You will find within the pages of this site a very different viewpoint from which to evaluate man-made landscapes in general as well as a new set of standards and guidelines for the task of landscaping the coastal uplands of southwest Florida specifically or, in principle, any other place you live.

This viewpoint rejects both sides in the perpetual battle between a pair of equally false alternatives: 1) the hippie-esque naturalists who would prefer to leave nature untouched by the hand of a mankind they view as being inherently flawed, and 2) the formalists who are unable to escape a pervasive envy of Louis XIV and the Palace of Versailles.

This viewpoint rejects also a compromise between or mixture of those two on the grounds that two wrongs cannot become right simply by locating them side by side. It opts instead for an entirely different alternative.

It begins with the recognition that there are instances of nature in abundance on earth that attract universal awe and admiration distinct from the greater abundance of instances that are either too chaotic or too monotonous to be regarded by anyone as exceptionally beautiful. While most of those ideal instances of nature have been cordoned off as natural parks to preserve them, the aesthetic principles underlying their beauty have been ignored, and landscape by landscape, nature has been replaced by artificial arrangements of exotic flora wholely unrelated to the place in which they are located and solely in the service of decoration.

This site represents and illustrates the development and current state of my own quest to understand and explain this alternative as well as to create actual landscapes that can also serve as models. Since all ideal instances of nature consist ipso facto of native vegetation, the resulting core of the site represents an entirely aesthetic argument for landscaping with native plants -- one in which the oft touted ecological benefits of going native become fringe benefits.

As you navigate this subject and site, you will find that CONTACT box at the bottom on almost every page patiently awaiting your questions and comments. Do not hesitate to use it.