Contemporary patio design

Contemporary patio design is one of the most unique and dynamic elements of contemporary landscape design. It offers more opportunity for expansion and integration with other landscaping elements than do other types. Planters, fountains, retaining walls, and even gardens can be integrated into the physical structure and basic form of a contemporary patio.

Creating unique patterns in stonework is one way to differentiate contemporary patio design from more traditional forms. These stones can be cut in all sorts for shapes, provided that the linear and angular elements that constitute them appear in such a way as to create the immediate impression of a man-made element. With few exceptions, this means symmetrical cuts of stone and deliberate patterns of symmetry should be followed throughout the hardscape. Any irregularities will make stonework appear to be more random and thus more closely resemble rock formations found in nature. One of the most popular contemporary patio designs is a linear stone patio made with rectangular cuts of stone that run across the ground and up the sides of a stone wall. Smaller patios that do not have retaining walls may be built of blocks that are cut like perfect squares, or they can be made of one or more circles with radii that divide the hardscape into equal proportions.Contemporary patios can also consist of unique brick designs. Some may think of brick as a material used exclusively in more traditional and historical forms. This is not necessarily the case. There are a number of brick elements that can be varied to create a very contemporary look and even texture for the patio design. Color selection is perhaps the most important of these. Red brick is the standard image most people picture when they think of a brick structure. A completely different color, such as a unique shade of white or gray, will often be all that is needed to create a more contemporary sense. Grout details can also be varied in special, proprietary ways to create patterns of avant garde artistry between bricks. At the same time, bricks can be cut or sanded with sharp, clean lines that remove the oven-baked appearance we typically visualize. Sometimes a contemporary patio design can be created out of bricks laid down in a pattern that is based on something traditional, such as the running bond pattern, but that has a deep break between the rows or a sharp deviation in the direction of linear movements.

Concrete is the most common material used in contemporary patio design. There are many ways to finish the surface of concrete to make it appear more abstract, refined, or chic. Broom finish concrete uses linear parallel lines to create a sense of movement in much the same way that linear stonework does. However, this type of concrete appears much more modern and is often more apropos to homes with contemporary architecture based on principals of minimalism, stark angularity, and an emphasis on large windows. In other contemporary homes, this principle of minimalism extends throughout the landscape. Vegetation is replaced by outdoor artwork, stonework, and patios whose design functions as a reflection of the deliberately inorganic, intellectual elements of the landscape. Concrete in these places is often toned down with no sheen on its surface. This makes it absorb light instead of reflecting so that it will more suitably compliment stepping stone paths, decorative rock formations, gravel beds, and abstract sculptures. In still other instances, we will build a contemporary-style patio immediately adjacent to a living room or family room with exceptionally large windows and a sliding glass door that permits immediate transition from indoor living space to outdoor living space. For this type of patio, we can lay down concrete blocks in segmented rows and columns that allow for Spartan plantings of vegetation in between them, or we can remove some of the blocks for plantings of trees and gardens.

It is not so much what materials or forms are used to create the hardscape, nor is it a matter of how many of these additional features are integrated into the design. Rather, what makes defines the contemporary style regardless of what feature is actually being built (be it a home, a garden, or a landscape itself) is the combination of geometric angles and shapes in a manner that is instantly recognizable as the work of mathematics, and consequently the uniquely human faculty of Mind that is able to measure, segment, and create relationships between the abstract.

Low Voltage Landscape Lighting

Over the years, low voltage landscape lighting it has come to enjoy a position of prominence in many aspects of outdoor lighting. It is unsurpassed in its decorative enhancement of certain landscape forms. It also delivers a much higher cost-savings potential because it is cheaper to operate than high voltage equipment. Low voltage lighting is also safer for homes with children and pets because there is not enough of a charge in the wire to deliver serious injuries or fatal shocks.

Low voltage landscape lights represent an energy-efficient, affordable way of illuminating the landscape. Many require only 12 volts to operate- a marginal increase in power cost at best. They are ideal luminaires for many landscaping features whose aesthetic is magnified by continuous illumination. 12 volt fixtures are also less expensive to install than high voltage incandescents because they do not need conduit to house their wiring. There is a downside to this, however. Low voltage wiring, because it is buried with no protective coating, is easily cut with a shovel if someone working in the lawn accidentally digs too deep. This is why it is better to have a professional install low voltage landscape lights to minimize the chances of this occurring.

Low voltage landscape lighting is commonly used to light public gathering areas that are characterized by relaxation and conversation. Outdoor fireplaces are often lit by low voltage lighting, both around the structure of the fireplace itself, and around the patio seating area. Arbors with trellises and outdoor kitchens are also very good places to install these lights because the wires and fixtures can be hidden in the structures themselves. This makes the structures themselves look luminous, as if they were magically lit from within their own substance.

Although typically much less intense than high voltage lighting, there are many applications where low voltage lighting is not only sufficient, but actually preferable from a decorative viewpoint. Many landscape features only require a touch of light to bring out their color and unique proportions. Garden paths appear warm and inviting throughout the night. Fountains become multicolored as underwater light refracts vibrantly through water droplets. Urns and garden sculptures take on new dimensions in the interplay of light and shadow created by unique angles of incidence.

Among outdoor lighting professionals, low voltage landscape lighting is typically considered to be the best way to feature smaller landscaping items. Elements like address markers, planters, columns, decorative walls, and even small rocks will all take on new dimensions and variations of color when lit up with the right luminance levels at precisely calculated angles of incidence. Ideally, these fixtures should either be concealed, or they should be decorative in nature so as not to detract from the aesthetic of the subject matter. Although inexpensive and safe to install, we recommend that you let landscaping professionals install them so as to minimize the possibility of wiring being cut at a later date.

Large water fountains

Large water fountains are designed to attract attention. You could even say that they demand attention. In the right setting, they create a certain ambiance that is meditative and pleasurable. With their playful movement of water, the pleasing auditory effect and a certified timeless beauty, they are emotional eye-catchers for a serious homeowners’ landscape design.

At Exterior Worlds, we define a large water fountain as one that ranges from about 10-feet by 10-feet up to 30-feet by 30-feet. This size means they are perfect for a commercial application or a large-scale home and can make your property even more impressive. Large water fountains come in a variety of styles and shapes, including Roman classicism, a Hill Country natural pool or as part of a Japanese garden design, perhaps alongside a koi pond.

Humans have been fascinated by water fountains for eons and go back to the earliest fine homes. They are recurrent features of Greek and Roman homes and the corresponding gardens, most notably Mediterranean landscape design and classical landscape design. Ever since then, the construction elements—stone, water and light—have made a highly personal artistic statement even as they evoke archetypal responses.

Outdoor water fountains provide a respite, a time and place of relaxation in which to disengage from the hectic daily schedule. Our clients find that fountains, large and small, bring a calming element into their exterior landscape. The homeowners may begin their day by sitting by the moving water and contemplating what lies ahead, with all its varied opportunities and challenges. Or they may close out the busy day beside the fountain, letting the splash and movement of the water calm and soothe them.

