French Courtyard Garden Design

Earlier this year, Exterior Worlds was contacted by the owner of an Arabian horse farm located in New Ulm, Texas, just outside of Houston proper. This man is known throughout the world, and clients visit his estate frequently to buy the horses he is famous for breeding. He wanted to create a special vantage point that would better help his clients get a better view of the horses that they travelled so far to consider buying. After consulting with him, we all agreed that the best addition to his property would be a two-section a French courtyard that would create a relaxed state of mind on the one hand, and offer a magnificent view of the landscape and the horses on the other. Since his home sits atop a hill that overlooks the prairie where the horses run, such a setting would be ideal for both personal visits and business negotiations with travelling clients.

The genius of this French courtyard design lies in the fact that it is actually two courtyards in one. The courtyards are slightly from one another, but are connected by a limestone pathway that bisects the center of both sections and runs all the way to the back of the home. A formal vegetable garden lies just to one side of one section, and the side of the hill drops down to the valley below just to the side of the other section.

We designed the first section of the French Courtyard with tranquility and contemplation in mind. To give the area a sense of repose and formal seating, we built two stone benches on either side of the gravel walkway, and built a limestone wall on the far end as a terminus for the entire structure. We installed a wall fountain in this location constructed from an antique spout and an antique limestone trough. The fountain is operated by a silent, remote pump that masks its mechanical nature and allows visitors to only hear the soothing sounds of the flowing water. This creates an aura of serenity for people sitting to either side of the fountain, and adds to the aesthetic of the formal vegetable garden that lies just to one side of the structure.

We then built the second section of the French courtyard conversation and comfort foremost in mind. Because the owner makes his living by selling Arabian horses, a view of his magnificent herd is crucial to the success of his business cycle. This was the primary motivation for building this portion of the courtyard as an observation point that would allow for a scenic overlook of the herds grazing below, and discussion of the attributes and value of each horse in the herd. We wanted these negotiations to flow more like conversation than hard-driven business deals, so we deliberately created a very austere setting for the host to entertain his guests. The patio was not paved, but rather built out of limestone chips identical to those used in 18th Century French gardens. We further expanded this historical theme by decorating the patio with an antique table and chair set that established a very strong Old World sensibility that was strongly suited to the discussion of the finer things in life.

Both parts of the French Courtyard are enclosed by an iron fence that creates a sense of seclusion and separation from the stress factors of the outside world. We wanted to magnify this sense of spatial separation with a separation for time as well, so we decided to make the fencing appear antique to match the furniture. We used some special painting methods to color the panels, and then let them rust a bit to make them mimic 18th Century ironwork. We also added some of the organic basics of French garden design to the courtyard by planting boxwoods and clipped hedges around the fence, patio, and stonework.

Among the more notable features in this French courtyard are its skillful blend of contrasting shades of light and dark colors, and the multiple points of view it offers both visiting clients and friends. The limestone path that bisects the two portions of the enclosure is made from a much darker color of limestone than the surrounding patio limestone. This lends a very strong feeling of symmetry that balances all of the many organic and inorganic elements of the surrounding garden, and provides an ideal aesthetic environment to host either a formal (albeit, very relaxed business meeting), or to entertain a few close friends and relative who drop by to chat for a few hours in the beauty of the garden.

Patio Design

How does my patio, a ubiquitous feature of the Houston home, fit into my landscape design?
Patios belong to the group of landscape elements called hardscapes—the non-plant material of your landscape design. In general, when hardscapes are combined with greenery, they create an outdoor living environment that everyone and anyone can enjoy. In this way, a patio is an extension of your home that is both functional and visually appealing.

Our clients have used patio designs that run the gamut from an understated, airy greenhouse to an inviting outdoor room. Thus, an outdoor patio expands the living space of the house and can create a memorable view out the window. A patio makes for a transition—an interval—between the house and the yard and adds a personal touch to the overall look of your property. It affects the physical space and emotional content of the landscape with the way it shows your personal aesthetic.

What are my first considerations when thinking about my patio design?
Exterior Worlds encourages our clients to begin with an overview:
• What is the existing view from your patio?
• Where does the sun hit it at different times of the year?
• Do you want or need a focal point? A focal point, such as an outdoor water fountain, will draw the eye to it. It literally gives the eye something to focus on. Or perhaps you have an unsightly feature or an odd spot in your layout. If so, a focal point will draw attention away from it.

Popular garden structures on patio deck designs include garden arbors, outdoor gazebos and pergolas. They can provide shelter from the elements, frame a focal point or form a decorative entrance. These architectural elements are attractive ways to add interest to your landscape and make a strong statement.

How do I connect the patio to the rest of my landscape?
We encourage our clients to make design choices for their landscape architecture that complement their home’s architecture. At the same time, you also want the selections to reflect your personality.

By their nature, garden pathways connect the patio to the rest of the landscape and finish off the patio design. Paths direct the eye and create interest across the expanse of green grass.

Landscape lighting also can tie your patio design to the rest of the yard. It turns your landscape into a 24-hour delight and serves as a security measure.
What are my flooring options?
The most common patio in Houston is a concrete pad attached to the house, a feature that creates a blank canvas on which to build. Your flooring options include:
• Concrete. This durable choice can be colored, stained or textured to create long-lasting beauty.
• Stone. Cut limestone, sandstone, quartzite and slate are popular choices among Exterior Worlds’ clientele.
• Cast stone. This masonry product gives the appearance of natural stones such as granite, slate, limestone, travertine or marble.
• Pavers. A man-made brick that recalls old world charm, patio pavers can be installed in intricate patterns, such as cobblestone.

Houston Lawn Services

Lawn maintenance service is a basic building block of overall landscape care. It creates a backdrop for all the other landscape elements. At least it does, the way Exterior Worlds performs these services. We do it so you don’t have to. In other words, we want to serve as property managers for your home landscape and gardens.

The basics of a lawn maintenance contract with Exterior Worlds include:
• Regular mowing and trimming. A representative contract covers mowing and trimming once a week in the spring and summer months and every other week during the cooler months.
• Maintenance and repair of the irrigation system. An irrigation system requires regular inspection for broken heads and valves. We also keep monitor the best times and days to water, which change depending on the weather and the season. In Houston, the preferred time to begin watering is about two hours before the sun comes up. This start time furnishes water to the plants and soil before the sun comes up and begins putting out its heat. If you start too much later, you will lose the water due to evaporation. If you start any earlier, the water tends to sit on the plants, giving fungus a chance to grow.


