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Vindel Artistic Landscape...
Angel is a Dream-Maker
Angel Vindel was a landscape painter in Honduras. When he moved to the US, the only job he could find was with a landscaper. After a year, he formed his own company. Now, 20 years later, he is the landscaper for many of Miami's most beautiful and exotic properties!
Landscape painter turned landscape artist and designer
Whether you know precisely what you want your yard to look like and the names of specific plants you want to use, or you want Angel to help clarify your vision, to suggest plants, flowers and trees that will work for you, he will gently step in and create an environment far more rich and wonderful than you may ever had thought possible! Angel's creativity is thrilling. He asks questions and listens. He's passionate about what he's creating for you, and his sleepless nights always generate even more exciting ideas and solutions!
Whether your yard is overrun with groundcover as mine was or it lacks any cover at all like Reggie's, Angel will walk around and chat with you, gathering your ideas and sharing his. Discovering which flowers and plants thrill you... and which ones don't. The creation of your dream-yard will be a joint one. Angel will find out how much maintenance you want to do yourself. Or he can provide the kind of maintenance that is needed. Either way, he is committed to delighting you long term.
Angel and his team can expertly install computerized sprinkler systems and pumps, build unusual gates, pergolas, trellises and arches. They can precisely lay down elegant patios and charming winding paths. They can construct koi ponds with fountains, lilies and papyrus or a simple Bamboo Drip Pot. They will build chiki huts to provide shade and ambiance. And, Angel and his team will design, install and fine tune lighting that will allow you, and everyone you know, to thoroughly enjoy your parties and celebrations. And, even more important, lighting and landscaping that will allow you to enjoy your family and home to the fullest.
Some examples tell the story... Reggie's hurricane devastated yard
Reggie freely admits he bought his home for the yard, not the house. There were 100 year old avocados and sweeping mango trees that create shade and shadow, quiet and coolness. But when Reggie, a pilot, returned home from a trip to China, he discovered that Hurricane Wilma had twisted and uprooted all but two of his beloved trees. Now instead of shade and shadow, his yard was glaring sun and heat. And bare... thoroughly bare.
He and Angel created his yard newly. No, they couldn't get the old trees back but, to complement the two remaining ones, they built a "village" of shade-producing chiki huts... one for lounging, another for the jacuzzi, another for dining, and yet another just for sitting around and relaxing. The main chiki is above a broad, raised platform that allows his guests to lounge on carved teak furniture and embroidered silk pillows that Reggie brought back from India. Statues and fountains give his new yard a shady, tranquil feeling. Bamboos and heliconias create lushness and color. Angel Wing begonias send out cascades of floating pink blossoms. A very large and serene brass Buddha sits calmly so others can join his energy. On the southwest side of the property, Angel created a cactus garden with 15 foot tall cactus branches leaning in and out to each other. He constructed stucco columns on either side of the driveway and installed cut-metal lamps Reggie found on a trip. They welcome and hint at the experience inside.
Angel brought in huge Yucca trees with wide woody bases and dug in Australian Tree Ferns whose uncurling new branches throw fascinating shadows. Reggie's old crumbling garage was renewed into a glass-enclosed room that opens to the yard on pleasant Miami nights and allows guests to come inside to an air-conditioned place to gather when the humidity is high. Glass doors were installed across the back of the house to connect inside and outside, transforming a small house into a large and abundant environment.
We all need motivation to launch a big project. Reggie's son Alex was graduating from high school top-of-his-class and heading for medical school so the date for Alex's party was set. Worked for. And met in joyous celebration! Some pictures tell the story...
Another example... Susan’s yard, overgrown and under-enjoyed. Just something to be mowed.
It's nice to have a big property... if it's used and enjoyed. But mine wasn't. I had a wonderful inner koi pond and garden, but the property outside the gate was another story. When I'd had enough and needed expert help, Angel came to my rescue.
