42 - Sunday, June 28, 1992 - North Shore News W. Van landscaper’s career blossoms Gardenia Landscaping owner harvests awards IF A gifted gardener may be said to have a green thumb, then landscape designer Mehran Shifteh must surely possess a full fist of leafy green digits. Better make that sea green, because the award-winning artisan has made his name synonymous with water — especially serene ponds and captivating streams — as he has with his cleverly crafted vegetation. For the past five years Shifteh has won most of the landscaping awards handed out by the B.C. Nursery Trades Association, an organization representing most of this province's professional land- scapers. He has a truly rare talent for gracefully integrating blooming flora and shrubbery with elegant waterfalls, airy gazebos, arbors and stone statuary. _ALL OF. Shifteh’s gardens have one thing in coramon: By Evelyn Jacob News Reporter water from the traditional Japa- nese garden and combines them with the brilliant colors of. the classic English garden. His rooftop garden at Park Royal Towers — 1,500 square feet of delicate ponds, bridges, Mowers and lattice — was one of his first designs to win an award. Last year his creation for a West Vancouver garden won the B.C. Nursery Trades Association award for Unique Residential Design. In this instance, he integrated water. Cascading waterfalls, tranquil streams and peaceful pends. “I'm not sure why — you’ll have to ask the judges,’’ Shifteh, who sports a shock of white hair and penetrating dark eyes, res- ponds when asked his secret to winning. Born in Tehran, Shifteh receiv- ed his masters degree in ornamen- tal horticulture from Fresno State University. . In 1978, while holidaying in the United States, he learned that a revolution had broken out in Iran and that Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini was on the verge of seizing power. By 1980, shortly after he moved to Canada, he had opened his own landscaping business in West Vancouver. With most of his prize-winning work, Shifteh borrows stones and @ ESTATE CRYSTAL * Waterford . “Ships Decanter” Hours: Tuesday-Saturday 10am to Spm ALWAYS PURCHASING CONSIGNMENT WELCOME 1730 Marine Dr., West Vancouver 926-7710 quiet streams, glassy ponds and river rocks with a Japanese gate and granite bench. All of his gardens have one thing in common: water. Cascading waterfalls, tranquil streams and peaceful ponds. As far as Shifteh is concerned, no garden is complete without water. ““Water is pleasing and relax- ing,"’ he says, ‘‘and it symbolizes life.”? This year Shifteh and his com- pany, Gardenia Landscaping, was chosen as the Vancouver Sym- phony Orchestra designer showhouse's official landscaper. There, he introduced a classic theme inte a long-established plot of lawn skirted by spring-bloom- ing shrubs by including stone NAME: Mehran Shifteh BORN: Tefiran, Jran EDUCATION: Fresno Stzte Uni- versity grad GCCUPATION: signer, owner, scaping Landscape de- Gardenia Land- FAMILY: Married, two children Statues, pray urns, table and chairs. Added to that is a delicate palette -of hydrangeas, phiox, daisies, marguerites, geraniums, impatiens, cosmos and trailing lobeiia. Designing a garden is more complex than some may think, because live plants grow and change shape from one year to the next. His company has already spent 500 hours on the showhouse’s ex- pansive garden, and Shifteh estimates crews will spend another 300 hours maintaining the yard. Stil, it’s difficult to imagine him ever having a hard day on the job. But looks can be deceiving. He had to think fast, for exam- ple, when a fire broke out in the showhouse on the morning of March 24. Fire trucks drove over the garden, crushing shrubs and tipping out flower beds along the way. -Someone with such an eye for beauty and knack for making things grow, you’d expect, would have a stunning garden of his own. But Shifteh spends too many long hours at the office to tend to the needs of his garden at home. “It doesn’t matter anyhow,”’ he says with a laugh, ‘‘because all the gardens I’ve created are mine.’’ GARDENIA LANDSCAPING was chosen this year as the officiai landscaper of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra designer showhouse. Mehran Shifteh: In his own words What kind of gardens are most in demand? ‘‘Ones with simple design, lots of variety and col- or. The average homeowner likes a good range of plants so that their garden will blossom in all four seasons.’’ When it comes to creating a garden, what is the most im- portant thing to you? “I think everything should be weil planned. The main thing is to’ produce something the home- owner can enjoy. The basic principle of landscaping is the same as all design: combining the right colors, texture and form. It’s the same no matter where you go in the wosld.”’ How do you decide on each design? ‘‘I usually look at the architectural style of the house, the color, the look of the im- mediate area, and then talk to the client about his or her basic needs. Based on that informa- tion, I try to create the best garden ican.” What dre you working on now? ‘I’ve got a project going in North Vancouver. ‘It in- volves a large waterfall area that includes a gazebo, sitting area, three-four. waterfalls, two . ponds and a series of retaining walls and a tea house. I’m very excited about it.’? Do you ever have free . reign with your ‘work?. “It’s very rare. Maybe 15% of the time.”” What are your favorite flowers? ‘‘I love them all, but I especially like the soft colors — pink, blue, mauve and white. 1 love daisies, marguerites, cosmos, geraniums and lobelia?’ What is the biggest problem you've encountered in this line of business? ‘‘Finding knowl- edgeable people to employ. In the last 10 years I’ve noticed a definite lack of good people.”’ Park Shore Motors Ltd. 1500 FELL AVE., NORTH VAN 985-9344