• Inspection of yard drainage systems. A fully-functioning storm drainage system transports water off your property in a timely manner, which allows your maintenance crew to perform its regular lawn service tasks and encourages healthy grass.
• Chemical treatments such as fertilizing and feeding. Chemical treatments are vital to lawn maintenance service as they supply a boost to plants, making them better able to withstand the rigors of our weather and to fight diseases and infestations found in the Houston area.
• Lawn Aeration. Another essential of proper lawn maintenance service, aeration produces many benefits, chief among them: it enhances water infiltration which helps reduces harmful fungi and helps with drainage, it increases the activity of microorganisms that encourages de-thatching, and it increases the earth worm ecosystem.

In addition to lawn services, Exterior Worlds provides garden services, either on a stand-alone basis or in conjunction with turf care. These services include:
• Professional mulch installation and bi-weekly turning of mulch.
• Rose maintenance.
• Dead-heading flowers.
• Training vines.
• Professional pruning.

For more than 20 years, we have provided these services to residences in River Oaks, West University, Tanglewood, Bellaire, and the Memorial Villages, including Hunter Creek Village, Piney Point Village, Hedwig Village and Bunker Hill Village, something we think proves our case about the quality services we provide.

Our lawn maintenance service starts with the intention to maintain and enrich the original design. At the same time, we bring ongoing and consistent superior attention, care and expertise to each task. For high-net worth homeowners, the opportunity cost to become bogged down in the management of landscaping duties far outweighs the cost of hiring Exterior Worlds to handle them. Our clients have found that it is a far better use of their time to be productive in the office rather than dealing with contractors, checking on the sprinkler system, and arranging for fungicide treatments for the roses.

Call us at 713-827-2255 to discuss how we can help you with your landscape maintenance needs.

Luxury Backyard

The whole point of a luxury backyard is to create a living experience that unites the highest aesthetic of Nature with the pinnacle of indoor creature comfort. Entertainment is the driving force behind the experience, with landscape design developed around points of interest and patterns of movement from point to point.

An outdoor kitchen in a luxury backyard functions in exactly the same manner as an indoor kitchen. It is built to provide full cooking facilities and has enough space to entertain the anticipated number of guests attending any given function. A true landscape architect will actually design the floor plan and size of the kitchen based on the number of guests expected to attend outdoor parties and family gatherings. The landscaper will also see to it that the architecture, seating areas, and amenities of the structure are congruent with the lifestyle of the homeowner and complimentary to the architecture of the home and the surrounding landscape.

Sometimes people only want a place to sit, talk, and enjoy various forms of media. Landscape architects can build outdoor rooms for this purposes that are fully furnished just like interior rooms. Almost all contain sofas and a variety of chairs. These rooms can also be equipped with a full suite of entertainment media, including stereos, televisions, radios, and DVD players. It is not uncommon either for these rooms to feature lighting control switches so interior and exterior lighting levels can be adjusted to suit different occasions. Some clients who host large parties may even ask us to build an outdoor room with a wet bar and tables similar to those in a pub or sports bar. Such a room can function as the hub of the party in a luxury backyard either as a standalone building or an adjunct to a custom pool and patio.

Many Houstonians living on the larger estates in River Oaks and Tanglewood also like us to design putting greens in their luxury backyards. Many of these wealthy Houstonians enjoy golf as their favorite pastime, but often they do not want to leave the comforts of their own estates to go to the country club. Also, when they entertain guests on the weekend, it is necessary to have some type of fairway available onsite. Normally we have a lighting company come in and install special golf lights to mimic those of larger courses. That way, a guest can enjoy playing at any hour of the evening regardless of natural lighting conditions.

Houston is a very hot place most of the year. However, in the winter, massive fronts of cold air push down from Canada, bringing unexpectedly high winds, chills, and sometimes heavy rains. The air can become very cold and clammy at these times, making the outdoors a very dismal place to be. However, by adding an outdoor fireplace behind the home, a cold and dreary backyard can be turned into a luxury backyard filled with warmth and ambience. Special lighting can also be installed in an outdoor fireplace to mimic firelight during the warmer months of the year, so that even in August, late at night, people can still relax by the “fire” while the cool summer breeze blows across the patio.

Of course, in order for a landscape to suggest true luxury, the backyard must feature an aesthetic that speaks to symmetry, formality, and elegance. Rose gardens are often planted in luxury backyards to give the landscape an Old World sensibility. Classical sculptures and custom water fountains are also favorite mainstays. Sometimes special decorative walls and wall fountains can also be integrated into custom patio design to create semi-enclosed spaces for seating and conversation. Lighting is always adjunct to both form and function in these areas, providing general lighting in areas of concentrated activity and low-level decorative lighting around special decorations and points of interests.

Luxury Landscape

A luxury landscape includes all things normally associated with an upscale home. Both organic and inorganic elements speak to an aesthetic sense of refinement, and functionality is geared toward creature comfort. Entertainment also plays a major role in luxury landscape design, because most clients who invest the large sums of money required for this high-end service are looking to share the experience with special guests and close family members.

Practically every luxury landscape has a custom swimming pool that has been specifically designed to support multiple aesthetic elements and scaled proportionally to its surroundings. The pool’s design should reflect the geometry and symmetry of custom home architecture, and it should also aesthetically compliment any other surrounding outdoor structures and seamlessly blend with organic elements that surround it.

Water fountains are iconic symbols of luxury and refinement. They add both dimension and décor to the landscape, and can be designed in any number of shapes and sizes. Larger estates typically have more than one water fountain on the property. There may be one a larger, central fountain located near a main gathering or seated area that acts as an illuminated centerpiece for nighttime events. Other, more private areas may have custom water fountains intended for the enjoyment of only the homeowner or a few very close friends. In most cases, smaller fountains are centerpieces for private sitting or morning gardens where homeowners relax and read the paper in the morning, and enjoy the sunlight streaming through the trees in the late evening when the sun goes down.

Many luxury landscapes prefer to replicate European garden forms to add organic symmetry and balance to the yard. The parterre garden is one of these forms, and it actually works better on a larger property than on a smaller lot. In France, parterre gardens were originally designed with intersecting pathways that allowed people to stroll through the garden and enjoy it firsthand. This is not always easy to replicate in the average Houston yard due to the size restrictions that some lots present to us. However, there are properties throughout the city that do have sufficient acreage for us to build a traditional parterre garden that provides both an aesthetic and a point of interest around which visiting guests may congregate.

Parterre gardens are a specifically French form, however, and will not work with every type of home architecture. Custom home design today can be very eclectic, so not every home we visit is going to have a specific cultural nuance to which we can match a specific cultural garden design. A large home may have a blend of European styles and require a luxury landscape plan that supports its overall aesthetic without leaning too heavily toward any specific European region or time period in history. Such properties can always benefit from a simple, yet carefully planted and maintained rose garden. Roses, like fountains, have come to symbolize luxury and wealth in both canonical and popular culture. There is almost no style of home or landscape to which they cannot be added in some form or fashion.

