This week’s Sketchy Saturday top 10.

Welcome to this week’s exciting edition of Sketchy Saturday; this week’s sketches show a great diversity in style with some Sketchy Saturday regulars throwing their hat into the ring for another attempt at top spot.

Certainly sketching and free style hand techniques are skills that will always be appreciated, regardless of whether you are a student or professional so let yourself be inspired by this week’s top 10 and submit your own sketch for next week’s edition of Sketchy Saturday.

10. by Yingying Tu, Chinese student of Landscape Architecture

By Yingying Tu

” The sketch was made on plain A4 paper with marker pens and colour pencils. It is a picture I imagined: A set of parterre plants as a prospect,wooden boardwalks around the central pool. A square on the left and a lawn on the right. There are trees and mountains in the distance.Hard elements stay in harmony with soft and create a brisk atmosphere.”

9. by Monika Magoń,  fourth year student of landscape architecture at the University of Rzeszów, Poland

By Monika Magoń

“This was made with a pencil technique. The drawing shows the sea coast. Both the technique and subject matter are very close to me.”

8. by Sarayut Chanachai (Bay), freelance landscape architect , Maejo university, Thailand

By Sarayut Chanachai

“We had only one night to prepare our full package presentation for the client for a new Shopping center design in Chengdu ,China. The concept is about stars and champagne glasses, colors and celebrations, so we made the shading canopy and sculpture in a champagne glass shape with colorful lighting in the SoHo area – I started to make quick sketches. To represent a sense of place we use a sketchy style and variety of colors to make the feeling of movement and fun – material used Black ink pen and Marker”

7. by Steven Page

By Steven James Page

“This is a conceptual charcoal sketch from the Scottsdale, AZ desert.”

6. by Partizan arif younus, Northern Iraq (Kurdistan)

By Partizan Arif Younus

“It’s a drawing perspective of a monastery which has been abandoned. Now it’s an architectural faculty of GAU (university) and we are restoring the place and so now we have a design studio project over there. The drawing’s name is “revitalization” I’m trying to bring life again into the monastery by catching those dead souls in the sky by that iron feature which has been there for a long time.”

5. by Juliana Lalaj, architecture student, Coventry University, United Kingdom

By Juliana Lalaj

“As a final year, we have to choose a topic and write our dissertation about it. This is one of the buildings I have to analyse, so I made sketches to illustrate my dissertation. The building is the National Art Gallery of Albania. I have used pencils (2B-2H depending on the shadows), sitting in front of the building for some hours.”

4. by Jesus Palafox Garcia, Architect, Mexico

“The monumental architecture is exciting, I worked many years in monument restoration. When the time allows I’m drawing. This drawing, is the Cathedral of the City of Morelia, Michoacan, Mexico. Technique: Pencil and watercolor on paper.”

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By Jesus Palafox Garcia

3. by Amaury Martins Neto, landscape architect , agronomist engineer , São Paulo – Brasil

By Amaury Martins Neto

“I think the visualization process is as important as the design itself. With that in mind I made this sketch to illustrate for my clients how the facade will look like when the garden gets concluded. It is a hand drawing and colored with copic markers and I did some final adjustments on photoshop.”

2. by Steven James Page, background as a golf course design consultant, Phoenix, AZ, USA

By Steven James Page

“The sketch is a perspective watercolor using a Faber-Castell PITT artist pen, Derwent watercolor pencils, Winsor & Newton brushes (3/4 inch flat, number 12 round, number 4 round, and mop brush), on Strathmore 400 series 11×15 inch 140lb paper. It was inspired by a photograph my mother took recently while traveling in the UK and is a gift for her.”

1. by Fred M Tabajonda, Landscape Designer, Philippines

By Fred M Tabajonda

“This sketch was done in pen and ink and washed with watercolour, This was conceived in an oriental design for a casual dining far east restaurant showing gazebos for sitting and wooden bridge over the lily pond.”

