LOL adrienne- pretty sure that is exactly what stonehenge is missing - petunias. The walls I am working with are 3 feet tall with 5 foot tall pillars. Two have gates, one doesn't. All three are entrances to driveways. They are all formal dry lay walls no cap. Do you think the argument is all that different than the foundation planting argument? Does the wall NEED to be anchored to the surrounding environment? Or framed? I am actually leaning towards the framing idea, because regardless of my opinion, my customers want the walls landscaped. I know I promised no pics, but I changed my mind - these are from a project I did a few years ago. The first two are a 5 foot retaining wall which is softened at the base with daffodils and hosta and softened at the top with tulips and day lilies. The second one is a planting bed which was put in by another designer at the same property, but we have since removed and put in grass. In the first case, I like the softening of the wall on both sides, in the second case, I felt like simplicity was the way to go.

Hi Mich! It certainly can't be mistaken for a Japanese garden! I like both the Japanese and Chinese styles, despite their differences. To me, Japanese gardens are subtle, exquisite, subdued and almost spiritual, whereas Chinese ones are bold and exude a powerful impression of supreme (and well-justified) confidence. Vancouver, B.C. is lucky - it has a superb example of each - the Nitobe Japanese Garden in the grounds of UBC and the Sun Yat Sen Garden in Chinatown. Herb

Thanks! The wood was not prefinished, it is a 6 inch walnut plank, we have handscraped walnut on most of the first floor. The wood is not stained, just urethaned. The way the wood was cut was called a certain pattern, I don't remember what it was~will try and find out, or take a better picture so you can see. We had one company do all our hard surfaces, wood floors and tile in the baths. I think they had 2 different guys do the floor. They first layed the wood, and sanded and finished that, and much later they layed the tile. They also had to do an extra underlayment to match the thickness of the wood. I don't remember if there is grout or not.(we haven't moved in yet) but I will check next time I'm' there.

I am glad to hear I am not the only one finding it difficult to find a fit for labradorite. I am considering floors such as mahogany and teak, so I am also looking at lighter woods for cabinets, maybe a combination. Has anyone tried going light with labradorite? I looked at myrtlewood, greyish tones work well with the stone (in the sample, that is of course). I also saw something named, Philippine mahogany, light color, that may work. Another option would be to go light with the floor. The floor goes into the dining and living rooms, and I want to keep the wood the same. I saw a "select hickory" floor I liked very much. It did not have the wild patterns of the hickory floors I have seen, and I liked the color. Very difficult choices, for sure, especially because I have to pick a floor pretty soon (the plaster work is done). But I was encouraged by a house I saw last week - it had a number of woods I never would have put together and it looked fantastic. Lots of "margin of error" when working with woods, I realized.