As important a role that aesthetics plays in luxury landscaping, it is essential to keep in mind that larger properties are developed with the entertainment of special guests foremost in mind. Not only must landscape architects work very hard to create impeccable forms and outdoor structures, but they must also make these structures easily accessible and comfortable for guests attending functions that are hosted at the estate. Custom paving design can be used to build any number of hardscapes to facilitate parking, foot traffic, and patio seating areas. These structures have to be carefully designed in such a way as to compliment the surrounding terrain and the architecture of the house, and the size of each structure must also be based on the anticipated number of guests attending specific types of events.

One may not immediately think of landscape lighting as being foundational to luxury landscaping, but when we consider that most of the events hosted on larger estates take place at night, it becomes readily apparent just how important landscape lighting is. Professional outdoor lighting provides visibility in gathering and transit areas, and it magnifies aesthetic by creating decorative effect in specific points of interests. Patio lighting, pathway lighting custom pool lighting, special garden lights, fountain lights, and concealed tree lights are just a few examples of landscape lighting designs that allow people to safely and comfortable move throughout the estate and enjoy its many finer nuances regardless of the hour of the night.

Houston Yard Maintenance

Exterior Worlds provides high-quality yard maintenance for upscale residences in West University, Tanglewood, the Memorial Villages, Bellaire and River Oaks. We believe that yard maintenance is important in and of itself. Instead of being something to relegate to the lowest bidder, we think it is foundational to your landscape design.

A residential maintenance contract at Exterior Worlds includes yard maintenance items such as:
• Regular mowing and trimming. We recommend weekly mowing and trimming March through October and bi-weekly November through February.
• Chemical treatments. Fertilization, feeding, and chemical treatments make for hearty plants and prevent infestations and diseases common to Houston.
• Garden services, such as dead-heading flowers, expert pruning, rose maintenance and training vines.
• Professional mulch installation and regularly turning over the mulch.
• Inspection of your drainage system. Proper yard drainage is essential for Houston lawn care. It carries water off your property in a timely manner, thus promoting healthy grass. By draining excess water, it also allows your maintenance crew to perform its regular lawn care service duties.
• Inspection of your irrigation system. Since the system is both mechanical and electronic, a fully functioning irrigation system requires ongoing maintenance. We also monitor the best times and days to water, which change depending on the weather and the season.
• Lawn aeration. This practice is essential to proper lawn care and provides benefits, such as improving water infiltration which helps with drainage and reduces harmful fungi, increasing the activity of microorganisms that promote de-thatching, and increasing the earth worm population.

Additionally, we work with the hardscapes of your landscape, the elements that bring true distinction to your landscape architecture.
• Landscape lighting—design, install, repair and maintenance.
• Tree protection and tree preservation. During any construction project, this service is critical and continues to be important on an ongoing basis.
• Custom swimming pools—design, installation and maintenance. Pools are an expected amenity for the high-end home these days. They provide hours of pleasure when designed specifically for you and when maintained with accurate care by professionals.
• Outdoor rooms, pavilions and outdoor kitchens—design, build and maintain. These outdoor areas expand your living space and allow you to fully enjoy our temperate winter months.
• Garden structures—garden arches, garden arbors, garden gazebos and trellises.
• Outdoor water fountains—installation, repair and maintenance.
• Hardscapes—maintain and repair elements in your landscape design, such as driveways and courtyards, patios, outdoor fireplaces, retaining walls and pathways.
• Fencing and gates—installation, repair and maintenance, including painting fences and gates. Also the repair of automatic gates.

Our clients are homeowners who understand that money invested in landscaping—both plant materials and hardscapes—improves the value of their home, usually the single largest financial asset of the individual. They find merit in hiring professional landscapers such as Exterior Worlds because we provide all the fundamental landscaping services, like yard maintenance, plus pay fastidious attention to the finer details. When it comes time for our clients to sell their home, they bring an impressive property to the market. In the meantime, they’ve enjoyed lush, luxurious gardens and yard.

Mulch Services & Installation

Mulch installation is an ideal example of the lengths that Exterior Worlds will go to in order to bring quality service to each and every job. We pride ourselves on our dedication to excellence—from the big projects, like putting in a property-wide drainage system, including French drains, to the small tasks, like mulch installation.

In general, mulch is shredded old limbs, trees and shrubs that have been composted. In this part of the U.S., pine and cedar are the most commonly used material for mulch. The benefits of mulching are comprehensive. Mulch keeps moisture in the ground, which is crucial during our hot months—and helps keep your water bill down besides! Mulch reduces the unattractive growth of weeds. Correct mulch installation also can prevent erosion, something valuable during our rainy season. Some mulch is specifically designed to knit together and form a netted surface. This type of mulch is particularly advantageous where there is elevation, since erosion occurs there first.

At Exterior Worlds, we believe proper mulch installation entails:
• Using a premium mulch. We buy from the best providers in the area, people we have known and trusted for years.
• Not over-mulching. We often find that less-knowledgeable competitors put too much mulch onto the beds. This practice means mulch stacks too high up plant stalks, which can actually kill your plants.
• Using bags rather than transporting by wheelbarrow. Bagged mulch is easier and less messy to carry from one section of the landscape to another. It also eliminates the dilemma of what to do with any excess mulch and the temptation to over-mulch.
• Not—repeat, not—covering the weep-holes in the house’s foundation. This point is essential in Houston due to our unsavory distinction of being a hot zone for termites. Mulch in weep-holes invites termites into your home.
• Breaking up the mulch or turning it regularly. Our residential yard maintenance contracts offer this service which needs to be done every two weeks.
• Mulching twice a year. We install mulch so that there is no build-up around plants and trees, even when it requires spreading it with our hands.

Other types of mulch include gravel, glass and rubber, materials that are generally low maintenance and decompose very slowly. In particular, glass mulch looks terrific in a contemporary garden design. Mulch that has been treated with a bio-degradable dye is also readily available. We often recommend black mulch as we think it visually makes greenery more pleasing.

Because Exterior Worlds recognizes that each of you is unique, our services can be customized and specialized for your specific needs. If you want a single element added to your landscape design, say, an outdoor water fountain or outdoor room, we can do that for you. Or you may need regular garden services. If so, we can customize a contract just for those ongoing duties.

Our services are for serious Houston homeowners in upscale neighborhoods such as West University, Bellaire, Tanglewood, River Oaks and the Memorial Villages. Our expertise extends to the maintenance of gardens done in a specific style; for example, Japanese garden design, classic landscape design, Mediterranean landscape design.