Top 10 Online Resources for Landscape Architecture

Parks, squares, waterfronts, gardens, water features, art, creative and natural playgrounds, industrial, installations, residential parks, private gardens, restorations and many more directories for landscape architecture can be found  in this selection. The latest news,  best practices from professionals and students all around the world are available on the internet. This is the quickest way to find them now. But be careful and try not to overdo it. It is addictive! With this warning, here are the best online resources for landscape architecture.

10. Pinterest

It is a huge resource of outstanding landscape architecture pictures. It can help you  browse for inspirational ideas, impressive designs of all kinds, parks, gardens, details and plants.

9. GAP photos, Garden and Plants

Similar to Pinterest, Gap photos supplies more than 300 000 pictures of garden design and horticultural projects quickly and easily. Keywords  suggest  the main plants that are used in the specific garden you are looking at. Great help for quick and fruitful research for the garden.

8. Land8

Besides the great amount of projects, photos and videos, this is a website where you can also participate and enrich it with a project, opinion, or enlarge your awareness for the field of work through the blog. I have recently peered in a discussion about job interviews.

7. Landscape + urbanism

For projects taking a broader view, zooming out from the scale of the private garden and landing on the scale of the city. For those who want more than inspiration, but are eager to go  deeper into a certain topic, this is the right place. Here theory and practise come together. Besides the rich directory of the blog, it can redirect you to  numerous other websites in different languages  according to the topic that you are interested in.

6. Playscapes

An essential part of landscape design, each of us dreams for a place  to find a great variety of playgrounds. This is not appropriate for those of you looking for standardized playgrounds. Here can be found creative playscapes from artist and designers with great awareness of what a good quality  children’s playground should be.

5. Landezine

Visually beautiful website with excellent organization promoting landscape architecture. It is well supplied with photos and good quantity of information for the projects.

4. Landscape Architecture Magazine 

The monthly magazine of the American Society of Landscape Architecture has a history since 1910. It is a valuable piece in your online library.

3. World landscape architecture

It will keep you up to date with the latest projects, competitions and news around the world.

2. Landscape Institute

The UK based equivalent of ASLA is a priceless resource for landscape architecture related topics, projects, jobs, news and guidelines.

1. ASLA

ASLA promotes the highest level of care and design about landscape architecture. It’s a great place for information about everything related to the topic. From how to start your journey as a landscape architect, the best ways to continue it and online learning, to data about important conferences, competitions for professionals and students and latest news in the field.

From private gardens to large scale public realms, this list of the best resources will keep you well informed, up-to-date, interested and more passionate about landscape architecture. You will encounter the numerous ways the profession can inspire you, increase  awareness of the importance of landscape architecture to you and to the wider society as well.

5 Common Garden Weeds and How to Banish Them

The warm weather is coming and that means our gardens are going to start blooming again; hurray! Along with all the beautiful plants and flowers there are some rather unwelcome visitors that we can expect to appear soon. Weeds aren’t just unsightly, they can kill off our other plants and even be dangerous for children and animals. Grab your gardening gloves and a trowel, as we list the 5 most common garden weeds and how to banish them.

1) Dandelion
That pretty looking little yellow flower that we always seem to forget is a weed. Perennial weeds like this are renowned for regrowing as soon as you get rid of them. They bury their roots so deep that even pulling them from the ground won’t stop them from growing back. It’s important that you dig deep and get rid of every last bit of the root, if you want to stop this weed from growing back.

2) Prickly Lettuce
Also known as a compass plant, this weed is certainly not as edible as iceberg lettuce unfortunately. Common in the South East of England and all over America, the prickly lettuce grows quickly and spreads even quicker. Just like with the dandelion this perennial weed will bury its roots deep, so you need to dig far into the ground to remove all of it. You can also use weed killer that works deep in the ground, but only if other plants are not nearby.

3) Japanese Knotwood
In the 19th Century this plant was introduced into Britain for those who wanted something a bit more exotic in their garden. However, Japanese Knotwood soon spread fast and became a bit of a weed problem in gardens, roadsides and even through pavement cracks. There are certainly environment agency rules about removing this plant so it is best to get professional TP Japanese knotweed treatment instead of digging it up yourself.

