Eyes in the back of my head

"I have eyes in the back of my head!"

I don't believe that there is a single parent alive that has never used this phrase! As a child every time I was caught doing something that I shouldn't be doing, my mother would tell me..."I know everything you do...I've got eyes in the back of my head." Right after the swift cuff to the back of mine! Ahhhhhh grasshopper!!!

I spent my entire childhood trying to see those eyes, but we’re always covered by her hair.

Eyes in the back of your head can give you great insight into what is yet to come. The more I think about it, the more I realize just how much I use this concept in my daily life. Mom used her "back-eyes" to catch me while I was up to no good! I use the eyes to make sure that the "no good" doesn't happen.

I think it actually saved my life a couple of weeks ago...........

Driving the highway with two friends in the car…cut to the 401, heading south, heavy traffic. My eyes are constantly shifting. Right mirror…left mirror…rear-view (eyes in the back of my head) mirror…until my eyes lock onto the rearview! What I see takes me only seconds to process. BIG red truck, flying onto the 401 from an on-ramp. Dude ain't paying attention!!! Big red slams into the car in front of him...car loses breaks on impact, and is now hurdling at high speed towards us! The only thing between that car and a 30 car pile-up, is ME....getting out of his way. I grab the wheel and turn quickly...a hard left, onto the shoulder of the highway. As luck would have it...so does the car now on my tail! The rest of the story you can imagine.

So in the end, those "back-eyes" prevented what potentially could have been a brutal accident. No one was hurt. The car sustained a great amount of damage. But, we are all alive and well to tell the story. Those eyes came in mighty handy!

I think we earn these "eyes in the back of my head" with age and life experience. Those of us with children can vouch for this! We have the privilege of drawing upon the great insight "the eyes" afford us.

Oh yes....I can see the faces my kids are making behind my back, after one of those "I told you so" moments! And I already know what is most definitely going to happen if my kid is peeling an apple... like an old man on a front porch, whittling a stick! He has the scars on his fingers to prove it! But these are the life lessons that plant the seeds in the back of your head....that will one day, grow into a set of eyes!

I try to put these eyes to good use in my work as well. While I am taking a client's design from paper to landscape, my brain is in a constant state of "seeing a step ahead". I must be able to play out what needs to happen in the second phase of a construction, while the first phase is being completed, and the third phase is yet to happen.....How , both "before" and "after", might affect each other.

My advice is to make sure that any landscape designer you employ has the ability to do this. It's crucial to the cohesiveness of your plan. So I say, let's embrace our eyes! All of them- the ones we see with, our "third eye", and the ever mysterious "eyes in the back of our head". They worked well for our mothers!

So if you're standing behind your designer, and they know that you are making faces....Hire them!

You look like your Gazebo

You know how “they say that people look like their pets? Well, here’s a question…..Do people also look like their backyards? Metaphorically speaking of course. Cuz that’d be just weird to look like a yard!

For example……my wife and I love to entertain during the summer months. Our personalities tend to be free spirited, inviting and friendly, and just a little bit wild! We have a wide variety of friends as well (variety being the operative word)…….some are more low-key ,serious and cocktails, while the others are more “loud music, tequila, and patio-turned-dance- floor!”

So our yard….(the one that is still in the works), reflects and accommodates all these needs.

If you are wanting to create an area in your yard that will reflect your lifestyle, ….. then take a look at your life!

Do you have children? What are their ages?

Do you entertain?

Who do you keep company with?

Do you enjoy yard work and gardening? Do you even have time for it?

Do you want to be able to almost “live” outside?......cooking, reading, hanging out?

Will you want fire? Gas or wood burning? How about a water feature?

Do you need a bar? Kitchen? Shed? Treehouse?

Pool? Hottub? Gazebo?

Music? Piped throughout your yard…….

Ahhhhh, but do you have nasty neighbors? Or dogs…messy dogs? Maybe your yard is built on a massive slant? Now that can be tricky!!!