I like tall yellow-and-green striped Bamboos and Asian-style gates. I love delicate shadows and winding paths. I wanted multiple different areas for thinking and meditating, eating and talking. Gouldian finches are my passion and I longed for an outside aviary so the sound of their songs would permeate my garden. And I had a huge collection of choice Bromeliads that had multiplied and crowded themselves dangerously. I wanted to separate them and show off their magnificent color and textures.
After a detailed discussion of what I liked and what I didn't, once Angel knew that I liked curving lines and not straight ones, a natural feel and not a manicured one, it was time to get started. First, his crew came in and cut and pruned the out of control groundcover. Taking a shovel, Angel sketched the lines of the new planting areas. Soon, he and his team arrived with a truck full of tree trunks covered with the white lichens... the very ones I had told Angel I adored. I had forgotten that detail but he remembered, and his crew set about thinning out my overcrowded Bromeliads and wiring the best ones onto the trunks in a way that left me gasping with delight! So creative. So exciting. And my new Bromeliad sculpture gives height and color to an otherwise flat space and colorless space.
My China travels had shown me how delightful a gate is... how it announces a space and proclaims welcome. I wanted lots of gates and I got them! At the back driveway, to the koi pond area, to the Chinese vegetable garden and stepping stones through papyrus and lily pads. And, most thrilling of all, Angel transformed by very 1950's entrance by surrounding it with a tall gate with bamboo at the top! And the front wall on either side of my front door is glorious in the morning when the sun comes up in the East and casts very black shadows of 12 foot cactus arms and yucca spikes. The first few mornings after it was built, I could hardly wait till sunrise to take pictures of the shadows, and two weeks later the cactus bloomed and everyone in the neighborhood was exclaiming over their beauty!
Angel's home... Transforming cinderblock rectangles into a lush and inviting environment
Many homes are like blank canvases... the right location, the right space or enough room to add to... but their potential is unrealized. Angel's home was one of those. But now, inside and out, it's a delight to the eye and the senses.
Pulling through the entrance columns into the driveway, you spontaneously draw in a deep breath and relax. Green, lush, inviting. Shadows and textures. Sculpture and the curvaceous shapes of hanging Datura Lilies. Hedges define the space and plants carry your eye up, down and around. Color, texture and surprises keep you strolling and enjoying. Palms, bromeliads, plants in ground and in pots.
Then there's the pool area which carries you from the glass-sided living room and open kitchen inside to outside. Vibrant turquoises... tile, water and tall ceramic vases. The sound of water, bamboos and palms. Decks at many levels keep the stroll exciting. Comfortable lounges, bird cages, umbrellas and flowers.
Wafting fragrances add to the intrigue. Rosy Frangipani, the source of many of the world's best perfumes, blooms in arched sprays overhead. Corn plants add their warm aroma and become part of the lush foliage that makes this home an island even though there's a close neighbor. Tall Traveler's Palms contribute to the exoticness of this unique place and link you to the sky. Their blue and white flag blossoms are an intriguing Springtime treat.
Angel's home is ideal for large gatherings, opening and expanding in all directions. There is music inside and out. His delicate lighting encourages you first to wander and explore and then settle down in a chosen comfortable spot to talk and enjoy food and drink. This is a family home and Angel's four children enjoy growing up in this beautiful, lush, sunny world.
Which flowers and plants thrill you? Which birds and fish?
You may not know their names off the top of your head. So here is a link to pictures taken by Susan Ford Collins that will help you identify them.
Tantalizing Flowers and Blossoms
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jungle_mama/sets/72157613525568934/
Luscious Leaves, Plants and Seeds
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jungle_mama/sets/72157616351563357/
Yes, Susan is Jungle Mama in the photography world. Feel free to explore all her pictures. http://www.flickr.com/photos/jungle_mama/ All Photos (c) Susan Ford Collins
Here in South Florida we have an astounding number of amazing plants that can be enjoyed all year round. When one is blooming, another is getting ready. The secret to an amazing yard is knowing which plants to combine so your landscape will give you color... and pleasure... all year.
Angel Vindel: Vindel Artistic Landscape
786-285-8080 in Miami, Florida
www.angelvindel.com