THE BIG PICTURE

Oro Landscape Design and Construction wish to work with visionary clients who are invested in creating unique and valuable outdoor spaces. Clients willing to include the outdoor space as an integral part of their everyday living.The space for example between the front door and the car...which maybe integrated into a courtyard garden. We would love to colloborate with clients who are aware that the garden is only one element in a more complex symphony that may include patios, decks, privacy fencing, gates and paved surfaces...In other words outdoor rooms. Together these elements may be arranged in composition to create a narrative that conveys
the idea of home and garden. How these elements are arranged determines the success or failure of a house's curb appeal.

Working with our client's vision, we strive to create a dialogue between house and garden that takes advantage of the circulation patterns that exists between the outside and the inside. Patterns that must be taken in to consideration when addressing your outdoor construction needs.If you are feeling stuck about what to do with your property or where to site certainbuildings or your gardenor if you just want a second opinion, then it's time to get professional help.

My View on Views

Having had the luxury of living Canada's most desirable climatic zone for the last 12 years I have noticed certain trends and settlement patterns. New home purchasers are spending small fortunes for waterfront and high elevation properties in exchange for fleeting views of the mountains or the sea. We undoubtedly live in a most scenic place.Increasing visitor numbers every year testify to that. But, the value we place on these distant views I believe are misplaced. Most people I know who live in these view homes rarely look up to admire their views except on sunday mornings when they have their paper and coffee.In fact some are oblivious to their views at all. The trade off that occurs after they've invested what available money they have on interior reno's like kitchen and bath is the neglect of the near view. By that I mean the landscape immediately outside the box. Some homeowners justify this neglect by rationalizing that since the native plants are so beautiful there is no need for foundation planting or structural solutions to ground the building back to the existing landscape. I say pooh pooh to that...The near view in fact is more important than any distant view. If you consider the amount of time you spend getting in and out of your house from various entrance and exit ways, they far outstrip the amount of time you will possibly spend contemplating a scenic view. It is more important to spend your resources on the immediate landscape that you come into daily contact with ? For instance,how often do you get in and out of your car? By creating your own views using water features, arbours, courtyards and gazebos.You can frame your own site specific views. You can even add a porch to change the facade of the building...

Design from the outside-in.
Otherwise known as Landscape Architecture.