So all I'm saying is really give your lifestyle and needs some focus! Our yard can accommodate almost every circle we run with….from tea time with the in-laws to the friends who sing out loud over a couple of vodkas, to our 19 year old’s crazy crowd.

Our neighbors are not great fans of ours, but in our defense….we live across from a retirement home and in a neighborhood full of retirees! That wasn’t well thought out….so I speak from absolute experience!

So yes…..I guess I DO look like my yard….minus the dog poop!

Relationships and Red Wine

After my last blog, I started to think about relationships. Relationships in the context of my work. Like what kind of cheese I will have with my wine?

The longer I sat and thought about this whole idea, halfway thru the bottle, the more similarities I discovered that there were between my marriage, and the relationships that I develop with my clients on a professional level.

Now, there are obvious differences, and I’m sure I need not explain those to you…..but the similarities are probably what makes working with my clients easy and rewarding.

So, this week’s question is……if I treat every client relationship , with the same amount of dignity and respect, as I do my own personal relationships……would the experience and outcome always be positive?

I’m a relationship guy. Always have been. I mean let’s face it…….they are what make the world go around. At any given moment, on any given day, we are interacting with someone! Some are great experiences….some not so great! The trick is, to make each encounter work for you in some way, shape or form. Learn from it. Grow from it.

We all know that relationships require work. Some of us are only discovering this after many failed partnerships. We’re a little slower than the average Joe! (no offence Joe!) Ya know what they say though…..it’s not the destination that matters…..it’s the journey there!

Now that I’ve got this whole “love relationship” stuff all worked out……(for the most part)…..I can apply some of the same strategies to my client relationships.

Doctor Phil would soooo appreciate this……..

First word of advice….. You have to love what you do….with a passion!!!

We all know what happens when love and passion leave a relationship!

So I look at what works for me in my partnership at home. I’ve learned to be a good listener. To “hear between the lines”, looking for subtle hints or information about wants, needs, likes/dislikes etc. I acknowledge that I’ve heard them, because EVERYBODY wants to be heard.

TRUST! I think that once the client trusts me, and can appreciate that I know exactly what I’m doing…….a tight partnership develops. If you keep them abreast of what is happening and what is going to happen, their anxieties melt away! Imagine if you took off for a couple days without telling your wife/husband where you were and what you were doing?!?!?!? Ohhhhh the doghouse is not the most comfortable place to sleep!

Consideration and compromise………both very tricky when there are budgets to follow, and tastes to appeal to. When a client has a particular desire, it can’t always happen the way they want it to. So here is where compromise comes in handy. If your communication ability is in tact….there should be a happy ending. The customer is happy, and I get to do my job within the budget, and by-law restrictions.

I like the fact that I develop relationships with my clients that allow them to feel free to ask questions, give input, accept feedback and tell me when there is something that they are not pleased by. But by far, the best part of my job, is the part where we stand in their gorgeous outdoor living space, and toast it with a glass of merlot.

So back to the original question…….I would not be able to sleep at night if the outcomes and experiences I had on a daily basis were negative. Like a marriage,….I work at it!!! The alternative? ……… Keep one eye open while I sleep.

WILL I EVER HAVE SHOES???

I think that if my wife had a dime for every sympathetic smile that followed the statement, “the cobblers children have no shoes”, she’d be on a perpetual shopping spree.

I’m pretty sure that she’s frustrated and confused about the state of our own yard. On several occasions, she’s suggested that I NOT park my work vehicles in front of our home, for fear that the public would judge my design abilities…. by what they saw in our yard!

We have had many- a- laugh discussing this issue. And really…truth be told……..I think she’s been a pretty good sport about the whole yard thing! Things ARE getting done! The pace is just not conducive to a stress-free, happy wife. So my challenge is to find other ways to compensate for my turtle-like pace in completing the plan for our own backyard. Shoes!!! ……..she loves them as much as she loves air……shoes might buy me a bit more time!!!

