BIO

Born in Michigan, Richard comes from a long line of amateur gardeners and naturalists. After obtaining a BA in Theatre, Film and Television from the University of Michigan, he moved to Chicago where he played the starving actor while studying Improvisational Theatre with The Second City. Moving to New York City, he perfected the art of fire escape gardening, and spent four years producing television commercials, documentaries and industrial films.
Sun, and one of the best climates for gardening in the world lured Richard to Los Angeles in 1990. While working as a gardener for a Beverly Hills landscaping firm, he completed a Certificate Program in Horticulture and Garden Design at UCLA, studying such topics as plant identification, soil biology, landscape lighting design, and irrigation. He started his own landscape design firm in 1992 and has dedicated his professional life to making exceptional garden environments ever since.
An active member of the Southern Californian horticultural community, Richard’s eagerness to continually learn and develop as a professional landscape designer keeps him on the cutting edge of landscape innovation and practices. He is currently serving as President of the Los Angeles Chapter of the Association of Professional Landscape Designers (APLD); other affiliations and professional memberships include Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden; The Theodore Payne Foundation; Californian Native Plant Society; Southern Californian Horticultural Society, Pacific Horticulture and The Garden Conservancy.
Ever the student of nature, Richard is an avid hiker and enjoys exploring the natural fauna and flora of the South West region. Other pastimes include discovering unique plant nurseries and visiting public gardens.

Vision

Over the course of his career in landscape design, Richard has designed gardens in a wide variety of styles for an equally wide variety of residences. Always responsive to his client’s needs, he approaches each site intuitively and with sensitivity arriving at design solutions that instill a sense of place. He aims to draw his clients back into the garden, whether for entertainment, recreation or relaxation, by introducing a seamlessness between the interior and exterior environments.
He successfully expands his clients’ living space by coordinating a wide range of landscape elements into a cohesive design for outdoor living. He likes to create sensory experiences for his clients to enjoy through sound, movement, water and fire. His gardens are often designed with vignettes in mind; making them as beautiful to look at as they are to be experienced. His ultimate goal is to integrate nature into the backyard, reacquaint his clients with the natural world and even possibly inspire them get their hands dirty.

Low impact landscape design

Richard is passionate about creating environmentally sensitive landscapes. When approaching a project, he is always mindful to tread as lightly on the natural system as possible. His commitment to following sustainable landscape design practices inform important considerations such as where materials are sourced, non-chemical approaches to pest management, and an emphasis on healthy soil biology. This has resulted in a strong focus on low maintenance landscaping, with a preference for texture and foliage color and the use of drought tolerant and wildlife habitat plantings.

Process

Richard’s background in film and television production has instilled in him the importance of collaboration and the ability to inspire people to do their best work. Over the course of a project, Richard will work closely with the client, licensed contractors and skilled tradespeople from a variety of disciplines to ensure the design vision is successfully achieved and implemented.Richard prides himself in having developed many long-term relationships with his clients, allowing him to continue to work on the gardens as they adapt and change over time.