We welcome your call at 713-827-2255 to discuss mulching and all your other landscaping needs.

French Country Garden Design

A couple by the name of Claire and Dan Boyles commissioned Exterior Worlds to landscape their back yard with a French Country Garden Design theme. The design we ultimately developed for them was not a traditional French country garden per se, but was rather a derivative of the symmetry and color scheme associated with this style.

The most notable feature of the design was the custom swimming pool we installed just to the rear of the home. It featured linear movement, right angles, and a luxury spa and pool fountain. We used limestone for the pool coping, and we built the custom pool patio using concrete pavers. In various locations around the patio and yard, we also added French pottery to balance the stonework against the structure of the home.

We planted a formal garden parallel to the pool to support its linear movement. Like most French country gardens, it is bordered by sheered bushes and emphasizes linear movement, angles, and symmetrical structure. The interesting thing about this garden is that it is completely green, with no other colors. It is bordered by a taupe colored cedar fence that blends with the stonework.

Around the corner from the back entrance to the home lies a double door entrance to the master bedroom. Here, we built a small patio just beyond the threshold of the door. Along the walls of the home on either side of the glass windows, and between the patio itself, we planted boxwood hedges. Boxwood species are typically used in French country garden and provide an excellent organic frame for the patio.

We deviated slightly from the strict linear forms and emphasis on symmetry in this location by adding pavers that ran out like steps from the patio into the grass. We also added rosemary and mondo grass as ground cover to the space between the patio, the corner of the house, and the back wall that frames the yard. This design is derivative of those found in morning gardens, and it provides the Boyles with a place where they can step directly from their bedroom into a private outdoor space and enjoy the early mornings and evenings.

We also landscaped the front of the Boyles’s house with a symmetrical design consistent with that of French country gardens. We began by creating a sense of entryway by adding a stone walkway that ran straight to the front of the home and extended on either side into an entry patio. The home has a covered porch area in the very front that extends slightly outward from the rest of the house. Along the left wall of the home, to further the connotations of a French country estate, we planted a small parterre garden that can be seen and enjoyed from the porch.

On the other side of home, we built a circular drive motorcourt around a large oak tree. We used special tree preservation techniques to design this motorcourt in order to keep the pavement above the root zone of the tree. The interesting thing about this motorcourt is its color. It features a colored, concrete-acid finish that compliments the brick in the home. We used limestone gravel chips for the parking area. We then planted San Augustine grass around the oak tree to create a sense of organic vitality year round.

Landscape Design Build

Exterior Worlds is a residential landscape design build consulting firm specializing in landscape architecture, design, and custom landscape maintenance. We prefer to operate under the design build model of construction for a number of reasons. It offers us more direct control over the promised outcome of the project, and thus guarantees that clients will be satisfied with the results they have invested in. It also streamlines process in a way that expedites project completion and thus keeps labor costs—and the ultimate cost of the landscaping design—within the anticipated budget of the homeowner.

Design build construction is the oldest model of construction service in the world. It is based upon the principle that the architect, or Master Builder as he was called in many cultures, was the supreme authority to oversee the building of monumental structures. Palaces, temples, and public forums were constructed by such men for millennia. A modified version of this model is still used today. Basically, it means that a general contractor develops the design for the landscape or home, then brings in subcontractors to build out the specific elements of that design under the strict supervision of the general contract management team.

In the commercial world, many companies use the design-bid-build model, where the designer sells the concept to the company, which then bids it out to a general contractor and respective subcontractors who develop it. This is too complicated and expensive for even wealthy homeowners, and it often leads to errors in the final project. If a landscape design is bid to a landscaping firm who did not develop that design, they will most likely interpret it differently than from what it was originally intended, and in all likelihood, cost the homeowner much more money with problematic or a disappointing outcome at the end of the project.

It is for this reasons that most landscape companies like Exterior Worlds prefer to serve the custom home residential marketplace from a design build perspective. We begin by consulting extensively with the client and getting to know as much about their lifestyle, aesthetic sensibilities, and predetermined expectations for their home and yard. We then develop a landscape design that includes every element of form and function necessary to creating an outdoor living experience that respects the architecture of the home and compliments the lifestyle lived within the home itself. Once this model is complete (and we use graphic design software to create it), we then either build each element of the landscape ourselves, or we subcontract a specialist firm who will build specific outdoor structures and forms strictly according to the design plan we have already finalized with the homeowners.

The accountability this creates is incredible. Subcontractors brought in on the project are handed specifications and a list of materials in advanced that ensures they remain within the parameters of the intended build. Pool contractors, hardscape experts, and lighting design firms all work under the umbrella of our project management to seamlessly produce a finished project that embodies the conceptual in a form that typically exceeds the expectation of the client at the end of the day.

By acting as a landscape design build firm, Exterior Worlds is able to act as a single source of delivery of consultation, planning, design, and implementation. With a vision in mind combined with a plan on paper, we can forego the complexities and multiple layers of detail needed to produce the detailed schematics used by design-bid-build firms, and we can finish the project sooner as a managing, hands-on, single source design-build solution provider acting for the benefit of all parties concerned.

Garden Services

A consistently implemented and carefully considered garden services plan is the best way to protect the beauty and vibrancy of your landscape. Keeping the landscape clean and healthy makes a powerful statement to surrounding residences. It says you care about your property, and you wish to have it emphasized from every vantage point along the street.

It makes no sense to invest in professional landscape design services to have vegetation carefully chosen and planted, only to neglect it after the fact. The Houston climate is brutal, to say the least, and most of the plants you will have in your new landscape come from other parts of the world where the heat and heavy rains are not so severe. It is necessary to protect these delicate investments with a garden services program that will help them weather both the hot dry months of summer and the temperamental winters where the weather vacillates between muggy wind and cold blasts of frigid arctic air.

Surprising to many, garden services actually begin with the lawn, not the garden.
The typical Houston lawn needs trimming weekly through the summer and bi-weekly in the winter months. It also requires yard aeration—something many people do not even consider. Lawn aeration keeps the clay-like Houston soil from clumping up around plant roots and blocking the absorption of water and vital nutrients. The lawn also needs to be fertilized four times per year.

Tree maintenance is another key element of a garden services plan.
Every small tree in your yard needs to be pruned as often as is necessary for that particular species. Your landscaper will also schedule annual deep root fertilization as part of your garden services program. Shrubs, ground cover, and vines will also be pruned and edged to maintain a neat, clean appearance. Hedges require aesthetic maintenance as well as vitality maintenance. They often have to be pruned to maintain special shapes and contours.

Flower beds need to be weeded weekly.
It is also wise to turn the mulch in the flower bed every two weeks to ensure that plenty of air and water are exchanging in and out of the soil.

