WORK OF THE IMAGINATION

Manicured and private are two words that come to mind when thinking of Bel Air, the prosperous neighbourhood on the west side of Los Angeles. Basking in the foothills of the Santa Monica mountains, Bel Air – as the name implies – is fresher and cooler than the urban valleys, including Hollywood and Downtown. Up here, reminders of the native landscape of Southern California are more apparent, with venerable trees, hill-covering chaparral (evergreen shrub communities) and coastal sage scrub. The wilderness of LA’s more sedate neighbourhoods is generally upstaged, however, by green lawns and palm trees, of which) is native to California.