Infinity-Edge Pools: A Bay Area Guide to Vanishing-Edge Pool Design There's a particular kind of magic that happens when a pool's edge simply disappears. The infinity-edge pool has long been one of our favorite features to design — not just for its visual drama, but for the way it reframes a property's [...]
Designing for Hillside & View Properties Steep slopes, dramatic grade changes, and sweeping views are often treated as obstacles to work around. At Montgomery Robbins, Inc., we treat them as the starting point for some of the most rewarding landscape design work in the Bay Area. What Makes Hillside [...]
Understanding Bay Area Planting Zones: A Guide for Homeowners If you've ever bought a plant at a local nursery and noticed a small "zone" number on the tag, you've already been introduced to one of the most useful — and most misunderstood — tools in garden planning. Planting zones tell you [...]
Color in the Landscape: How We Design for Beauty, Mood, and the Bay Area Environment Color is one of the most powerful tools in landscape architecture — and one of the most misunderstood. It’s tempting to treat a garden’s palette as a matter of personal taste: which flowers you love, which shades [...]
Designing Pathways for Bay Area Residential Landscapes photography by: Sarah Cosca The Role of Pathways in Residential Landscape Architecture In residential landscape architecture, the experience of moving through a property is just as important as the experience of gathering within it. A thoughtfully designed pathway does more than [...]
The Night Garden: Luxury Landscape Lighting Design for Bay Area Homes It’s easy to imagine a landscape only by the light of the sun. After all, that is when we see it most clearly. But some of the most memorable experiences within a landscape happen after dark, when lighting begins to shape atmosphere, [...]
Designing the Arrival Experience The entry to a home does more than create curb appeal—it establishes how the property is experienced from the moment you arrive. In residential landscape architecture, this “arrival sequence” shapes first impressions, daily routines, and how naturally a home feels connected to its surroundings. While there are many ways [...]
Ground Work: The Foundation of Residential Landscape Architecture in the Bay Area Landscape architecture is the design of space on every level—at eye level, above, and on the ground plane beneath our feet. The ground is often an overlooked aspect of design, yet it plays a critical role in how a space is [...]
Transitional Landscape Design: Creating Timeless Outdoor Spaces Transitional landscape design blends traditional and contemporary elements to create outdoor spaces that feel balanced, timeless, and highly livable. It combines clean lines with warmth, modern materials with classic forms, and is designed to evolve gracefully over time. Change is constant, yet the spaces [...]
Return on Investment in Residential Landscape Architecture Is residential landscape architecture worth the investment? In residential landscape architecture, return on investment refers to the long-term value thoughtful outdoor design adds to a property. While financial return may appear through increased property value, the true investment is often experienced through everyday living—how [...]