A garden services plan includes professionally-administered fertilization and chemical treatments.
These treatments are not as simple as they appear at face value. Store-bought chemicals are not always safe to use with many of the plants we install in gardens. It is best to let the landscape designer apply proven treatment methods as needed to prevent diseases like brown patch and insect infestations.

Finally, your garden services plan must include freeze protection for your plants.
You would think that as hot as Houston is in the summer that our winters would be safe for plants. They are not. When northers blow into Texas, they can plummet temperatures and quickly frost plants that have just been rained on the previous day. This is a killer to many species, particularly tropicals. Plastic is not a good covering for these plants because it blocks light and water and will suffocate plants if left on them for many days. Instead, let your landscaping company come out and as a part of your maintenance contract protect your investment with a special freeze cloth which will allow light, oxygen, and water to pass through.

Water Drainage

Because Houston so very flat, sump pumps or sump systems must often be used to pump water out of areas that are lower than the areas that the water is being drained into. To make water drainage like this work, we must build a sump as a basin, usually made from brick or concrete. Structures like sump basins are very vulnerable to being clogged by debris, so they have to be frequently maintained to ensure proper water drainage. This involves inspecting and cleaning these catch basins, cleaning downspouts, and checking and replacing power connections when necessary.

Because water drainage systems are typically unattractive, they have to be hidden from public view. It is therefore mandatory that you hire a landscape professional to build your drainage system in order to make sure it will protect your yard from Houston climate extremes without diminishing the presentation power of the landscape design.

Drainage Aspects:
Before we install your water drainage system, we have to go over the many preliminaries that are involved in planning and installing it. This is no simple matter, and nothing you ever want to try on your own. It involves working with municipalities and subcontractors—neither of whom is very skilled at directly communicating in a clear manner with homeowners.

Considerations during Planning and Installation: Water Drainage Plans
The total landscape water drainage on your property is called a watershed. It includes all the slopes, the speed of water runoff, and the porosity of the soil. It also includes dividing line between each drainage surface area such as roof, deck and lawn areas.

Your landscape architect will see to it that you receive a property watershed analysis by a drainage expert that will identify these different areas and recommend the appropriate fixtures and pipe size for the landscape drainage system.

Permitting
Many municipalities require the submittal of a drainage plan with regulations concerning minimum pipe size. Other jurisdictions also require an engineered landscape water drainage plan with submitted runoff equations. Exterior Worlds will handle both services for you when so required.

Tree preservation
When we install a water drainage system, we will hand-dig trenches around trees in order to minimize any damage to them. We also tunnel underneath them with either compressed air or water in order to temporarily expose tree roots without tearing them.

City utilities
We make it top priority to locate city utility lines prior to installing water drainage systems. We know how expensive it can be to repair fiber optic lines, gas lines and other utilities. We find them first and make certain they do not get cut during drain installation.

Types of Landscape Drains:
Once permits and plans are taken care of, subcontractors are brought in to handle the physical aspects of water drainage installation. There are many different drain styles we can install on your property.

Gutter downspout tie-ins
Downspout tie-ins carry water gutters to the water drainage system. They are made from plastic, metal or brass and often have a side cleanout with a see-through grate that can be easily inspected for clogs.

Catch basins, or yard drains
Catch tie into a PVC main drain line instead and carry water out through the landscape drainage system. They are can be placed beneath downspouts when it is undesirable or not possible to tie into the gutter.

Channel drains
Channel drains are very narrow and are normally used between main structures and paving or at the edge of patios and decks.

French drains
French drains are small ditches filled with undersized rocks or gravel. They take water away from saturated soil.

Deck drains
Deck drains are built in patios, decks and walkways so that water drainage either slopes toward the drain or into the landscape bed. They are often built with special, decorative drain covers made of metal, brass or stone. Deck drains are smaller in size than catch basins and are only intended to drain patio surface areas.

Shade Garden Design

By definition, a shade garden is a garden planted beneath the tree(s) in the shade. Such a garden has to be designed with careful planning and great care- particularly when it comes to preparing the soil. Many do-it-yourselfers make the mistake of tilling the soil too much. They assume that digging deep into the earth will give plants as much room as possible to grow. What they do not consider is the danger this presents to nearby trees. Digging too next to a tree will probably result cutting one or more essential roots. To avoid this, do yourself a favor and hire a landscape architect with expertise in both shade garden design and professional tree preservation.

We recommend you do this based on the nature of trees. As some of the largest organisms on the planet, they are much more than what you see above the ground. No matter how tall they are, much of what you see is nothing compared to the vast, extensive network that fans out underground beneath the trunk. In most cases, it is actually longer and wider than the tree is tall. Any shade garden you design that requires digging around a tree hast to be installed with the utmost care.

It is unfortunate when an individual installs his or her own shade garden yourself and inadvertently cuts one or more tree roots in the process. If the root is a vital artery to the tree, it can easily weaken the tree to the point it becomes vulnerable to disease and eventually dies. This may take several years, so many times people do not even remember what they did to harm the tree, and call us asking why the trees around their shade garden are suddenly turning yellow from fungus and slowly dying right before their eyes. There is little we can do at this point because a tree takes a long time to die, and it does not look pretty as it dies. The damage to your property value this sad sight can cause is far more expensive than the investment you can make now, before this happens, in professional shade garden design.

A shade gardens that is installed by a landscape architect will both ensure the life of your trees and actually look better from an aesthetic standpoint. A far greater plant selection is available to you through landscapers with advanced training in botany and access to plants from all over the world. These professionals know which shade resistant species grow best in the Houston climate. These species will have little or no competition from other plants when they are planted in the right places with the right professional methods. Other plants, and even grasses, will often only grow in direct sunlight, so your shade garden will remain healthy and vibrant provided it is designed and installed professionally from the beginning.

One thing is needed; though, which you will find nowhere else but a company with advanced landscaping know-how, and that is irrigation and drainage control. You do not want to rely upon a garden center who claims to know irrigation and drainage for your shade garden design. This is again due to the complexities involved in doing what needs to be done without harming surrounding trees. Our professionals are experts in tree preservation and even go so far as to use special equipment and proprietary engineering methods to tunnel under tree roots and dig radically around the tree so as to build an irrigation and drainage system that is 100 percent tree-friendly

It is therefore well worth the extra time and money it takes to have your shade garden designed by professionals correctly from the get go.

Custom Landscaping

Custom landscapes require design and construction methods based specifically on the lifestyle of the homeowner. Properties are shaped around the themes of home architecture and the interests and activities of the occupants. Custom landscapes require more than a just a simple knowledge of botany and hardscape design, however. They require in-depth consultation with the client, sophisticated planning and design skills, and leadership skills for managing teams of specialists brought to build specific outdoor structures and forms.