All outdoor water fountains benefit from proper landscape lighting, something we believe is critical. From a practical standpoint, it is important to light them so no one accidentally falls into them at night. Aesthetically speaking, moving water that is well-lit becomes mesmerizing. Beautifully-lit water is a joy to look at and provides a note of tranquility.

Exterior Worlds both designs and builds custom water fountains. We pride ourselves on doing the job right the first time around so that you don’t end up with a fountain plagued with problems. Believe us when we say that we have seen more than one fountain eventually turned into a large planter. Our expertise includes the unseen, but important and necessary, features used in professional landscaping, such as positioning dimmer valves within water fountains that allow you to adjust the water flow to your preference or the use of custom stone work to hide the fountain’s nuts and bolts.

All of our large water fountains are custom-designed and custom-built. Because everything is built on-site, nothing is pre-fabricated. Our design services include helping you with the placement of the fountain so that it blends into and complements your property—perhaps a custom swimming pool, an outdoor room, a welcoming courtyard, a private patio design and any other hardscapes. We provide high-end landscape design services for a discriminating clientele and truly believe that what is in your best interest is also in our best interest.

Outdoor landscape lighting

Outdoor landscape lighting delivers the best results when it is conceptualized and planned by a landscaping services firm who in turn subcontracts it to an expert company in lighting design. Because gardens, hardscape, patios, walls, and swimming pools, typically feature very ornate designs, the accuracy and quality of outdoor landscape lighting must be far superior to that of other forms of lighting. When the very best fixtures are combined with the very best design plans, the outcome is a luminary experience purpose extends far beyond the functional level into the realm of high-end aesthetic design. It home architecture with Nature like nothing else can, and it extends a warmth and light throughout the neighborhood as a 24-hour phenomenon that all may admire.

Outdoor landscape lighting applications vary widely based on the specific elements of front and back yard landscapes. While it is beyond the scope of this article to make an exhaustive listing of every type of outdoor light used in landscaping, there are certain prominent applications frequently used in most home landscapes that are worthy of special attention.

Gardens Uplights
Uplighting in a garden can be used to show emphasize the beauty of surrounding trees and shrubbery. It can also be used as a back drop to frame a structure with a “wall of light” effect. In the Memorial Area, we often up light trees along ravines in order to show the depth and scale of the landscape.

Outdoor Landscape Tree Lighting
Mercury vapor lights are installed in hidden locations in the branches of the tree by experts in tree protection techniques. Mercury vapor lamps contain bulbs that last much longer than incandescent bulbs. They emit a blue-green light that better pushes through branches and foliage, and which brings out the greener color in the plant life. When this light surrounds a tree, it resembles pools of artificial moonlight that bring romance and mystique to a back yard landscape on even the cloudiest of nights.

Underwater Pool Lighting
Special underwater pool lights are manufactured to operate safely without the risk of short circuit or electrical shock. They must ALWAYS be installed by professional pool contactors who know what they are doing, and know what lights to use. Incandescent and LED options are available, depending on the style of your swimming pool. Multi-colored LED lights are very popular in pools that have custom fountains shaped like waterfalls.

Fountain Lighting
Many different types of underwater lights exist that can be used to showcase water from beneath its surface. The benefit to using underwater lighting is it tends to refract light through water much like light through a prism.

Pond Lighting
Underwater lighting will add mystique to the surface of your pond on nights where there is little or no moonlight. Low-voltage ground lights around the perimeter of the pond will further distinguish it as a prominent feature of your nighttime landscape.

It is an absolute MUST that we bring in professional lighting designers that know how to install the right fixtures in the right locations for maximum results. These professionals are expert in getting more out of less, so to speak, when it comes to the number of actual fixtures used to light the property. They can also obtain the very best specification-grade lights available only through vendor contracts with established, reputable, US lighting manufacturers. These lights are designed with special optics and glare shields that better focus the light and prevent light pollution from spilling into the windows and yards of your neighbors.

Houston Garden Designers

Houston, TX presents one of the most challenging environments in the nation for garden design. The compacted, high-clay content of the Houston landscape makes it difficult for the roots of many plants and trees to gain a viable foothold in the ground. Additionally, heavy seasonal rains can suddenly flood yards and streets in a matter of hours, drowning and killing garden plants that lack proper drainage. These are not the only challenges facing garden designers, either. In the summer, the humidity can push the heat index well over 100 degrees – creating a breeding ground for plant stress and disease.

Such extremes in climate take their toll on both organic and inorganic landscaping elements. Pools, decks, outdoor lights, masonry, stonework- all suffer as much as plant life during these times. In order to effectively counteract these negatives, Houston garden designers need more than simple cultivation skills. They need an understanding of construction and architecture, and they need to know what materials will best hold up in the Houston landscape. Irrigation and drainage know-how are also critical skills they must be able to integrate into any organic designs they create, so that ornamentation, functionality, and structural components all blend together into an aesthetic that will continue to grow and thrive despite wild swings in weather and temperature.

There are four basic types of garden designers, each of which offers varying levels of expertise and service.

1. Conceptual Garden Designers
These professionals draft a master plan for your garden, but they do none of the construction or planting involved in garden installation. While it is great to have such a master plan, complications normally develop when the homeowner then attempts to transfer the conceptual to the actual. Unforeseen variables such as the viability of building materials, the costs of construction, and ongoing maintenance soon make the simplicity of such a plan a nightmare of logistics when homeowners attempt to contract these services on their own.

2. Landscaping Garden Designers
These individuals understand the installation and cultivation of garden plants, and they are very good at giving you what you desire within your budget. However, few have any advanced design experience. If you are looking for a parterre garden, traditional French garden, Italian garden, or Japanese garden, you will probably have to look elsewhere to find an expert in such forms.

3. Horticultural Specialists in Garden Design
Normally such experts consult from nurseries and garden centers and know a great deal about soils and plants. They also can be the first to tell you what plants will do best in what parts of your yard. Many of them also have a great deal of knowledge in building irrigation and drainage systems, and some have basic construction skills in planter and patio design. You have to be careful, however, not to be oversold on the number of plants you ultimately purchase. Horticulturalists love to create as much variety as possible, and you also must be aware that any construction work such individuals do will only be basic.

4. Landscape Architects as Garden Designers
These professionals combine advanced design and horticultural knowledge with a sophisticated understanding of construction and the ability to subcontract and manage independent teams in the construction of outdoor buildings and hardscapes. These companies can integrate the inorganic elements of structure with complex, organic patterns of carefully selected vegetation, weaving the entire landscape into an outdoor living experience that compliments home architecture and combines functionality with superior aesthetic sense. Landscape architects plan, initiate, supervise, complete, and maintain the garden as a single-source of outdoor design. The only negative for many people is the higher cost these companies tend to charge, making these service offerings very much a niche, high-end market in the wealthier neighborhoods such as River Oaks, Tanglewood, Bellaire, and Rice Village.

