Regional Landscape Architecture: Southern California

15 private gardens tailor-made for Southern California's topography, climate, and material culture. What makes a garden regionally appropriate? Fifteen private gardensdesigned by leading landscape architects answer that question for arid Southern California by directly addressing the climate, landscape, andculture they inhabit. Whether small or large, urban or rural, luxuriousor low budget, these resilient outdoor spaces are finely attuned to the Mediterranean climate and the indoor-outdoor lifestyle for which SouthernCalifornia is known. They make use of local building materials andcraftspeople and offer their owners a unique emotional connection tonature. Firmly planted in time and place, the projects, complete withplans, define not so much a style as an experience and thrive withlittle effort from their owners.