PRESS

Laura Morton shares her 30-year journey designing, editing, and tending to her garden

“We acquired Ozeta House in 1994, a 1921 earthquake prototype structure presumed to have been designed by modernist architect Irving Gill. The home, built from formed concrete, was an intriguing canvas that immediately drew me in. Its simple cubic geometry, reminiscent of southern Mediterranean architecture from places like Morocco and Greece.…”
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[Projects referenced: Various]

Our Garden Tour Star, Laura Morton
(Interview)

“Every month, we are highlighting “Our Garden Tour Stars”—landscape architects, florists, and interior designers who have participated at our annual Garden Tour and Showcase Estate at the Virginia Robinson Gardens. We want to let you know about these very talented designers, their inspirations, and their creations. This month, we are featuring landscape designer Laura Morton.…”
More: WEB

[Projects referenced: Various]

Laura Morton Wins Two 2020 APLD International Design Awards

♦ Silver award in Residential category for
English Manor in Beverly Hills (pp. 122–125)
“This garden definitely works well with the house.…”
♦ Gold award in Small-garden category for
Dar Ben-Lisa (pp. 182–185)
““Wow! Imaginative, creative, and fun.…”

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[Projects referenced:
English Manor and Dar Ben-Lisa]

2018 APLD Residential Silver Award for Laura Morton’s “Blue Bayou”

The clients of this Valley Village, CA, home requested pool and play areas for their kids, adult gathering spaces including a fire pit and cooking/dining space, plus new pool decking. The 5,400-square-foot backyard was half compacted turf and half pool and concrete deck. One design goal was to reinterpret the kidney-shaped pool as a lagoon/reflecting pond, making it a focal point….
More: WEB | PDF

[Project referenced: Blue Bayou]

Hot Color, Dry Garden
Garden Gallery: “Hollywood Dazzler”

By Nan Sterman
Nestled in the hills above Hollywood, California, sits Villa Pina. Its five small garden terraces step their way up the steep hillside. Their gardens are a colorist’s dream and a designer’s challenge. Landscape designer Laura Morton took on Villa Pina’s dream and challenge at the request of its owners.…
More: WEB

[Project referenced: Villa Pina]

Hollywood Revival: A Designer/Client Relationship Takes Root

By Laura Morton
As a professional landscape designer, I’ve heard many responses to this question. Wish lists from clients often include: shade, privacy, areas for food production and preparation, increased property value, spaces to entertain and relax, play spaces for children and dogs, parking, storage, greenery—all design pieces to be puzzled together beautifully.…
More: WEB

[Project referenced: Casa de los Arcos]

Scents, hues, even nests create a scene in Garden Conservancy tour stop

By Lisa Boone
Laura Morton is captivated. While giving a tour of her Los Angeles garden, the landscape designer notices a meticulously crafted bird nest in a Tibouchina tree with two tiny hummingbirds inside. “Look at the pieces of blue in their nest,” she whispers with admiration. “Their mother must have incorporated bits of blue paint from our house.”…
More: WEB (includes photo gallery)

[Project referenced: Ozeta House]

2013 APLD Residential Merit Award for Laura Morton’s “Silverlake Jewel”

The clients are a well-travelled couple (banker and spiritual healer wife) who love African art and color. He wanted privacy, a place to lounge, a fire pit and outdoor shower. She required a gathering space for council circles, meditation and healing arts. They asked for new plantings to provide shade, and open areas where she could grow herbs. Both wanted water features to cool the space.…
More: PDF

[Project referenced: Silverlake Jewel]

2010 APLD Residential Design Merit Award Winner Laura Morton

By Laura Morton
Casa de los Arcos is a 1934 Spanish Revival home, with great architectural details, and when we first encountered it, the front yard was overgrown, the soil was compacted, and equipment for the new pool was located smack in the middle of driveway, due to setbacks. The clients opted for a complete re-design of the entire property….
More: PDF (page 12)

[Project referenced: Casa de los Arcos]

Laura Morton’s Moorish-Inspired Outdoor Kitchen

By Amy Cassell
In this West Hollywood garden, Southern California-based landscape designer Laura Morton took a narrow driveway cluttered with pool equipment and turned it into an outdoor kitchen and dining terrace, inspired by the house’s Moorish details and Spanish Revival architecture, with seating for 12. With a budget of around $10,000….
More: WEB

[Project referenced: Casa de los Arcos]

2008 Landscape Design Award Winner Laura Morton

By William Healy, APLD Awards Chair
Laura created a wow—a wonderful jewel of an example of what great landscape design can be—the transformation of a space into an experience. For those who have not seen the before photographs of the area—you are in for a treat. Laura’s project was featured in a Los Angeles Times article by Debra Prinzing….
More: PDF (page 7)

[Project referenced: Hollywood Oasis]

Her Passage to India:
Small Hollywood Hills backyard becomes an India-inspired “jewel box”

By Debra Prinzing
If you’re looking for a good excuse to invest in landscaping, Mala Vasan’s is hard to beat. She credits her dreamy mix of Indian and Moroccan inspirations for seducing her sweetheart. “My garden brings out an inner magic,” says Vasan, a producer of TV commercials….
More: Article | Photos (PDFs)

[Project referenced: Hollywood Oasis]

An Award-winning Los Angeles Garden Inspired by Morocco and India

The Association of Professional Landscape Designers is an impressive organization. I have met, interviewed and written about APLD members (and their work) in many venues, including Seattle, Los Angeles and beyond. When Laura casually mentioned to me that one of her projects won the 2008 APLD “Gold Award” for residential landscape design, I went a little crazy.…
More: WEB

[Project referenced: Hollywood Oasis]

Secret Gardens of Hollywood and Private Oases in Los Angeles (Book)

By Erica Lennard and Adele Cygelman
This book offers a peek into the most beautiful private gardens of L.A. [including a signature design by Laura Morton], one of the most verdant places on earth. Life here is meant to be lived outdoors and extravagantly, and these gardens reflect the town’s larger-than-life personalities who take pride in their extraordinary garden sanctuaries.…
More: WEB (Amazon)

[Project referenced: Ozeta House]

Bringing It Home: Love of travel fills a garden with surprising plants and treasures

By Christy Hobart
Serious travelers don’t always make the best gardeners. If they have gardens at all, they don’t water them regularly, they let weeds go for long stretches, and they don’t bother planting specimens that bloom when they might be away. That is hardly the case for garden designer Laura Morton.…
More: WEB | PDF

[Project referenced: Ozeta House]

A Stroll Through the Glorious Gardens

By Karen Dardick
It’s time when gardens spring forth with wonderful plants and gardeners are brimming with inspiration. And it’s also time for another spectacular Pasadena Showcase House of Design display of elegant and creative landscaping and garden designs. One of the jewels of this year’s Showcase House is a jeweled reflecting pond created by Laura Morton and Kolleen White.…
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[Project referenced: Pasadena Showcase House]

Welcome to My Garden

By Robert Smaus
To really understand how a garden works, you need to travel through it to experience all its dimensions. Walking down a path, rounding a corner and ducking under an arbor lets you feel a designed space, as opposed to simply seeing how it looks. You can smell the jasmine overhead, hear the rustle of bamboo leaves. These sensations cannot be gleaned from gardens seen on a glossy page..…
More: WEB | PDF

[Project referenced: Ozeta House]