Video - Bleached Dragonfly

I saw this little beauty in a client's garden this week. It is a Bleached Skimmer Dragonfly (Libellua composita). Dragonflies are beneficial insects that prey on other insects.

Video by Doug Kalal, Great Gardens Landscape Design

Video - Landscape Construction Update El Cajon Job Site

Lately I have been checking on the construction progress of all the jobs I designed. Here's the latest from the El Cajon job site. Previously, we watched the concrete get poured and the jacuzzi installed.

Video by Doug Kalal, Great Gardens Landscape Design

Video - Doug's Top 10 Small Trees for Small Spaces

Just because you have a small space doesn't mean you can't have a tree. Here are my top 10 favorite small trees for small spaces. This is also my 20th video! I started this channel less than a year ago and in 356 days I have cranked out 200 videos! Video by Doug Kalal, Great Gardens Landscape Design

Video - Plants for Repelling Insects

Here's are some plants that can be used for repelling mosquitoes, yellow jackets, wasps and other bugs that drive you buggy. Most of these plants are also great for cooking. Video by Doug Kalal, Great Gardens Landscape Design

Video - Big Koi Swimming

Big Koi are like graceful dancers with their slow movements. These beauties are among the many wonderful fish available at San Diego Pond and Garden. Video by Doug Kalal, Great Gardens Landscape Design

Video - How to light up your backyard Part 8 Solar Lights

Good lighting can really make a landscape pop. Solar lights are an inexpensive way to bring lighting into a landscape. This video will cover the costs as well as the benefits and drawbacks of going with solar.

Video by Doug Kalal, Great Gardens Landscape Design

Video - Water Nymph Fountain

I found this beauty outside of San Diego Pond and Garden in Poway. Video by Doug Kalal, Great Gardens Landscape Design

Video - How to light up your backyard Part 7 Architectural Lighting

Good lighting can really make a landscape pop. In this series I will cover all the design elements, from path lights to building lights that really make your back yard dazzle at night.

Video by Doug Kalal, Great Gardens Landscape Design

Photo - Shasta Daisy with Butterfly

Here's another photo from my Big Bear vacation.

Photo by Doug Kalal, Great Gardens Landscape Design

 

Video - The flowers of Big Bear, California

Big Bear is a great resort town for all seasons. Located an hour north of Los Angeles, we love to come up to Big Bear in the summer for kayaking, hiking and this year ziplining. I also love to walk around and see what flowers are growing on the streets. Here are 3 of my favorites. Fernleaf Yarrow (Achillea filipendulina), a great butterfly plant. that grows in a wide variety of conditions. Shasta Daisies (Leucanthemum x superbum) are perennials that wait for the snow to melt before bursting out of the ground. They are hardy in zones 5-9. Russian Sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia) flourishes at higher elevations where the soil is better draining than lower California. Video by Doug Kalal, Great Gardens Landscape Design

Video - Russian Sage

Here's another beautiful plant growing everywhere here in Big Bear, California. Russian Sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia) flourishes at higher elevations where the soil is better draining than lower California. Once the snow melts, this perennial bursts from the ground and puts on a summer flower show for the tourists. Video by Doug Kalal, Great Gardens Landscape Design

Video - Chainsaw Sculptures in Wood

My vacation in Big Bear, California continues with a tour of these delightful wooden sculptures carved with a chainsaw. Video by Doug Kalal, Great Gardens Landscape Design  

Video - Cabbage White Butterfly on a Shasta Daisy

During my vacation in Big Bear, California I came across these Shasta Daisies with a Cabbage White Butterfly. These daisies are perennials that wait for the snow to melt before bursting out of the ground. Video by Doug Kalal, Great Gardens Landscape Design

Video - The Vanishing Beach

The ongoing drought has taken its toll on Big Bear Lake. Ski Beach, a popular destination for tourists and locals, is gone, wiped out by the falling water levels of Big Bear Lake. Video by Doug Kalal, Great Gardens Landscape Design

Video - Fernleaf Yarrow

 

I am up here in Big Bear on vacation. One of the fun parts of going someplace new are the different plants. Here's a perennial I found growing like a weed in this tough environment (heavy snow in the winter, 80 degrees in the summer). This is Fernleaf Yarrow (Achillea filipendulina).

Video by Doug Kalal, Great Gardens Landscape Design

Video - How a Jacuzzi gets installed

Have you ever wondered how a Jacuzzi gets installed? Here's how it's done, including power requirements and average jacuzzi costs. Video by Doug Kalal, Great Gardens Landscape Design

Video - Semplice Keystone Wall

Keystone walls are a superb method of landscape wall construction. These interlocking blocks can be used to build walls from 1 foot to 6 feet. Semplice Keystone block walls can be used when you need a wall up to 3 feet high. Video by Doug Kalal, Great Gardens Landscape Design