4) Couchgrass
Although it disguises itself as fairly normal blades of grass, this clever little weed is actually extremely harmful to other plants and a pain to remove. The thin white roots can bury themselves deep into the ground and wrap themselves around the roots of your garden’s flowers. You’ll find it difficult to completely remove couchgrass from anything other than raised beds, so it may be time to get the herbicide out for this one.

5) Nettles
Although nasty to touch, nettles aren’t actually all that bad. The substance it produces can actually be more helpful than harmful to nearby plants, as long as it doesn’t completely take over your garden. If you are going to pull up this weed then use it for good:
● Add your nettle leaves to a bucket of lukewarm water
● Cover the bucket so nothing can get in there and eat or drink the water
● After a couple of weeks decant the nettle water into a watering can mixed with fresh water (3 parts water and 1 part nettle water)
● Use as liquid feed for your plants, vegetables and flowers
As the nettle goes to prove, not all weeds are bad news the whole time. However, letting your garden getting overgrown with any kind of weed will stifle your own plants and leave the yard looking messy. Make sure you keep your garden in good condition and de-weed whenever you get the chance.

garden design ideas for rectangular gardens , hillside landscaping , low maintenance gardens ideas , zero maintenance gardens , low maintenance garden

A ECOSSISTEMAS é a empresa líder em paisagismo em Portugal, com uma reputação crescente em toda a Península Ibérica pelo serviço integrado aos diversos níveis da actividade paisagística. Qualquer que seja a dimensão e natureza de um projecto—seja ele um jardim privado, um restaurante, um hotel, um shopping centre ou um condomínio residencial—a ECOSSISTEMAS  propõe-se alcançar os mais elevados padrões de qualidade, através do emprego de soluções efectivas e práticas.

Uma qualificada equipa de paisagistas, agrónomos e operários especializados trabalha sem nunca perder de vista os critérios e desejos do cliente, assegurando sempre que o projecto final

—contemporâneo ou tradicional, formal ou informal, é plenamente concretizado.

Com mais de 25 anos de experiência e com um vasto portefólio de projectos concluídos, a Jardim Vista assenta a sua reputação na combinação de design criativo, execução meticulosa e manutenção profissional, vital para que um jardim se possa revelar em todo o seu esplendor. Entre os clientes da ECOSSISTEMAS contam-se alguns dos mais prestigiados promotores imobiliários e clientes privados de Portugal Continental, Madeira, Espanha.

O Centro Paisagista ECOSSISTEMAS, junto a Lagos , no Algarve, proporciona aos clientes uma fonte de inspiração ao disponibilizar uma variada gama de plantas, materiais e soluções paisagísticas que podem ser empregues em qualquer projecto. Árvores, palmeiras e outras plantas podem também ser admiradas e escolhidas.

O Centro Paisagista alberga ainda o atelier de paisagismo e os gabinetes de consultoria paisagística onde a equipa residente está disponível para responder às suas questões ao nível do paisagismo, construção e manutenção.

A ECOSSISTEMAS é uma empresa de arquitectura paisagista com uma experiência de mais de 20 anos em design e implementação de jardins em Portugal  . Contando com uma grande variedade de experiência e talento, os nossos paisagistas encontram as soluções para qualquer espaço exterior. 

Garantindo que cada projecto de paisagismo é criteriosamente implementado, a ECOSSISTEMAS  proporciona, em conjunto com os serviços de design de jardins premium soluções integradas de implementação de jardins.

Combinar design e implementação é um conceito que permite aos paisagistas e ao departamento de gestão de projectos trabalhar em conjunto desde o início do projecto até à execução final - resultando numa implementação precisa, controlo de custos e, acima de tudo, mais valor por cada euro investido

A ECOSSISTEMAS  dá vida aos conceitos dos promotores, construtores e arquitectos paisagistas. Enquanto empreiteiro qualificado e credenciado (IMOPPI), a ECOSSISTEMAS implementa projectos paisagísticos de todos os tipos e tamanhos.

Envolvida em cada projecto, capturando sua natureza, construindo o seu pleno potencial, a ECOSSISTEMAS é respeitada pela sua fiabilidade e disciplina com que implementa os jardins com mais prestígio em Portugal.

