Houston Landscaping

Houston residents can expect a wide range of landscaping options when it comes to beautifying their properties. Houston’s near-tropical climate provides an ideal growing environment for a plethora of seasonal and perennials that can make any yard vibrant and colorful. Different styles of landscapes can be developed in each of Houston’s main areas that reflect both the architecture of neighborhood homes and the lifestyle activities of its residents.

West University, Southside Place, Southampton, and Rice Village and Bellaire
These areas are definitively urban neighborhoods characterized older homes and strict codes. Most of the lots in these areas are smaller than lots in other parts of the city. Houses are consequently much closer together and require innovative designs to differentiate them from surrounding properties.

The best way to accomplish this is to make homes and spaces look bigger by using smaller hedges, symmetrical patterns, and shrubs with smaller leaves. This helps to magnify the actual size of the house, and it helps make the home look more set apart from the street. Backyards can be made to similarly appear larger by screening off neighboring properties with hedges and/or alleys of trees.
A similarly older, but very different part of the city is the Tanglewood area.
Homes here were built in the 50s-70s on large-scale lots. Space is not an issue here, so there are many different opportunities for outdoor design in this part of Houston. Landscaping can range from a series of gardens and alleys to creative motorcourt and flower garden designs. Most residents here want their properties to feel park-like due to the size of their lots, so an equal blend of outdoor structures, trees and hedges, and flower gardens is typical for this neighborhood.

In the Memorial area of Houston, landscaping takes on a very definite feeling of countryside.
With all the large oak and pine trees that line Memorial drive, it is easy to forget sometimes that you are driving through an urban environment. People living in this part of Houston prefer landscaping that emphasizes outdoor living as an experience equal to that of indoor living. Outdoor structures and swimming pools that are designed to host gatherings of family and friends are very popular in this area. Shade-resilient gardens underneath towering trees are very popular in these neighborhoods, as are custom and modern garden designs.

River Oaks is the most exclusive and wealthy neighborhood in Houston and it is also one of the oldest. Homes began to be built here in the early 1900s.
Landscaping here is characterized by very formal forms that mirror the Old World architecture of the houses. French gardens and Italian gardens are very popular landscaping styles in this part of Houston. Property borders are commonly decorated with linear gardens and hedgerows, and lawns and flower beds are painstakingly manicured to maintain a formal, aesthetic presentation. These Houston landscapes are further magnified with ornate outdoor structures such as custom fountains, unique patios, and highly custom and innovative swimming pool construction.

Excavating any River Oaks yard can sometimes feel like an archeological dig because of the many layers of landscaping history. Structures uncovered are often intertwined with tree roots, so removing old pipes and buried cables should only be done by a professional with tree-friendly experience and equipment.