The sarcastic little “digs”, and the “off the cuff” one-liners she makes, are not lost on me! I get it! So the question is……what is a reasonable amount of time to finish a project in my own yard, that clearly, I am able to accomplish in a client’s yard in a matter of a couple weeks?

Everyone with a job knows, that in order to keep that job, it must be done in a timely manner and it should be accomplished to perfection. Besides….it’s how I earn my living!

I have friends who are chefs. When they get home at the end of the day, the last thing they want to do is cook dinner. I have friends who own cleaning services……I would not eat off of their floors! I have friends that are gynecologists……..you get the picture. My dilemma is…..Where do I find the time? How can I possibly balance my work, and “shoes for my own family?”

The answer to that is……I can’t! This business is unpredictable. Timelines don’t always happen as planned. When I get home at the end of the long, long day, I’m exhausted. I’ll BBQ some chiken, but doing more of what I’ve been doing all day……im not really feelin’ it!!!

So, I’ve resigned myself to the turtle- like pace that our own yard is moving at. It’ll get done whenever it gets done. In the meantime…….I will continue to park my company trucks around the corner from our home……..and remind my “Lovey” that there’s an awesome sale on shoes at the mall today!!!

Night at the 2010 Landscape Grammy Awards

Hey Folks………
Well, it’s been a while……so I figured it was time for me to dust off my pen, (yes, I write it all down on paper first), and put some of my ever -racing thoughts out into cyber space to touch base with my fellow landscape buffs!
It’s been hard to contain my excitement over the past week, as I did something that I never before had the time for. No, no,……I didn’t get to that zipline thing I’ve been meaning to do, but I did, finally, submit a design to Landscape Ontario for their annual awards presentations……….and WON!!!!
My wife was not surprised, my staff were not surprised, anyone I’ve done work for, was not surprised. But just let me say……WOW…..was I surprised!
I have been doing this work for 20 years, I love my work and and I am damn passionate and knowledgeable at what I do. I am confident in my work. My knowledge is vast and if there’s something that I don’t know……I'm great at finding the people or persons who do!
So, why then , was I as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs??????
OK….so let me explain to those who might not get it. The Landscape Ontario Awards are equivalent to the “Grammy’s” of landscaping. They are a big deal to those of us who run in the landscaping circles . You can love your own work as much as you like………but when a panel of judges fellow Landscape Professionals and Designers are holding your work up against many other submissions, and they say “We love this one……this one is exceptional! This design is soooo great, that we are going to announce to his peers, that we think this design rocks!” And that, my friends, is as good as it gets!
Over the years I have collected many awards for my work, but they always came to me via the construction of another firm . This time was different. This was an award solely based on my work alone……and that felt good! Toot toot!!! That’s the sound of me tooting my own horn! !!!!! LOL

How Does the Energy Flow in your Life?

Bringing the energy of the outdoors, inside!

I have always believed in the concept of Energy! That it flows through us, around us and within us. In my designs, I strive to create "balance in space"... both hardscape and softscapes. When I create spaces for my client's, .... even before the work has started, I can walk through every property and see it completely transformed by my minds eye. I can see it finished....... and i see dead people! ( lol jokes!)

It has taken many years, a lot of yucky situations, a good load of cash on self-help books, painful, yet wonderful personal growth, and the odd episode of Dr Phil. I now feel like Ma Nature and I are really starting to see eye to eye! We're on the same page..... I can feel her pain. Who was it that said, "Be the change you want to see in the world"? Well, I want to see change in our world, dammit! I'm totally on the band wagon! Less waste, more conservation, and a healthy dose of spiritual healing! There, I said it! Yes, I DO think that our poor little planet needs a little spiritual healing, not just a band-aid!

