Philip E. Chandler; Garden Designer, Teacher

Philip E. Chandler, 87, preeminent Southern California garden designer, teacher and writer. A native of Columbia, Mo., Chandler earned a journalism degree at the University of Missouri and then moved to the West Coast. He first worked in journalism and then as a buyer for Douglas Aircraft. Determined to work at something he liked, at 37 began designing gardens at a nursery. Enjoying his own garden in Santa Monica for half a century, Chandler taught his adopted art in adult education classes, at UCLA and Santa Monica College. For many years, he led weekly tours of private Los Angeles gardens, organized through Santa Monica College. Last year the Southern California Horticultural Society published his highly praised “Reference Lists of Ornamental Plants for Southern California Gardens.” Chandler was an editorial adviser to Pacific Horticulture and a member of the Southern California advisory panel for Sunset magazine. On Monday in Santa Monica.