Here is another favorite landscape designer of mine, Leo Laniado of Brazil. I just can't get enough of this stuff. Since there is no snow on the ground and the soil is workable, I was out for 5 hours today just trimming, pruning, and replanting. I have so much to learn.

These images and more are available at: http://www.gardendesign.com/article/Showcase/Brazil-Leo-Laniado

I began a cursory study of Japanese tree pruning techniques today. In Japan, a pruner must apprentice for seven years before being allowed to work. Another thing I learned is that the Japanese prize the trunks and stems as much as, if not more than, the foliage. I think that Laniado here uses many concepts in Japanese shrub forms, exposing the beautiful stems and trunks, but his forms are simpler and more straightforward, which I like. Another thing I like that many contemporary landscape designers do is that there are no borders - the grass runs right up to the boundaries or to the architecture. I am going to try this in my yard, it might look too stark, but I think the trick is to bring some of the specimen plantings out further into the usable space of the yard, allowing more interaction with them rather than just looking at them. That said, what I created this afternoon was essentially a border, so I'll have to keep trying. It's enormously much harder than it looks.