Always remember that you have a choice when it comes time to decide which type of garden designer you ought to go with. Carefully think your decision through, considering who can best address such factors such as plant life, maintenance, aesthetics, and uniqueness design elements before you make your final decision.

Flagstone Patios

We want to do something to our patio’s design that will both increase our pleasure in it and enhance the value of our property. Does Exterior Worlds think a flagstone patio is a good choice?

Nothing completes the look of a patio better than flagstone. A flagstone patio denotes hardiness, security, wherewithal and permanence. It is durable. It provides a neutral palette. Its bluish coloring expresses a cool beauty, which is particularly welcoming during Houston’s hot summer months. It’s easy to see why flagstone is a popular choice for patios.

Discuss patios, in general.Patios are a type of hardscape, the term used by landscapers to describe the non-plant material in your landscape design. You will want your material choices within that entire group to be coordinated and also complement the architecture of your house. Because of its hardiness and beauty, flagstone also works well for a retaining wall, built-in seating and planters.

A patio serves as a transition space between your home and the rest of your landscaping, playing a critical role in your garden landscape. By enlarging your living space, patios make the house feel bigger and unite the interior and exterior spaces. It gives you an opportunity to display your own aesthetic, both from the yard and from the view out the windows of your home. And they give you an opportunity to better enjoy the out-of-doors.
Patio designs can be worked into the classical features of a formal landscape design or the rampant abundance of an English garden design. They can include a vine-covered garden arbor or a well-appointed outdoor room. You want the design of this personal and private space to reflect your personality, whatever different elements you choose. In this vein, we would recommend a landscape designer or landscape architect—someone who can make your patio completely functional, but also custom design the space just for you and your family.

How can we integrate a flagstone patio into the rest of our landscape design?

Since flagstone creates an impermeable surface, you need to think through its impact on your yard drainage system. Exterior Worlds works with some of the best drainage contractors in the Gulf Coast area.
Flagstone is especially suited as a material choice for pathways. Garden pathways are important to landscape design because they lead your guests out into the rest of the landscape. They also help direct the eye across the green expanse of a yard.

A focal point will draw the eye to it and will be the highlight of your patio. An outdoor water fountain works beautifully on a flagstone patio because the water element becomes the center of attention and gives the eye a place to rest amongst all the stone.

What exactly is flagstone?

Sometimes called bluestone or freestone, flagstone belongs in the sandstone family. It possesses a hardness, but, at the same time, is relatively thin, making it perfectly suited for out-of-doors flooring. Its fine-grained surface contains specks of mica, which glitter and glimmer when the sun’s light catches it just right, producing texture and interest in an outdoor setting.

Outdoor water fountains

Our landscape needs a special focal point. What does Exterior Worlds suggest?

Outdoor water fountains make a stylish statement about your home by creating a refined ambiance. Typically, each fountain is different and therefore an original. It is like building a working piece of art into your landscape. You can use them to enhance the architectural style of your house. They can be designed to be played in, thus providing welcome relief during Houston’s infamous summer season. In these technological times, fountains are quite functional, serving as camouflage for annoying traffic and loud air-conditioning units.

While there are many ways to design and build a fountain, during the typical design process, the scope of the work is defined and a budget developed. Cost factors include material choices, ongoing maintenance contracts, and integration with hardscapes such as custom patios, seat walls, retaining walls, steps etc..

We advise our clients that building a custom outdoor water fountain appears to be like building a swimming pool, but is actually more difficult. It takes practical know-how and experience to avoid common mistakes when designing or constructing one. We work with our clients to provide as much information as possible to insure that their fountain is the success they deserve.

What are some of the designs outdoor water fountains come in?

You can find them in a variety of shapes, sizes and styles, such as Roman, Moorish or Asian-influenced. Additional features can be added, such as a waterfall or a contemporary wall fountain. Whatever style you prefer, be sure to pick a fountain that fits your home and garden landscape.

Designing your own fountains may be more expensive than choosing a prefabricated ones, but our clients have enjoyed these long-term benefits:

• A common problem of ready-mades is “over-spray” or water coming out of the fountain. This malfunction creates subsequent problems, such as the area near the fountain becoming slippery or moldy, the fountain running out of water, and discoloration of the adjacent materials due to chlorination.

A custom-built fountain addresses these problems during the design process.

• Custom-built fountains can be constructed with special features, almost none of which are available on prefabricated fountains. Enhancements include overflow release valves to drain excess water, auto-fill lines to maintain the water level, skimmers, filters, lights, auto-chlorinators and backwash lines (for easy cleaning).

• Custom-built fountains can be built much bigger than prefabricated ones, which is important when working with the scale of some homes and buildings.

What can Exterior Worlds tell us about the materials they are made of?

Many outdoor water fountains are constructed with tile, marble, rock, natural stone, and polished. Other popular choices include stone masonry products such as sandstone, limestone, brick, and concrete blocks. The basins that act as a reservoir are typically made with gunite and rebar, and then plastered—as found with a swimming pool. These interior surfaces are sometimes re-surfaced with stone, pebbles or mosaics. Your process of selection should begin with materials that work in the Houston area. These materials need to handle our climate’s extreme sunlight, rain and other natural elements.

Landscaping Architectural Services

Schematic design is the foundation of landscape architectural services. We begin with a series of consultations with the homeowner where we discuss the essentials of the project. Most homeowners have a definite sense of what they want, but they frequently have difficulty articulating specifics of design, form, and structure. It is our duty to clarify these specifics by asking the right questions, then putting the answers we glean down into a landscaping plan that can function as a graphic frame of reference to the entire plan of action.

The next phase of landscape architectural services is the publication of construction documentation. Since most of our work involves building various types of structures on the landscape, we frequently bring in subcontractors to handle the specifics of construction. It is essential to have all contracts and insurance forms completely filled out and itemized in the form of checklists prior to the subcontractors actually coming onsite. This saves money and time, prevents confusion, and streamlines process flow by getting everyone on the same page before the project gets underway.

Landscape architectural services also require the publication of detailed layout plans prior to the inception of any construction work. Subcontractors need to be fully aware of what we ultimately plan to do on the property from an aesthetic perspective. It helps them better concentrate their energies when they see how their specific expertise fits into the big picture. This is particularly true when it comes to building structures near large trees that require unique tree preservation strategies that ensure the health and longevity of trees. It is also particularly true for custom pool design. Pool contractors must be made aware of other elements that we intend to add to the landscape so they will build the pool proportional to surrounding back yard landscaping, custom gardens, outdoor structures, and home architecture.

Hardscape plans help separate the inorganic elements of landscape architectural services from the organic aspects of design. Plans for structures such as paved driveways, brick walkways, patios, seating areas, fences, and walls have to be carefully designed so as to respect home architecture and act as forces that actually sculpt the organic appearance of the landscape (such as trees, bushes, and gardens) into an order and system of form and theme.

