What's "In" Outside
From fountains and English gardens, to outdoor kitchens and gazebos, today’s homeowners want to bring the inside out – and they want to do it in style.
No matter what area of the country or price range, more and more homeowners are asking for living spaces that continue beyond the walls of their homes. Typical elements now found in the great outdoors
include cooking areas, outdoor sinks, and vegetable and herb gardens so ingredients can go from ground to grill. Other outside living spaces focus on seating areas so families can live and entertain
outdoors, or simply lounge in comfort and style.
Another trend is the creation of outdoor enclosures with arbors, trellises and pergolas either near or far from the house. “It gives a sense of shelter and dresses up the area to give it cover
without being solid – you create an open-air room,” says Jessie Mack Burns, host of the Do-It-Yourself (DIY) Network’s “Weekend Landscaping” program.
Landscapers are also turning to foliage plants for a different look. “These plants aren’t famous for flowering, but their leaves provide the color and texture you normally get from blooming
flowers,” says Burns. “Foliage gardens are really hot right now.”
From small to massive, container gardens with a mix of plants continue to be popular in all size homes, with some of the larger ones measuring 6 feet by 4 feet. They’re also great choices for
small settings where owners can add little spots of color to help distinguish their space from a neighbor’s. “Small gardens can still create sanctuary,” says Michelle Van de Voorde,
of Van de Voorde Landscape Architecture, Inc. in Boulder Creek, California. “Lots of plantings, a small water feature and stone paving will take you out of the box and into another world.”
Luxury Landscapes
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| With window enclosures and a two-tiered copper roof, this garden house from Vixen Hill is designed for extended three-season use. photo courtesy of www.VixenHill.com. |
What are the “must haves” for high-end properties? Landscapers doing large-scale projects say it’s all about big focal elements, such as fire pits, fountains and statues.
“On the high end, a lot of folks like to introduce water, whether moving or static, because it adds elegance to landscaping,” says Burns. Moving water projects that Burns sees include
fountains with bubblers or swimming pools with small waterfalls. On the static side, she says lily ponds are the current rage, some measuring 50 feet by 100 feet.
“Streams and water features are in,” agrees Dean Carpenter, president and CEO of Houston Landscapes Unlimited. High-end projects for him include outdoor water gardens with man-made streams
going through properties and under installed bridges. If the space is large, Carpenter also sees natural habitats created to bring more wildlife into the yard, such as birds and butterflies.
The more pricey landscaping trends for front yards include lavish accents, such as adding columns to homes and creating attention-getting, European-style gardens. “For large spaces, more and
more homeowners want to see aspects of the house style tied into the landscaping,” says Burns. “Hedges are breaking large yards into quadrants with structured gardens or settings with seating.”
Greenbacks for Green Spaces
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| A fence-lined walkway or bridge provides both visual interest and greater usability for properties that have a stream or steep hillside in the backyard. photo courtesy of www.AtlantaDecking.com,
Dave Tibbetts, President. |
When wondering how much to invest in landscaping, Carpenter says the typical price is 10 percent of the home’s cost. “For instance, $300,000 buys a nice home in Texas,” he says.
“So $30,000 would be the amount to spend on nice landscaping to go with that home. Some spend $5,000 if they just want something basic, and some spend $60,000 to $90,000 if they want gardens
maintained by landscaping professionals who change the flowers four times a year and keep everything picture perfect.”
If funding is available, some are opting for an “instant garden” that includes full-grown trees, says Burns. Although it’s usually commercial entities that buy 30- to 60-foot, full-grown
trees in larger quantities, they can be bought for individual, high-end landscaping projects at a cost of $25 to $45 a foot, depending on the type of tree.
“Instead of spending small dollars to get small trees, you can spend money to bring in large-size plants and trees and finish landscaping quickly,” says Burns.
“The bigger you go, the more risk you have of losing it and not surviving the transplant – you have to do everything right,” she cautions. “But it’s really what you
can afford budget wise. The sky is the limit.”