This most amazing place we hang our hats, comes with everything one could need for healing it's inhabitants, and for healing herself! We just won't let her! So now I'm going to start to do my little part in this global healing, by starting right in my own home! Just the other day, i found the most beautiful smokey quartz crystal, in my local Wiccan Boutique. The lovely sales woman held my attention with the vast amount of knowledge she fired at me about this huge hunk of wonder I held in my hands.

It was perfect for our home (not only because it matched the decor), but also because we all, children included, have felt a negative presense in the home since we moved in 3 years ago. Nothing that we needed to call in the Penn State Paranormal Team in for, but just a bad energy, and ok, maybe a few slightly freaky things!

Smokey (black) Quartz is known for drawing in and holding onto, negative energy that may be lingering around. Now, call me crazy, but just last night we placed this beautiful stone on the coffee table in the livingroom! We did burn a little sage as well, just for good measure..... and let me tell you, by the time i got home for dinner, the house just felt different. It felt clean, clear, light, and just plain different!

Such a great gift from the universe! Such a wonderful gift from our Mother Earth. We abuse the hell outta her, and she still keeps giving and expects nothing in return!

My next venture is to find something else that is "of the earth" and of a healing nature, so that i can keep working hard at my relationship with HER! Stay tuned, I'll let ya know what I come up with!

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Eco Landscaping

Eco-landscaping allows eco-conscience homeowners to minimize their environmental impact without sacrificing a beautiful outdoor living space.

Eco-Landscaping eliminates chemicals and toxins in the landscape, conserves water and saves money through reduced energy and yard maintenance costs. It also reduces greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions responsible for climate change.

Reducing our energy consumption is one of the biggest reasons for wanting to green our home and work environments. The rising cost of energy and the impact on our global climate are important incentives to look for new approaches and technologies to reduce our energy footprint.

Rain Harvesting

Use a cistern or rain barrel to capture and store rainwater for irrigation. It reduces stormwater runoff and the GHGs associated with drinking water. Make sure your barrel is covered with a tight-fitting lid or screen to keep disease-carrying mosquitoes from breeding there. For detailed savings and GHG emission reductions associated with using rainwater for outside watering see Rain Barrel calculations.

Sustainable Vegetation

Select plants that are native to your location and require little maintenance to flourish. The more native species you maintain and plant the better it is to preserve the natural habitat around you.Whenever possible, keep the vegetation that is already there and transplant it if necessary. Common plant life within a sustainable landscape includes:

• Natural grasses and wildflowers
• Flowering and fruiting shrubs
• Evergreen trees to provide wind breaks and natural habitat
• Deciduous trees to provide shade, including fruit and nut-bearing trees.
• Organic vegetable or herb gardens.

Reusable Outdoor Materials

Elements such as decks, patios, walkways and driveways all contribute to the way you live in your landscape. If any of these elements are chosen without proper consideration, they can create a variety of problems, from lowering the value of the home to releasing toxic chemicals and polluting the environment.

• Porous materials like crushed brick, gravel, and tumbles recycled glass
• Natural stone product like flagstone, ledge rock walls
• Precast concrete products or like interlock pavers and wall systems.
• Wood from sustainable forest and recycled plastic wood products
• Organic material like compost, leaves, bark mulch or wood chips.

Sustainable Outdoor Features

An assortment of Eco-friendly gardening techniques can be integrated into your sustainable landscape. Some of the most common include:

• Xeriscaping
• Green roofs
• Bioswales
• Rain gardens
• Living walls

The Landscape Design Studio

Dave J. Maciulis has been designing landscapes since 1990. He had a affinity for "Native Woodland Gardens" and signed his original designs "A Natural Landscape by Dave Maciulis." This is how the company was conceived. Starting his business in Dundas, Ontario his services span to serve the Greater Toronto Area and Niagara Region.

The design work ranges from residential to commercial work. Dave prefers to focus on residential design. "I work closely with my clients to create their dream landscape, what I really love is creating the outdoor living experience."