A ECOSSISTEMAS proporciona todos os serviços de manutenção de jardins a uma ampla gama de clientes - de resorts, hotéis e parques empresariais, a condomínios, jardins e pátios privados. 

Os nossos profissionais possuem conhecimentos profundos de horticultura, levando a todos os jardins soluções inovadoras, elevados padrões de segurança e uma reputação de 25 anos de excelente trabalho. A equipa de manutenção Jardim Vista está empenhada em valor duradouro a sua paisagem e beleza.

Acrescentamos valor à sua propriedade com os nossos serviços profissionais de manutenção de jardins.

• Projectos paisagísticos
• Construção de jardins
• Manutenção de jardins
• Limpezas e podas
• Tratamentos de doenças e pragas
• Sistemas de rega
• Vedações
• Muros em pedra rústica
• Passadeiras em pedra
• Coberturas de solo e mulching
• Aluguer de plantas
• Plantas aquáticas
• Árvores de natal

S

ituado junto à EN 125 em Odiáxere – Lagos, temos disponível uma área de exposição de com cerca de 1 ha onde poderá encontrar uma vasta variedade de plantas e árvores, incluindo árvores de fruto, cactos, suculentas e plantas aquáticas.

Num ambiente agradável, poderá passear e descontraidamente e apreciar a nossa vasta colecção de plantas. Os nossos colaboradores estarão disponíveis para o informar sobre as características de cada espécie e aconselhar a melhor escolha tendo em conta o local de plantação.

Complementarmente às plantas e árvores, encontrará vasos, potes e floreiras, em terracota, vidrados ou em plástico, bem como mobiliário para o seu terraço ou jardim e outros elementos e acessórios que o ajudarão a desfrutar do seu jardim

O nosso centro de jardinagem pode funcionar com uma verdadeira fonte de inspiração para os nossos clientes que pretendem construir ou remodelar o seu jardim.

Desenvolvemos o projecto tendo em conta as necessidades e preferências dos nossos clientes. O projecto final resulta do encontro entre as preferências dos clientes e as nossas ideias, experiência e know-how técnico.

Desde um jardim simples, a projectos mais arrojados temos capacidade para realizar as modelações do terreno, construir muros em pedra rústica, efeitos de água, caminhos em pedra e zonas de estar, pérgolas e trelinas, relvados naturais ou artificias, pomares e áreas para vegetais, entre outras.

Os nossos projectos são sempre executados respeitando as boas regras, utilizando sistemas de rega automática e de forma a minimizar os custos de manutenção.

As nossas equipas de manutenção irão zelar bem estar suas plantas e árvores, mantendo o seu jardim limpo e agradável.

Os nossos serviços contemplam a adubação dos relvados e dos canteiros, a aplicação de produtos fitossanitário sempre que necessário e as podas de arbustos, sebes e árvores, tendo sempre em conta as preferências dos nossos clientes.

O controlo do sistema de rega é para nós muito importante e qualquer anomalia é imediatamente reportada internamente para que seja avaliada e contactado o cliente. A reparação dos sistemas de rega é levada a cabo pelo nosso departamento de Landscaping.

Os nossos clientes de manutenção, podem usufruir de condições especiais na aquisição de plantas no nosso centro de jardinagem.

Tudo para o seu jardim

Que o seu jardim seja grande ou pequeno, novo ou já estabelecido, localizado na costa ou nas montanhas, aqui irá encontrar tudo o que procura – seja você um jardineiro devoto ou simplesmente a procura de algumas plantas para manter o seu jardim apresentável. Plantas e árvores Uma grande variedade de árvores e plantas endémicas do Algarve assim como outras variedades que se podem desenvolver neste ambiente. Outros produtos Também disponibiliza uma gama completa de fertilizantes orgânicos e outros produtos de jardim, ferramentas de jardinagem, vasos, etc. Arquitectura paisagística e consultadoria Projectos paisagísticos, sistemas de irrigação automáticos bem como disponibiliza assistência técnica.