One of the first things we take into consideration is the size of the family itself. A large percentage of our clients have children, so their desires have to factor into the equation just as much as those of their parents. We need to know what these kids are interested in, and how best to accommodate their interests. We may build them a natural swimming pool separate from the custom swimming pool we build for the adults. Or, we may bring in sports experts to construct a special ball court or grassy play area to use as a soccer practice field.

Home entertainment also plays a big role in custom landscape design. How people intend to use their yard literally shapes the proportions and forms within it. People who expect to entertain large numbers of visitors will need a landscape that expresses expansiveness and variety, while people who want to entertain small groups of relatives or friends will need garden designs and exterior structures such as arbors, private patios, and trails that create a feeling of intimacy, privacy, and special treatment.

Custom landscaping also has to factor in the convenience of arriving guests by creating parking areas that will accommodate the anticipated number of people arriving at hosted events. Without some practical considerations in this area, overflow parking creates an eyesore in front of the house and a nuisance for the neighborhood. Knowing how many people normally show up for events, and how often those events are held, enables us to build driveway areas that meet the demands of attendance and contribute to the overall aesthetic of the home and property. Many properties also have service vehicles that show up at the residence, and we must make certain that any access points or parking areas we create for other vehicles

Personal lifestyle is obviously a major part of any custom landscape. Every client is different and has unique tastes and proclivities that need to be addressed throughout the entire scope of the aesthetic. While we consider it foundational to the entire design process to respect home architecture in the many forms and structures we create, we also make it a point to develop these features in patterns and forms that reflect personal and stylistic traits.

While custom landscaping is a very deliberate science that reflects the subjective mindset of the homeowner, it is always done in harmony with Nature. Trees, soil conditions, natural topography, and natural light conditions all help us with parameters that we can use as guidelines for planning and construction.

Custom Patios

Many Houston residents have come to want more than just a typical patio where friends can sit around the swimming pool. They want a custom patio that has been designed to accommodate the functions of entertainment, recreation, and relaxation. Custom patios are typically built either behind a home or alongside of a home on larger estates, although a few very large estates with walled properties may also have them in the front yard. Regardless of the exact location of the hardscape, the ruling principle is to build a custom patio that will reflect the function and nature of specific events, and whose material build and physical form compliment home architecture and surrounding landscape features.

Traditionally, patios have either been stone, concrete, or wooden seating areas adjacent to a pool or some other center of activity. In custom design, however, the patio itself can become the center of activity. Space requirements and anticipated activities must then be factored into custom patio design as variables. When we work with a new client, we take a great deal of time during the consultation and planning phase to get a feel for what types of outdoor events they may be planning to host at their home. Such factors as the number of guests, the nature of the gathering, and what adjoining structure the patio itself is meant to be a part of all play critical roles in determining both the materials used to build it and the actual physical shape it will ultimately take.
Such a systematic approach to custom design allows us to build a patio in or around virtually any area of significant interest in your yard. Many times our clients want us to build special seating or gathering areas near their favorite fountains or gardens so guests can enjoy the aesthetic of these elements at close range and have the ambience they create actually define the experience of the event. Other clients may ask us to build a custom patio in a remote portion of the yard which serves as their own personal, exclusive, and private retreat during early morning and late evening hours. Still others seek to create an atmosphere of outdoor revelry and extravaganza where the most complex and ostentatious of outdoor structures are magnified by a surrounding hardscape design that both attracts and maintains the interest of the crowd.

We do a great deal of this type of construction around a number of special outdoor structures that represent an indoor living turned inside out. Outdoor fire places and fire pits are two great examples of this. Based upon the ancient principles of hearth and home, these symbolic invoke both connotations of historical living space and images of a warm, refined modern living room. By constructing these structures outside, in the yard, then building a custom patio around them, we can unify the experiential, the symbolic, and the Natural all into a new synthesis.

Custom patios can also be built in front of outdoor kitchens and arbors to provide an extended space connected to the interiors of these structures. Once again, letting function define the form allows not only for such an extension of space, but a combining of spaces with other areas of interest. A custom patio can link the space between a garden and an arbor, or a pool or an outdoor kitchen, giving people a path to walk on, a floor to mingle on, and a seating area to comfortably gather around for conversation—all rolled into one. Other locations where we commonly build custom patios include entrance gardens that line the side walls of multi-story homes on larger estates, and ornate lighted fountain areas that can act as centerpieces and focal points for late night gatherings.

Landscape architects use only the best materials in building custom patios and take the time to make certain that the plans they develop for the hardscape ultimately mesh with the organic and architectural elements of the property. They also make certain that home architecture and surrounding structural designs are respected and complimented by the design, materials, and size of the patio itself.

Home Garden Services

Perhaps your lawn guy is a person for whom you feel a sense of loyalty because of your many years of working together—but their capabilities do not include sophisticated home garden services and landscape maintenance. Then again, you might like everything about your lawn maintenance team, but want to establish more design-forward and intricate plantings and hardscapes—something beyond their skill set. Or maybe you have a yard crew with whom you’ve negotiated a favorable rate—but the contract provides fleeting attention to your garden beds. Exterior Worlds can step in wherever you have such needs with our home garden services.

We can complement the lawn care you already have in place with one of our home garden services contacts. If you have, say, a high-tech landscape lighting system built into a custom swimming pool with a related large water fountain, we have the technical know-how to maintain it for you. (We can also design, build and install them for you, by the way.) We have the experience and knowledge to handle landscape matters properly and in a timely fashion. Further, you can benefit from the relationships we have with specialists in the various landscaping fields—because of the volume of business we do together and our long-term association, you get their best prices.As a full service landscape design and maintenance company, Exterior Worlds deals with the full array of outside-the-home services that high-end homes require. These home garden services include:
• Garden services. The upkeep of a sophisticated garden, excluding the maintenance and care of turf and lawn.
• Garden structures—garden arches, garden arbors, trellises
• Custom swimming pools—installation and maintenance
• Outdoor water fountains—installation
• Outdoor kitchens, pavilions and outdoor rooms
• Hardscapes—maintain and repair elements in your landscape design, such as outdoor fireplaces, driveways and courtyards, patios, retaining walls and walkways and pathways. We also pressure-wash patios and other hard surfaces.
• Landscape lighting—repairs and maintenance
• Irrigation systems—installation and maintenance
• Landscape drainage systems—installation and maintenance
• Clean gutters
• Fencing and gates—installation, repair and maintenance, including the repair of automatic gates and painting fences and gates.
• Tree preservation and tree protection. These services also include tree removal.