Elevation drawings come next. Even though Houston is built in one of the flattest areas of the country-the Gulf Coast Plain- there are nevertheless variations in elevation throughout the city. Areas around bayous sometimes lie beneath the floodplain and are at high risk of going underwater during heavy rains. The heavy clay content of our soil also makes it very prone to shifting. This can cause subtle variations in elevation within a yard that could put vegetation and structures at risk of water damage if too much rainwater collects on the property. Knowing where the high ground and low ground is, so to speak, helps us then develop strategies for the mechanical aspects of landscape architectural services: grading plans and irrigation plans

Grading is the science of altering land elevation for the purposes of better drainage. Its goal is to conceal drainage systems as much as possible so they do not diminish the aesthetics of the landscape. Building custom and concealed drains is a relatively simple matter for our team. However, getting the water to these drain areas may require certain alterations in terrain and hardscape forms. We may need to add fill dirt in the yard in order to get the water to run in a certain direction. Or, we may need to build a small stream that will add both a decorative element and a much needed water runoff area. For paved areas and custom patios, we have to slope the concrete or stone very precisely and in a very subtle degree that will be unnoticed by people standing on the hardscape, but that will be nonetheless sufficient to drain the water consistently from the surface.

The final phase in planning our landscape architectural services is the implementation of irrigation networks to water gardens, trees, hedgerows, and flower beds during the hot, dry months of the year. These systems are needed due to the fact that many of the species we plant are not indigenous to our area and cannot survive in an area like ours where rains are more seasonal than they are consistent. Again, the art of concealment is paramount here to preserve the appearance of the greenery. Our irrigation systems deliver water beneath the leaves of the plants and are therefore out of sight from admiring viewers. This is also more beneficial to plants than hoses and sprinklers because it prevents fungus from growing on the leaves.

In conclusion, we can say that the operative root word in landscape architectural services is architecture. Just as an architect develops a building project schematically, step by step, so too does our team develop each phase of professional landscape design as a series of documents and drawings that ensure all elements of the landscape blend together at the end of the day to create an experience that is truly unique and personalized to the sensibilities and lifestyle of the homeowner.

Koi pond design

Koi pond design is gaining popularity in Houston. Recently, one of our major projects in River Oaks involved designing a contemporary garden around the central figure of a koi pond. The details of this project can be referenced in the case study on this project, which details the eclectic nature of this unique architectural feature in relationship to the home and surrounding landscaping elements. Koi ponds are highly unique in terms of both design and construction. They typically occupy a unique position on a property and function as major elements within a landscape design theme.

Koi ponds are so named because they were originally developed as environments for koi fish. Koi are a hybrid species of carp produced by cross-breeding German carp with Asian carp. They are highly colorful and have very soft mouths. They are a very benign and docile species that can even be trained to take food from the hand of a person. Because koi are sensitive fish, the ponds they live in must be designed with maximum life support and safety in mind. The water must be carefully filtered and aerated so there is always plenty of oxygen for the koi to breath. The pond must also measure a certain depth in order to give them room to dart away from predators and lower themselves closer to the bottom of the pool on a hot day. Ideally as well, certain structures should also be incorporated into the overall design in order to give them a place to hide from predators.

While a koi pond must work on all levels to support the life cycle of the fish it contains, its design must also feature exceptional aesthetic elements or patterns of recognizable geometric forms. Many, such as the one we did in our River Oaks project, are rectangular in nature and approximately the size of swimming pools. Others are perfect circles with ornamental coping that compliments patio tile or stone and serves a dual purpose of creating an overhanging structure that covers a portion of the water to create shelter and shade for koi. A koi pond can also be built to mimic a natural body of water in a manner similar to the way we design natural swimming pools. Waterfalls and ornamental rock formations can then be added to create a backyard landscape that is equivalent to a walk through a wilderness park.

Other koi ponds feature designs that range from the formal and traditional to the ultra-contemporary and the avant garde. One of the many popular traditional styles is the Japanese garden. The Japanese garden is a multidimensional blend of greenery and water, normally highlighted with a cascading fountain that looks like a stone stairway. In areas of the city that favor more eclectic blends of architecture and modern art forms, koi ponds can become a form of contemporary art unto themselves, combining unique geometric angles and linear forms with contemporary, custom fountains that add a subjective, three dimensional presence to their aesthetic.

If you have considered adding a koi pond to your residence, no doubt you have already run across koi pond design kits on other websites. Do not buy these. The heavy clay content of Houston soil makes it a very tricky environment for construction of any type, and the logistics of planning, installing, and engineering filtration and aeration of the pond are complexities best delegated to professionals who will give you a satisfying and lasting return on your investment.

Landscaping Services Houston

Professional landscaping services in Houston, Texas are a coordinated blend of traditional landscaping design methods and special methods of landscaping that specifically address the many nuances and eccentricities of the deceptively simple Houston landscape. Our ultimate intention is to put cash value back into the yard, improving the resale opportunity of future possibilities and creating a sustainable, superior living environment in the present moment. The genius of our value is to bring top-quality functionality to the table, then make it disappear quietly behind the backdrop of the landscape with unique and proprietary services developed after years of experience working in the Houston, Texas area.

One of the many ways our landscaping services differentiate our firm’s uniqueness is an intentional avoidance of bold paving. The land throughout Houston, Texas appears completely flat to the naked eye, and many people who move here from higher elevations consider it outright boring. Hardscape design characterized by bold color or eccentric patterns can quickly backfire aesthetically. By drawing they eyes down to the ground, they force you to look at land that is as flat as a tabletop in most places. To counter this negative, we lean toward more neutral colors and basic geometry when paving areas like driveways and motor courts. We want you to see them as functional elements, and no more. In order to add a vertical dimension to the property, we take emphasize bold organic elements. A wide range of flowers, tropical plants, hedges, and tree species all contribute to a robust sense of upward mobility, diversity, and growth.

Another important methodology we use that is highly unique in the landscaping services industry is planning and layout of custom, concealed drain systems. We seldom install a simple, single drainage network on the properties we develop. The deceptive simplicity of the Houston landscape and the surrounding part of Texas in general, requires a much more complex engineering of drains than face value analysis would lead you to believe. While the terrain looks flat, it really is not actually flat. It is replete with twists, bends, depressions, and rises in elevation that hide from even the steady gaze of the eye, but become all too obvious—and all too problematic—when the rain water begins to follow their contours. This can cause a yard that appears to be higher than the street and surrounding properties to suddenly form streams and pools of water in the worst possible places. Patios can flood and gardens can be destroyed if these sudden mini-catastrophes of Houston seasonal rains are not anticipated and headed off by proactive landscaping services professionals

To do this, we almost always engineer and install two drainage systems. One is for the house itself, and is designed exclusively pull water as quickly as possible off the roof of the home and away from doors, windows, porches, and patios. This system will either then drain directly into the Houston storm sewer system, or it will be siphoned temporarily into the drain system of the landscaping itself. There are a number of water delivery mechanisms we can use in the creation of both types of drainage. However, the distinguishing mark of our landscaping services in this crucial are of property development is concealing these mechanisms behind the carefully cultivated forms of gardens, the meticulously constructed structures of outdoor buildings, custom patios, stone work, and custom swimming pool design.

