Or just to transform your time in the garden from a job to a delight? Check out the plant palette we chose for the Schumacher Garden Retreat. You’ll also find a Pinterest board to showcase Bea’s collection of climate compatible South African-native foliage. Save your favorite ideas in Pinterest.

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Garden of the Setting Sun, La Cresenta

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Rare Native Foliage Complements Exceptional Spanish Architecture

The vibrant, native Garden of the Setting Sun was featured by The Spruce in a showcase of Spanish colonial architecture. Photos of its vibrant meadows are among our most-saved in Houzz and drew plenty of “Ahhh!”s during the 2022 Native Plant Garden Tour. They are also featured in How to Keep Your Yard Healthy and Attractive with Less Water.

The Rabinovs Garden of the Setting Sun

Great people doing great work! My wife and I
had a wonderful experience working with FormLA
to completely re-landscape our home
with California natives. From planning and design
to implementation the entire experience was positive.
We’ll absolutely recommend them to anyone
who cares about the environment, and wants
their property to look the best!

Homeowner Paul Rabinov
Spanish Home Characteristics | The Spruce
Hummingbird Sage
IdealMow Meadow
Cleveland Sage

Project Snapshot

Featured on Theodore Payne Foundation’s 2022 Native Plant Garden Tour, visitors frequently asked in the mowed IdealMow lawn was turf grass – and how it stayed so green.

Contained Firesticks
LA Wildlife Mural | Erik Junker
Established Tree Canopy
IdealMow Meadow
Joyful Garden Art + Blooms
Water Sinking Border
The lush, leafy garden amplifies the garden’s sense of privacy, peace and vitality.

See the full project gallery, including before photos in Houzz, where you can save your favorite ideas. Learn about the Rabinov’s inspiration in our Client Insights Section.

Plant Palettes

Looking to complement Spanish or Mediterranean architecture? Check out the plant palette we chose for the Garden of the Setting Sun, and see more IdealMow Lawn and Meadow options. Save your favorite ideas in Pinterest.