For years, Exterior Worlds has continually met and raised the standard for Houston landscaping services. Today, we remain committed to our founding philosophy of providing our customers with the best possible quality, service and value. With our home garden services, the staff at Exterior Worlds is dedicated to providing unmatched service and convenience to our clientele.

The opportunity cost for high-net worth individuals to become entangled in the minutia of landscaping matters far outweighs what it costs to hire Exterior Worlds to handle them. You could say that we act as property managers for your home and residence. You make one call to us and let us make the subsequent 25+ calls to the various vendors, mechanics, builders and craftsmen. After all, isn’t it a better use of your time to be in the office working productively rather than meeting with contractors, coordinating schedules and handling disputes? Not to mention actually freeing up the time that you have off, which is oh-so-rare and way-too-short.

Natural Landscaping

Is Natural Landscaping native landscaping?
When you think of natural landscaping what comes to mind is an abandon field of various grasses, a thicket edge of tangled vines, shrubs and underbrush or a mature grove of oaks with leaf ground cover underneath. Totally natural would look messy and you would want to improve upon it. First and foremost natural should be your own interpretation of what is a beautiful natural look, which is probably far more cared for than what nature would create alone. The natural landscape improves upon the best features of the site and makes it even better or into our own liking. Also, threw working with a site and observing nature, the natural landscape can give you many solutions for difficult areas. “How to work with and plant under all this shade?” is often asked on wooded lots in Memorial and Bayou Areas of Houston. In the creating natural landscapes utilize the best of natural site elements and improve upon it still utilizing the design foundations of form and function.
What is the next step in creating a natural landscape?
In creating the landscape design you pay attention to the “sense of place” and “mood” of the site and its relationship with the house. Inspiration can come from the existing site or from travels throughout the natural world. On a new site you may want to borrow a nature inspired vision from a place in the wild that you want to recreate. The beauty of a flagstone patio under a soaring oak tree that reminds you of a hillock you visited in Ireland. Bring out the best features of the sight and change those that are not so attractive. For the most part the natural landscape approach is sympathetic so work with the site rather than changing it; utilize existing site features, trees, woodland edges rather than imposing a specific design as in classical landscape design or formal landscape design.

Landscape Design Ideas for the Natural Landscape
A simplistic approach is to create more formal landscape spaces and surfaces near the home and to dissipate into more natural landscape spaces and surfaces as you move away from the house creating a hierarchy of spaces and pathways from formal to informal.
In the landscape design natural plantings can reflect plant associations in nature. Laying out plantings in large masses or groupings will look natural as well as be easier to maintain over time.
Natural Landscape Materials:

1) Luxury Swimming Pools- slate, natural stone a refined rustic overall feel.
2) Walkways and pathways- cut stone, wood, pavestone, gravel and cobble or small stones and boulders.
3) Landscape Lighting-light up existing large trees, path lights and accent lighting for flagstone pathways and features.
4) Fencing and gates-split cedar and pine for a rustic natural look

Creating Nature and Beyond
Designing natural landscapes is on of the best opportunities to be creative. The natural landscapes is truly an interpretation of nature and our attempt to represent our reality of beauty and bring about its very best features. The home and landscape are still used in relation to your wants and needs for form, function just with nature at close hand.

Landscape Lighting Design

Landscape lighting design should never be overlooked. It is an investment that all Houstonians looking to upgrade the value of their property should make. This is because the house and the surrounding landscape are both types of living space. One is interior, secluded, enclosed, and private—representing the refinements of civilization and the mental aspects of humanity that makes us unique among living things. The other is an open space, organic, vibrant, and expanding—speaking to our instincts still on a deeply unconscious level. To make a property work, we must move it beyond this duality into a third realm of aesthetic personal experience. Otherwise, it will remain trapped between the polarities of the bourgeois and the mundane, offering more of the same as every other property with only minor differentiation.

Real living is feeling. It is a truth beyond words and definition—something we must sense without the need to explain what we are experiencing. Nothing creates more feeling in the heart than light. It is both a universal phenomenon and a personal one. Its rich import ranges from the spiritual to the material, and from the sublime to the beautiful. Landscape lighting is the one key element that makes every other design element become visible in more than one sense of the term. Not only does the form of a thing become clear, but the very essence of a thing emerges when it is properly illuminated at night.

This is not to say that landscape lighting design is abstract or mystical. Rather, it is a science used to reveal the feeling within the forms of things. Water, for example, is another universal symbol that conveys a multiplicity of emotional meanings to the human soul. Lighting a water feature on the landscape such as a pond, a fountain, or a swimming pool immediately draws the eye of any viewer directly to an image that emerges out of the darkness and elevates the entire property into a convergence of powerful, unspoken meaning. This feeling of elevation can then be expanded throughout the landscape by lighting outdoor structures, gardens, and hardscape design. Stone patios can be emphasized as gathering places. Arbors become intimate retreats under the overhanging branches of illuminated trees. Statuary appears regal and timeless in a curious blend of light and shadow. Gardens become pathways with an invitation of warmth.

All of this is made possible by remembering one simple fact: landscapes are three dimensional realms consisting of many layers of color, form, and texture carefully interwoven together. Lighting design must follow this progression by likewise layering multiple levels and degrees of illumination over specific design elements that define the architectural, organic, and decorative specifics of the residence. Amateur designers and do-it-yourself manuals often mislead people into believing this myth that too many fixtures will create too much light. They recommend using brighter lights in fewer numbers so the light will evenly spread throughout the yard. This would be analogous to using a single lamp without a lampshade to light an entire room. The glare would blind your eyes, even from an indirect angle. This is never done inside a home, and it should never be done outside a home, either.

Professional landscape lighting treats each element of design as a realm of experience that must be approached from its own unique perspective. Many different types of fixtures are needed to address all the many different sizes, shapes, and colors that are found throughout the property. These fixtures must all be placed in different locations and precisely aimed to do proper justice to their respective subject matter. Ultimately as well, the intention of both landscape architectural services and outdoor lighting design should be to unify architecture with Nature and bring indoor and outdoor living space together into an entirely new world of light.

Maintenance Program

A maintenance program is the very best way to protect your landscaping investment. They is meant to be a cost-effective means of getting all the all necessary services you need consolidated at a fixed price point. A maintenance program will also save you money in the long run on replacement costs by preventing the loss of expensive gardens, trees, and hedge plantings. Even your yard will benefit from such a service agreement that has been customized to the specifics of your lawn and landscape by the very same professionals who designed it.