At the end of the day, we spend a great deal of time, energy, and money developing a system of detailed plans, documents, and drawings that will allow our team and our subcontracted partner teams to take the conceptual essence of landscaping services we have intuitively envisioned and make them concrete, applicable, and impeccably workable in any property we service in Houston and surrounding Texas counties.

Garden Care

Garden care looks simple, but it involves a great deal more than you might think. Quality garden care should always be done by a trained professional, because it involves so much more than weeding and watering plants. It is a sophisticated science of cultivation—many aspects of which must be attended to prior to planting of the garden itself.

One of these aspects is developing effective drain systems in and around the garden. Drains are much more difficult to install than you might think. It is one thing to create a method of water removal, but it is quite another to build it effectively without letting it be seen. Professionals have to do this so that pipes, gratings, and any holes in the ground are concealed. Our planning and development team puts a great deal of care and effort into building drainage systems in this manner, and they also work very hard to periodically maintain them to keep them clean and functional.

The engineering of an irrigation system is yet another crucial component of garden care. Houston often will see several months with no rainfall during the hottest time of the year. The majority of exotic and tropical species that we cultivate cannot survive these months without some type of irrigation. We strongly advise all of our clients to avoid using garden hoses to water these plants. This is because plan leaves, when wet, become vulnerable to fungal growth. Plants remain much healthier and look much more attractive when they are irrigated beneath the leaves close to the ground and the root system.

Still another important part of garden care that must be done in the very beginning is soil preparation. Many of our first time clients have already planted some type of garden that has since become unhealthy or unsatisfactory in appearance. When we go out to visit them, we often discover that the problem began in the beginning with improper soil preparation. Store-bought fertilizer is often the root cause. Not every type of fertilizer will work with every type of plant, and many people fail to read the labels on the bag that tell them just what types of plants the fertilizer is intended to nourish. Most are manufactured for popular species of flowers and plants and may not work very well at all with more exotic or tropical species that people may decide to add to the garden later. It takes knowledge of botany and what nutrients each type of plant specifically needs to create just the right soil mixture required for a diversity of plantings that may otherwise not be able to grow together at all.

The aesthetic aspects of garden care are also important. The basics of clipping, weeding, and trimming even the simplest of flower beds have to be done no matter how large or small the garden is, and no matter how simple or complex it is. Again, we recommend that people not try to do this themselves. Some plants are very sensitive and require very special trimming methods. Furthermore, specific garden designs like parterre garden, the knot garden, the English garden, the Italian garden, and the Japanese garden have to be trimmed by people who know these forms—preferably by the people that planted them.

For these reasons, and many more, we always recommend that garden care be managed as a line item on a landscaping maintenance agreement with Exterior Worlds. This allows the team who designed the garden to consistently and cost effectively maintain its vitality and health.

Courtyard Landscaping Design

Courtyard design helps establish a relationship with Nature and the main structure of a home or building. They are essential elements of many forms of commercial landscaping, particularly restaurants. Commercial office parks use them as outdoor break areas, and residential properties tend to see the courtyard as a special place set apart for meaningful conversation. While virtually every courtyard is unique in terms of its size and the materials used to build it, most share certain common elements that contribute to the sense of being in what amounts to an outdoor room built for special purposes and special moments.

Scale is the most important thing to consider in courtyard design. We want the scale of the courtyard design to be proportional to that of surrounding trees. This allows us to build the courtyard itself in any number of ways. A courtyard may be constructed out with three or even four brick walls, nestled under the branches of the overhanging canopy. Or, we can build a patio area surrounded by two or three arbors where trellises and vines intermingle with the iron work with the leaves and wood of the trees. We often build a custom fountain to act as a focal point or a centerpiece for conversation. The intent in all of these forms is to create a feeling of warmth and invitation that draws people to the courtyard at all times day or night.

In both residential and commercial environments, planters are often used to line the perimeters of courtyards. The design, materials build, and positioning of these planters is determined by the nature of the structure itself. If it is an open-air structure constructed out of trellises or a grouping of arbors, then sufficient light will penetrate to the ground and allow us to build the planters are frames around the patio and fountain. This is also true if the courtyard has standing walls but is open on the top to allow sufficient sunlight to reach interior plantings. However, we may choose to use planters as exterior elements around smaller structures and garden patios. Particularly in restaurant design, a courtyard surrounding by lush vegetation appears lively and inviting to guests who have recently arrived.

One very popular method of courtyard design in private, exclusive neighborhoods such as River Oaks, Rice Village, and Tanglewood is to build a patio surrounded by hedges that act as walls. In these parts of Houston, this provides one of the most effective compliments to the Old World aspects of home architecture and the magnificent trees that line the streets. Hedges can be made from Japanese yew, larger species of boxwood, or even smaller poplar trees to form the perimeter of an outdoor courtyard seating area within a garden or near a private entrance to the home.

In all of our courtyard designs, perhaps the most important thing to consider next to the importance of scale is lighting. No matter how large or open a structure is, it will only receive natural light for a number of hours during the day. In early morning, evening, and nighttime, even open-air structures will be shrouded in shadows unless special lighting is installed. These specialty fixtures can range from tree lights that are ingeniously concealed in the overhanging canopy, feature lights that highlight outdoor furniture, or underwater fountain lights that disperse illumination through the prism-like effect of water droplets.

Courtyard landscape design can play a pivotal role in establishing the theme of the landscape by creating a truly unique outdoor structure whose utility is equivalent to its aesthetic. For businesses and homeowners seeking to create a tangible link between the comforts of indoor living and the expansive sense of freedom that the outdoors brings, a professionally planned and constructed courtyard can be the defining point of the home living experience.

Vegetable Garden Design

A vegetable garden must feature a design that compliments surrounding landscaping themes and home architecture. Most of our clients live in neighborhoods like West Houston Memorial, River Oaks, Westbury, and Rice Village. The stereotypical garden behind the house appears too rural and agrarian for such residences, so vegetable garden design in these areas requires a touch of sophistication with a number of special elements available only through professional landscaping services.

Traditional vegetable gardens feature little, if any, design per se. They tend to be rectangular areas plowed directly into the earth and are level with the surrounding soil. This creates a number of problems for both food crops and surrounding vegetation. Chemicals used to treat food crops can be highly toxic to indigenous plant life and wildlife. When heavy rains wash them into surrounding areas of the yard, they can poison flowers, exotic plants, native grasses, and even wash down the Houston bayous into sensitive ecosystems and wildlife areas.

To prevent this, we build all vegetable gardens in elevated planters. The typical planter is a completely self-contained structure with a bottom and walls that rise approximately 15” high above the ground. We prefer to build these planters out of pressure-treated pine because it offers a longer longevity than other types of wood and is remarkably effective for chemical containment. Fertilizers and pesticides used to protect food crops will not soak through this wood as they do other structures. It also prevents soil in the vegetable garden with mixing with surrounding soil, so each section of the garden can be designed with a highly specific soil mixture that offers maximum growth and preservative impact on the particular vegetable species being grown.