What kind of landscaping techniques provide the most bang for the buck? “Trees that have character and flowerbeds are the two big ones,” says Burns. “Flowerbeds that incorporate
bright, mass plantings catch the attention and showcase the home,” she says. “Spot plants don’t give you much. Instead, designers are putting in 100 to 200 plants in contrasting colors
in swooping beds with curved edges that really show off the flowers and the home.”
“Proper bed preparation is essential,” says Carpenter. To make plants thrive, he encourages removing bad soil and importing fertile soil. “Select one-gallon plants over five-gallon
plants for shrubs and use the saved money for bed prep,” he says. “Those plants will grow and provide the best environment.”
To save some more dollars, Carpenter suggests choosing plant material that is disease and insect resistant. One of his suggestions is a new rose plant that has been propagated to grow more like a
shrub and produce loads of color – without being susceptible to fungus. He also sees more and more plants that have been engineered to do double duty – offer color and fragrance during
the summer and provide different colors in other seasons.
Covering and Watering
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| A shaded dining area offers views of the lake on one side and a unique, octagonal planter on the other. photo courtesy of www.AtlantaDecking.com. |
One area seeing changes in color and material is mulching. “It’s not just the basic brown bark or shredded red stuff anymore,” says Burns. A unique material showing up in garden
landscaping is mulch made from recycled, tumbled glass. “You can mix colors or use water colors, such as bright cobalt blue to create ‘streams’ to brighten up a boring landscape,”
she says. “Just a small little patch brings an area to life.”
A retro material also makes a reappearance as a popular mulch – pea gravel. Landscapers are using it to add texture to the top of plant beds since bark mulches can bring disease. “Pea
gravel gives you a nice, clean look without worries of bringing in fungus or pests,” says Burns.
Homeowners who want less work are installing irrigation systems to take care of gardens and yards. “Make sure proper drainage is also considered when installing such systems,” cautions
Carpenter. “If you don’t find a way to alleviate excess moisture, you won’t have a successful garden,” he notes.
Hit the Deck!
Another way to add outdoor living space is with a deck. “Deck design should go beyond creating a flat surface,” says Dave Tibbetts, president of Atlanta Decking & Fence in Georgia.
He suggests avoiding benches on decks because of safety hazards and because permanent seating limitsflexibility, space and view.
Tibbetts says the latest deck trends include designs and patterns using composite materials and geometric designs on oversized decks to add interest and eliminate a “basketball court”
feel. Exterior lighting adds elegance and extends outdoor entertaining time into the evening. Deck design is going beyond standard rectangles to more interesting shapes, such as octagons. Rails incorporate
more design elements and may includealuminum, copper or wrought iron. Glass balusters are also a new trend.
Another solution for creating more useable space in a backyard is to add a bridge or walkway. “A bridge can become your ‘land link,’ if the property is split in two by a creek –
allowing access and enjoyment to areas that may not have been accessible before,” Tibbetts adds.
Save the Planet
Environmental concerns are playing a greater role in landscaping choices, especially in the West and Southwest, as builders and homeowners are using more native materials that thrive naturally in these
areas and help with water conservation.
Native plants usually require little pruning and introduce other natural wildlife benefits, such as inviting native birds and butterflies to stop in and visit.
“Reuse and recycle” is a request from many of Van de Voorde’s clients, who ask her to recycle old concrete in new landscaping, along with using synthetic turf to reduce water and
maintenance costs. “They also want me to use recycled and composite lumber products for decks, recycled shredded tires for playground mulch, and recycled and composite materials for lawn edging,”
she says.
Creating a Plan
Even if you plan to do the work yourself, you can still hire a landscaping firm to draw up a plan, often at a reasonable cost. Having a master plan will provide a cohesive design – even if you
choose to add trees and plants later to spread out costs.
Once you select a landscaper, spell everything out. Include any neighborhood covenants that may apply, how much maintenance you are willing to do, what you can afford to spend, your favorite trees
and plants and what you want to achieve in various areas (shade, privacy, color, etc.)
After the planning and planting, you’ll have an outdoor retreat you’ll enjoy for years to come!
