It's summertime! Time to enjoy the great weather, head to the beach, the river, the lake or just jump in the pool! It's time for men to do what we have been doing for ages . . . Fire up the Q and throw on the protein!

The irony for you, of course, is that during these summer months most of you are building those pools, ponds or streams and setting in place the new Q's for someone else . . . Sounds sad. That is, if it didn't mean that the green was also flowing into your own back pocket$.

Yep, it's summer and to honor your work, in this issue you will find some pretty cool examples of what to do in someone else's back yard.

To pick the articles, we waded through dozens of submittals and found ourselves breaking the tenth commandment over and over . . . You know, the one about coveting thy neighbors house . . .

Well there are some fantastic projects out there and we did our best to pick a few examples that you might be able to use in your designs and to help you sell these custom projects.

One of the first things we noticed was that virtually every one of the projects featured water meant for full body immersion. So if you haven't taken a course in pool, pond or stream building, you will either be giving a large chunk of the project to a sub or you won't be given the chance to give it to anyone.

In most of these projects the plant materials are complementary to the hardscape and features. Shaping the land and providing areas to enjoy the scenery are as important as actually providing the scenery. Almost every project, except for the smallest of yards, had multiple seating areas. (Maybe it's because they have kids . . .) In the projects we picked, these areas of enjoyment are coordinated but individual. The trick is creating an environment that allows the client to safely and economically travel between these areas, and feel as if they have entered a familiar but unique part of their property when they arrive.

We did review many projects that went out of their way to individualize these spaces. In some cases we saw up to seven or eight different paving patterns or stones, mixed and unmatched furniture, classic and contemporary spaces sitting side by side, with absolute color and texture variances. We didn't really like those ones too much . . .

I don't want to conjure up a vision of graffiti and Yes . . . The client is always right, but the projects we picked carried elements throughout the site, with just subtle transitions. These transitions often lead to exciting new views and new feelings of place, while still holding on to some sense of familiarity.

I know everyone has their own tastes, but when the nine of us got together to pick these articles, elegant, sophisticated and relaxing were all terms that brought us to these projects.

So sit back, relax by the pool in your own backyard, shake off the dust of the day's work, enjoy this June issue of LC/DBM and think of the people who are and will be enjoying the fruits of your labor this summer . . .

God Bless. . .

George Schmok, Publisher