Another advantage gained from planting a garden within such a contained structure is convenient access. With crops and ornamental vegetation elevated to approximately knee level, a person tending the garden can sit comfortably in a lawn chair or on the planters themselves having to actually get in the dirt or stoop over and strain the back.

It is also much easier to irrigate a vegetable garden that is contained within a planter. A concealed system of irrigation pipes can be built into the design that will inconspicuously deliver water underneath the leaves of the plants. This prevents fungus from growing on them and makes for a much stronger aesthetic presentation as well. When people visit your home and admire your vegetable garden, they see only an attractive planter and healthy plants without the obtrusive eyesores of retail sprinkler systems and generic garden hoses that blast water in all directions out of their sides.

Drainage is a critical component of vegetable garden design. Drainage systems must be concealed in order to preserve the appearance of the garden. They must also be built with environmental friendliness in mind. As we noted earlier, many chemicals used to treat vegetables can be toxic to surrounding plants and animals, so water runoff must be carried out and away from the yard and deposited in areas where any solvent chemicals will not pose a threat to the environment. The professional landscape architects at Exterior Worlds know how to construct such drainage systems and can devise workarounds to any challenge presented by architecture or surrounding terrain.

When these practical concerns are addressed effectively, the aesthetic aspect of vegetable garden is opened up to endless possibilities. A vegetable garden can be built as a single square or rectangular element near an arbor, patio, or other outdoor seating area. Or, it can be built as a series of separate planters, each of which contains different selections of food crops. Still others are built to look like traditional, formal designs such as French or Italian gardens, or even special parterre gardens with rosebushes and other flowering plants lining the planter wall interiors.

There really is no limit on what size of style of garden we can design for a client provided the basic functional necessities can be integrated into the final outcome in a way that is workable and amenable for the surrounding yard and the architecture of the home and exterior structures.

Deck Building

We would love to build a deck in our back yard. Where do we start?
You are probably thinking about either a wooden deck, most often attached to a house, or the decking around a swimming pool. Both types of decks add a special element to your landscape design, extending your living space, adding interest, and, since we’re talking about the pool area, making it safe.

The first step in a deck building project is the design process. Start making a list of what you want from your deck design. You should decide whether to cover the deck or not, whether to add deck railing or built-in seats. Also consider your landscape lighting. Other options include: an outdoor kitchens, outdoor water fountains, and fire pits or outdoor fireplaces. If you have an existing drainage system, you will want to tie the deck into it. Drainage solutions for decks include decorative drains, gutters and French drains.

Can Exterior World help us with this deck building project?
Yes! For more than 20 years, we’ve been building decks in the Houston area. We believe that the more sophisticated the design and the more complex the project, the more important we become.

If you don’t hire us, we encourage you to find a Houston landscape designer or landscape contractor who can translate the dream of your deck onto paper and actually build it. Especially they need to construct it so that it avoids any under-built problems—that is, the deck should be adequately attached to any structures and adequately supported.

Here are some tips for finding someone suitable for your project:
• Ask friends for referrals.
• Find out how long they’ve been in business, ask about their relationship with subcontractors, and determine the expertise of the crews.
• Obtain references from the company under consideration.

Educate us about a wooden deck.
Pressure-treated pine is one of the mainstay flooring options for a deck building project. Treated pine withstands Houston’s weather and damp soil, two conditions that cause deck problems. Other wood choices are cedar and redwood, both of which have resins that naturally protect them from weathering and rotting, too.

Don’t overlook engineered products like Trex. While these products can be more expensive from the standpoint of the initial cost, the durability can be one to two times that of wood, if maintained properly. Trex offers another benefit in these “green” conscious days: its decking, railing and fencing are made primarily from recycled plastic grocery bags, reclaimed pallet wrap and waste wood.

In all your material choices, be sure to match your personal preferences with other design considerations such as your home’s architecture and other existing landscape design features.

What about decking for our pool?
The material choices for your pool deck building project include wood, concrete (colored or textured or both), brick, stone (flagstone, limestone, slate, cut stone) and pavers.

With pool decking, you need to be safety conscious and use non-slippery surfaces. Stone, brick and concrete are especially practical options. They also have the added benefit of providing beautiful, interesting textures.

Pond Design

Pond design is important to both commercial and residential landscapes. A pond can be built in virtually any style. It can establish the theme of a landscape, or it can support a more complex landscaping design. A good many ponds are deliberately constructed to look like the ones we find in forests and mountains. Others appear deliberately manmade and are designed in this manner to work as compliments to highly contemporary and eclectic architecture.

In most instances, commercial ponds tend to look deliberately man-made and are designed to reflect the architecture of an office park or corporate headquarters. Residential ponds, by contrast, feature designs that heavily emphasize Nature, vegetation, and wildlife. Other than making certain that the size and shape of the pond honor home architecture and outdoor elements, we can basically accommodate any style or sensibility the homeowner is looking to add to the property.

In as much as possible, a pond should look have earth or gravel at the bottom to look as natural as possible. However, exclusively earthen bottoms inside the city limits of Houston are impractical. Heavy rains will flood the pond and alter the shape of the bottom. In order to maintain the form and depth of the pond bottom, we normally build a gunite shell to buttress it against unstable soil conditions that can cause erosion. Gunite creates a very stable, sealed basin for water containment and circulation. Drains and silent pumps can be hidden beneath the surface of the water. Such concealed mechanisms can be used to aerate the water for goldfish and koi, power fountains, or create artificial waterfalls.

Once the gunite shell is built and pumps and drains installed, we almost always add earth or gravel to the bottom of the pond. In addition to the aesthetic this creates, this creates an ideal habitat for wildlife. Many plant species such as lily pads and reads will grow just as hardily in a gunite pond provided the layer of soil or gravel is thick enough. A number of native wildlife species, such as turtles, bluegill perch, tadpoles, and adult frogs lay their eggs in this soil and hide from predators.

To further magnify the pond and make it stand out in a yard, we will often design ledges around the water where we can place a number of plant species. Ledges also provide shelters for aquatic life, especially if they are built to curve inward under the water. Fish can hide under these ledges and remain completely concealed and safe. We can also build rock formations and fountains that look like natural waterfalls. Such ponds can even be designed as natural swimming pools that are environmentally friendly and also safe for human use.

These many elements are based upon the intended use of the pond and the overall theme of the surrounding landscaping design. No two ponds we design will ever be the same, and homeowner consultation throughout the process plays a very large role in determining the specifics of the final outcome.

If you are interested in any high-quality landscape services, Exterior Worlds has been providing the high-end residential landscape services and garden design services discussed above for the Houston and the surrounding areas including The Memorial Villages (Piney Point Village, Bunker Hill Village, Hunter Creek Village), Tanglewood, River Oaks, West University and the greater Houston (Hou), area since 1987.