The portfolio of Natural Landscape Inc. includes works of  Woodland Gardens, Contemporary Courtyards, Pools with waterfalls, Sunken Patios with lush gardens, and Outdoor kitchens with cabanas and bars.

Dave has a philosophy that doing things right the first time is the only way. Working with a network of building professionals, our goal is to help our client's vision become reality. Dave will only work with professionals that are educated, experienced, and insured. "Only the best builders work with our team to ensure that our clients are getting the best results." 

Dave has recently acquired a property of his own, out of which he now operates his New Design Studio. "I have always dreamed of building my own tour garden to run my business from. I want clients to come to a place that will better allow them to get a good understanding what I am creating for them." The Design Studio is truly unique. Carved stone desks, stamped concrete floors, tranquil water feature and a large presentation plasma screen  back dropped with a forest of trees.

  

 

 

Dave is using the latest presentation technology. Using CAD programs, Photo imaging software and 3-D technology Dave is helping his clients see the dream landscape before construction begins. "It is hard for our clients to contain their excitement, while the sit and watch their landscape transform before their eyes."

The studio will be in a continuos state of transformation over the next couple of years as Dave takes the time to complete the tour garden. Dave invites anyone to come and appreciate the surrounding gardens to see the work in progress.

"Excellence in design is the goal of Natural Landscape Inc.. We are in constant pursuit of unsurpassed artistry, while utilizing the latest computer technology and sound construction principles. We combine nature and structures to create a surrounding environment that compliments your lifestyle and leave your guest in awe!" Dave Maciulis

Creating an Outdoor Room

Imagine sitting with your family or friends in the backyard on summer evening. Steak dinner cooking on the grill, you are gathered around a warm fire in your sunken patio, and the table is set on your flagstone dining room. 

Outdoor spaces can be "Outdoor Living Rooms" and should reflect the interior of your home. It has become a big trend throughout North America that people are turning their back yard decks and patios into outdoor kitchens and living rooms.

Having an experienced Certified Landscape Designer help you create your outdoor living room can be a rewarding experience. If you plan to do any work yourself just keep in mind that it is important to choose proper materials that weather the outdoors.

The hearth of any home entertainment is the kitchen.

Outdoor kitchens encompass the same criteria, a grilling area and eating area, brought together with a fireplace or fire pit area. Like many indoor kitchens outdoor versions can have the same countertop space for food preparation, bar entertainment complete with bar fridges, and plumbing for sinks.

Defining the outdoor space with low walls, benches and border gardens help ties the hardscaping to the surrounding green space. The additional touch of landscape lighting, sculptures and containers give the yard the detail it requires to make your outdoor room to feel like home sweet home.

Check out a Detailed Construction Plan By Dave Maciulis

Why Choose a Certified Landscape Designer

Landscape designers do a lot more than just show you where to plant flowers or how to sculpt your garden beds. They can design intricate patios and decks, plan complex multi level terraced gardens with pergolas, outdoor kitchens and amazing water features.

Certified Landscape Designers are experts in exterior decorating, grading and drainage, horticulture, and basic architectural design. They can combine plants and architecture, while working within a budget.

Certified Landscape Designers have to show proof of education, industry experience, present a portfolio of their own design work for a review and complete a rigorous exam. You defiantly want a professional who knows what they are doing. One good rain storm could flood your house or fill your pool with soil. You might not like spending the money , but if landscaping is not done properly the damage around your home can cost you several of thousands of dollars.

Hiring an experienced Certified Landscape Designer who has the knowledge and experience understands proper techniques in construction and can help you avoid costly mistakes.

By ensuring the most practical solutions for each design challenge, by helping the owner to find the best landscape contractor, through assistance in locating supplies and more, using the services of a CLD will help you achieve the most cost-effective results possible and ensure a well-preforming finished project.

Make sure your Landscape Designer is Certified!

Call To Book an Appointment with Dave Maciulis 

1-905-627-1466