Backyard Landscaping

The intent of backyard landscaping is to design an outdoor living experience that rivals indoor space. To do this, we must do more than work with organic elements alone. As important as trees, shrubbery, and gardens are, structural components are equally necessary. The building of swimming pools, patios, arbors, shade structures, and outdoor rooms adds completion, depth, and dimension to the aesthetic of any backyard.

This process must be treated as both a science and an art. We must first measure the backyard and identify its physical points of differentiation. This data helps us create a landscaping design that works with the existing topography and architecture of the property.

Backyard landscaping plans must also be done with a balanced blend of egress (going out) and ingress (coming in), and open lawn area. Every house has at least one point of entry into the backyard. Such areas cannot be treated as mere transit areas alone. Every egress/ingress point must establish a new experience that creates a new frame of mind for people walking outside. As people transition both in mind and body from indoor space to outdoor space, they need to feel a sense of openness and freedom.

Open areas in the lawn will help maintain this sense regardless of the size of the backyard itself. When outdoor rooms, patios, and gardens are positioned at appropriate vantage points, they work to proportionally balance as parts in relation to the whole. Irrespective of actual acreage, the lawn and surrounding elements will look magnified, if not expansive, if the geometry of landscaping has been calculated correctly from the beginning

Throughout all of this, backyard landscaping must also be done with some practical considerations in mind as well. Draining the land is very important for any type of garden because every structure is going to create a dam effect that will block water runoff. Some sort of drainage system must be installed in these areas to prevent the soil from getting supersaturated with water, and to prevent sensitive vegetation from being damaged by mud and standing water.

Most of our clients are people who use their backyards as outdoor gathering places for events that begin in the early evening and continue into the night. With professionally installed outdoor lighting, every element of the landscape will not only be visible, but it will also have its own unique ambience associated with its specific purpose and contribution to the surrounding design theme. It also helps magnify to the sense of egress into a new dimension by expanding the vista from the rear of the living space into the outdoor space of lawn, structure, and garden.

Flower Garden Design

One of the hardest aspects of flower garden design is the limited lifespan of flowers themselves. While many flowering plants in and of themselves can live for many years, the flowers that they produce nevertheless do not. In order to design a flower garden that will truly honor the landscape year round, landscape architects have to plant different flowers at the beginning of each new quarter. The colors they recommend are normally chosen as representative of associations we make with the seasons themselves. Bright red, pink, and blue flowers are favorite colors for the new life of spring. In the summer, when the sun is at its hottest and brightest, yellow flowers are consistently popular choices. In late fall and winter, when bad weather often obscures visibility, white flowers stand out very well on even the muggiest of Texas winter days.

Professional landscapers help you select the very best color choices that will specifically match your home and yard. They will then further extend the benefits of these choices by selecting the hardiest plant species that have the best chance of making it through some of the rather extreme weather conditions we sometimes experience in Houston. At any given time, we may be facing anything from a dry-cracking drought to a constant torrent of semi-tropical rain. We cannot always predict what the weather is going to do next, so it is essential that we choose species known to have the best chance of survival in a worst case scenario.

While climate can pose a challenge to flower selection, it is not an insurmountable barrier. An otherwise delicate species of flower can be strengthened against certain environmental extremes by the right garden design specialist. Plants that need more water than a particular season typically provides can be enhanced by aesthetically sensible irrigation systems. For plants that can be damaged by too water can conversely be protected with any number of drain systems.The biggest challenge, believe it or not, is the availability of light. Some types of annual flowers simply cannot live without a certain level of light and therefore can only be planted in certain areas. In such instances where a highly popular flowering species is discovered to be incompatible with its environment, Exterior Worlds will help to develop a workaround even to this. Such workarounds may require creating new pathways for light by altering nearby structures, or they may require using advanced botanical knowledge to locate very similar species that thrive under very different lighting conditions. Regardless, the only way to maximize your chances for lasting satisfaction and return on your capital is to have your flower garden designed by a professional. While yard service companies and gardening magazines are all full of good suggestions that have merit and application to a point, it is essential that you also work with professional landscapers who can apply those ideas in the context of practicality and workability.

Garden Plans

We begin the development of a garden plan with a series of consultations with the homeowner. Most homeowners have an intuitive sense of what they would like to see developed in their landscape. It is our job to ask them the right questions that will help give form and substance to these innate feelings that people often have difficulty putting into words. When homeowners think of garden plans, they may be visualizing something that exclusively involves the planting of various vegetation elements. Such things as flowers, shrubs, hedges, and even small trees typically come to mind when we consider the form and beauty of a garden. While these elements do indeed constitute the organic aspects of gardens, there are many more things to consider when developing plans for the overall landscape.

During our consultation, we seek to not only pinpoint the aesthetic sensibilities of our clients, but also the things that matter to them in terms of lifestyle, activities, entertainment, and peace of mind. People seldom have only one expectation in mind, but a rather a whole litany of needs and desires they are looking to fulfill. When they step beyond the threshold of the doorway into outdoor space, they look to enter a whole new world of experience that brings both new sensory perceptions and new states of consciousness to bear upon their perceptions. Most of these expectations reside at the unconscious level, which is why our consultation process is both in-depth and ongoing. Open dialogue and clear communication help us to bring these expectations to the surface so we may better develop garden plans that speak to every element of our clients’ minds and emotions, not just the surface value of visual aesthetics.

In this respect, garden plans are both global and multidimensional. By itemizing the emotional and intellectual qualities of the resident that the landscape will ultimately reflect, the scope of the project is much easier to establish, and the details of the landscape more readily fall into place. Gaining a clear picture of how homeowners intend to enjoy their garden enables us to plan many details that otherwise would be overlooked or arbitrarily added after the fact. For example, if we learn during our meetings with a couple that they want a special part of the yard set aside just for them, it then becomes clearly evident that something like a private fountain and private patio will be in order to accommodate their sensibilities. People looking to entertain large groups will probably find great benefit in larger patios around swimming pools and enjoy the convenience of outdoor rooms where cooking and serving drinks can be done without having to run back inside.

Other purely aesthetic elements of garden plans can then be developed around these functional keynotes so as to better integrate any structures we commission into the organic elements of outdoor space. Trails for people to walk through, natural swimming pools, special fountains built to mimic waterfalls, trellises, and arbors are just a few of the many things we will add to the landscape that add depth and dimension to the organic components of the landscape. When it becomes necessary to subcontract certain experts such as swimming pool contractors to add these specific elements, a detailed garden plan drawn to scale helps to better coordinate the implementation of the project both globally and specifically. Subcontracted specialists are better able to see their individual creations as parts that relate to a greater whole, and they are better able to focus their energies and talents toward the creation of highly specialized forms that simultaneously contribute to the overall aesthetic that our design team ultimately has in mind.

Custom Fountain Design

Custom fountains are designed to fulfill a special role in a specific portion of the landscape. They are developed in accordance with a comprehensive landscaping plan that establishes the theme and tone of the landscape, and they play a major role as individual elements in relationship to the whole. Each one must stand alone as an individual work of art that extends its aesthetic into its surroundings to the extent that it represents an experience and a state of mind.

One of the most exciting things we have always loved about custom fountain design is the sheer joy of creating a functioning work of art. Fountains are dynamic elements, contributing both sound and motion to an otherwise static landscape. In the day, they add tranquility to the landscape that offers a refuge from the busy, stressful world outside. Many people even begin their day sitting on a special patio near such a fountain. They find that the subtle nuances of how the water falls, drips, and splashes back into itself bring them a sense of peace and uncertainty in a troubled and uncertain world. At night, special lighting can transform ornament and sound into a magical display of illuminated liquid form.In a very real sense, custom fountain design involves a special recreation of certain archetypal forms (stone, water, and light) in a highly personalized fashion that speaks to a number of considerations at once. First and foremost, as with all landscaping architecture, we must make certain that the basic physical structure of the fountain compliment the architecture of the home. We must also make certain that basic geometric patterns that we use to build the structure are also reflective to a certain extent of the organic geometry of gardens, outdoor buildings, and other water features. There is a great deal to consider when making these oftentimes very difficult design decisions. Will a custom fountain work best as a linear trough, a multi-tiered design, or something completely abstract built into an avant garde or highly contemporary landscape? Does the water need to come up or pour down? Will the fountain be designed as part of another structure, such as a pond or custom swimming pool? Should the lighting be concentrated on only the water, or on the entirety of the unit? If he client wishes the fountain to be adjustable to some extent, what mechanisms will we install to adjust the height of the water, or vary the intensity of lighting?

The answers to many of these questions are going to initially be based on client preference, need, and desire. It is our policy to respect the wishes of the homeowners and give them an end result that truly satisfies their expectations. It is also our responsibility to make certain that the fulfillment of these expectations is done in accordance with sound professional principles. Custom fountain design may appear to be a simple matter of building a shell with a decorative bottom and coping, but it is much more complex in reality. Masking the sound of the pump is often the greatest challenge that do-it-yourselfers and amateur landscapers normally run into. Managing debris that falls into the fountain is another problem. Pumps and filters have to be carefully designed not only to run silently, but to be protected as much as possible from foreign elements that can and do find their way into the water.

Professional landscapers know how to find the answers to all of questions we have looked at today, and they know how to mask the mechanical and the functional behind the aesthetic and the ambient. While the investment required for custom fountain design is significantly higher than purchasing a premade unit, the return on investment that comes through superior longevity and more robust functionality and aesthetic represent both tangibles and intangibles that nothing short of the best can ever provide.

Hardscape Design

When we use the term hardscape, we are referring to landscape structures that are made from inorganic materials.. These structures include many things such as driveways, patios, walls, fencing, and drainage and intertwine with organic elements to contribute to overall landscape design. Hardscape must always be treated as a very critical and precise science. Because the human mind is naturally drawn to order and system, nay man made structures on the landscape has to be carefully engineered to compliment organic essence and resident architectural style. It must always work to develop the aesthetic of the home and the terrain; it must never clash with its surroundings.

Professional hardscape design requires careful choices in material selection. Different materials will create different states of mind when viewed by residents and guests. The sense we get from a brick walkway is not going to be the same as the impression we receive from a concrete sidewalk. Materials should be used in hardscape design that will ultimately unify the home with the landscape and work to establish a corresponding theme between the two. Wood is often used to contribute a simple, traditional sensibility in structures like outdoor rooms. Concrete patios are often used to establish the stark sense of contrast that characterizes contemporary design. Various types of stone work ranging from cut stone to limestone and tile are used to suggest any number of thematic connotations ranging from a formal Old World entryway to a sense of wilderness in the spaces that surround a natural swimming pool.

Drainage is another important element of every hardscape design project. Every structure built in a front yard or back yard will act like a dam for rainwater, so we must build a mechanism of some sort that will prevent water it from encroaching into the structure or collecting around its walls. Drainage design must accomplish this at a functional value while simultaneously upholding the aesthetic. Different techniques are used to balance these two demands, such as hiding drain inlets and building custom decorative drain grates that conceal their function behind ornamentation. In some cases we may need to pitch drains in order to lessen the number drain inlets. In instances where it simply will not work to have any visible drain built into the hardscape itself, (such as we see in certain patios, walkways, and motor courts), then we will have to build these structures a very subtle slope (albeit unnoticeable slope) that causes water to drain without impediment.

Hardscape design also includes the construction of other structures such seat walls, retaining wall, columns, and curbs. These elements are built either as components of irrigation systems, or barriers to water encroachment coming from areas outside of the landscape proper. Again, building these features must be done very carefully so as to maintain balance and harmony with their surroundings. This usually results in hardscape design becoming the most expensive line item on an invoice due to its complexity and high demand for only the best of materials. This being considered, this is definitely one element of landscape design you never want to contract yourself or leave in the hands of anything other than the very best and most experienced landscaping architect. Any attempt to take a shortcut will only result in poor results that cost more money down the line to go back and do over again.

Patio Landscaping

Patios are actually architectural forms that contribute special areas of interest to yards. When Exterior Worlds adds a patio to the landscape, we take several points into consideration in order to appropriately design it. First, we take a careful look at home architecture in order to build a patio that will truly compliment its size and form. Another thing we pay close attention to is garden style. Because gardens are frequently planted near patios, the two have a direct bearing on one another. Patio landscaping also has to be done in a way that accommodates specific outdoor structures that will develop the form and essence of the landscape.

In a very real sense, patio landscaping works to both extend and compliment the architecture of a home. After people leave interior space and enter outdoor space, they step out on a patio that creates a new experience for them the minute they set foot on it. Depending on its design and intent the patio will do many things. It can serve as a central hub that unifies garden design, swimming pool aesthetic, and the corresponding structure of the house. This makes a patio more than a utilitarian tool in landscaping design. The patio may be something you walk on, but it is also a work of art. We often build patios of interests to magnify specific traditional or contemporary architectural and landscaping themes.

Patio landscaping should also be treated as either a component of or a compliment to garden design. Plantings around patios work to bring them better into scale with surrounding natural elements of the landscape. The garden design plan we develop will often determine which type of materials we use to build the patio. If we are planting linear gardens near contemporary style homes, we will often use concrete or concrete aggregate to build the patio. This helps differentiate organic elements and inorganic elements—a contrast very common in contemporary landscaping. On the other hand, more traditional landscape designs require materials that appear more natural, such as stone.

Finally, patio landscaping is a very important component of a number of outdoor structures. Seating areas are required around points of interests such as French fountains and Zen gardens. Such smaller patios help separate the landscape into divisions of public space and private space. These allow residents to have a special part of their yard set aside only for themselves. Areas that require seating for large gatherings will require constructing a larger patio that is specifically scaled to the number of anticipated guests at these events. We do this a great deal around swimming pools, but we also see it in places like outdoor rooms and special outdoor elements, such as outdoor kitchens, outdoor fire pits, and outdoor fireplaces are other structures that typically require a surrounding or adjoining patio to give people who use them a place to sit, and to contribute a sense of décor to their appearance.