A maintenance program begins with lawn services.
Your lawn needs a lot more care than you may think. It must be trimmed every week during summer and every two weeks during winter. It also has to be aerated frequently so that clay-like soil of our area does not clump too heavily around grass roots and choke off water and nutrients. Fertilizer needs to be added four times per year.

Irrigation and drainage is another vital line item that should be on every maintenance program.
Whatever you do, do not wait until the drainage system floods due to neglect and clogging from debris. Water drainage is a very complicated science on the type of flat terrain that we have here in Houston, and only a landscape professionals can build one correctly and maintain it proactively. Drains must be cleaned throughout the year to remain free of debris. Irrigation pipes should also checked periodically during months when there is little or no rainfall in order to make sure the water is running the way it needs to be. One clogged drain on the day before a storm can result in a flooded landscape on the day after the storm. Be proactive, not reactive.

Pruning of trees, shrubs, and hedges are recommended components of a maintenance program.
Pruning keeps trees and shrubs healthy and makes them look superb. Smaller shrubs, trees, and bushes that often need the most attention and care. Many smaller species are very hardy plants that are always sprouting new leaves and branches. Pruning them helps maintain their shape and neat appearance.

Ground cover and flower beds should get weekly attention. These things too can be covered under your maintenance program. It is important to have your landscape design company perform these services because lawn companies seldom know how to properly weed ornate flower beds or properly trim vines and exotic ground cover species.

Deep root tree fertilization needs be done on any property that has very large trees with extensive root systems.
Big trees have enormous root systems underground. A maintenance program needs to include annual deep tree root fertilization services that will ensure the health, vitality, and longevity of the tree.

Outdoor swimming pool design

Outdoor swimming pool design is a very exciting aspect of landscape architecture. When guests visit, they invariably want to go to the pool. Regardless of whether or not they plan to swim, tan, or gather around the patio for conversation, it is essential to get the pool installed correctly. As an almost immediate extension of the human living experience, swimming pool design must, above everything else, respect home. Its size must be proportional to the house, and its surrounding patio must likewise compliment the surrounding yard. In order to get so many things right, it is best to have professional landscape architects conceptualize, initiate, and develop outdoor swimming pool design from start to finish.

This is because the professional landscape architect has higher criteria for outdoor swimming pool design than the ones pool companies typically specify. There are a number of details that can only be addressed by a landscaping company that visualizes the entire property as a unified whole. Considerations such as the elevation of the water and the depth of each can only be made accurately estimated by the professionals who sculpt the terrain itself. Pool contractors have not been trained in landscaping will often lower these specifications to save clients money on outdoor swimming pool design. This does not pay off in the long run. While costs are saved in the short term, aesthetics are compromised in the long term.

Landscape architects would rather people they ultimately want rather than take financial shortcuts that will ultimately lead to a dissatisfied homeowner. We work with many people with a sense of outdoor luxury, for example, who want to have their swimming pool designed with more than one water feature. Such things as water jets, fountains, artificial waterfalls, and even heated spas can all be incorporated into the design specifications of a swimming pool. This actually saves the client money because installing all these water features as separate elements requires additional materials and contract labor than it does to incorporate them into the pool.

When a professional landscape design services firm oversees and manages outdoor swimming pool design, everybody wins that the end of the day. The landscaper will draw up detailed plans for the pool and show the homeowner exactly how it will function in the new landscape. The pool company will then apply its expertise to building a structure that functions reliably and safely without mishap or mechanical failure. When the finished product is complete, the new custom swimming pool, lit brilliantly with underwater lighting, will look superb in relation to trees, gardens, statuary, arbors, and outdoor rooms.

Pool Water Fountains

For those of you who are thinking about building a custom swimming pool in your landscaping design, we have a suggestion for you: also consider the addition of a pool water fountain. Over the past few years, a trend has emerged within home and landscape design in which home base is being outfitted to become a retreat and sanctuary from an over-busy, over-full outside world. A pool water fountain is a landscape feature that perfectly fulfills that role. We have seen pool water fountains turn an average swimming pool into something memorable, a true work of art complete with movement, sound, shape and color.

Pool water fountains are fountains that are in or connected to a larger body of water. We get a great deal of pleasure from custom-designing these vehicles of enchanting, vibrant form into our customers’ landscape design. One of our favorite designs is a fountain wall, anywhere from 2-feet to 8-feet tall, with water falling out of a weir, or opening, made of brick, stone or stainless steel. These wall fountains create impressive backdrops for sculpture and planters. Other highly-regarded designs we have installed include rock waterfalls, sprays of shooting water coming out of the pool coping, and decorative vessels—classical shapes such as Grecian urns or playful ones shaped like fish—mounted on the pool deck.

These pool fountains not only add a special aesthetic to a pool; we have seen them provide very practical benefits, as well. If you have children, this fountain type eliminates the need to cordon off another body of water. They eliminate redundancies such as drain lines and chemical treatments for two separate water elements. They also cut down on the common problem with stand-alone water fountains called over-spray. That is, water spraying out of the fountain onto your patio pavers, wooden deck, or concrete patio and creating a slippery surface. With pool water fountains, the water splashes harmlessly into the larger body of water.

For years, Exterior Worlds has been producing luxurious and highly personalized signature designs. This experience allows us to bring to the table a focus on the scale and design that is appropriate for your home and landscape. Additionally, we have the expertise to do the job right from the very beginning. We discuss with our clients the unseen features of professional landscaping, such as using the right valves so that you can adjust the water flow to your liking or installing custom stone work to hide unsightly hardware. We perform this careful pre-planning so that you don’t end up with a conspicuous problem in the end result.

Our staff begins the design process by listening closely to your preferences, needs and desires. We help you focus on questions such as—do you prefer natural forms like waterfalls or the sparseness of contemporary designs? What type of landscape lighting will bring you the most pleasure, work with the water features and other garden structures? From there, we carefully consider your home’s architecture, the topography of your lot and any existing hardscapes—as we do with all our landscaping architecture projects.

Fire and Water Fountains

If you were to rate the many garden structures and hardscapes used by landscape architects along a horizontal scale, fire and water fountains would be situated on the far right—where the big wow-factors live. Fire and water fountains place two opposing forces together to make striking artistic statements in a landscape design. This type of fountain is especially compatible in modern landscape designs. The water portion can even be designed as a contemporary water fountain. The fire merely gives it that much more appeal.

Fire and water fountains make memorable garden designs in homes where entertainment is a recurring activity. Guests definitely remember the party that had such flair—and flare. They also have commercial applications, especially for restaurants, clubs and other entities that conduct business at night.

Exterior Worlds has designed and installed this fountain type for many clients in and around the Houston area. A sampling from our portfolio: we designed a fountain for a client where we built a fire and water model as part of a pool water fountain. A smaller urn that holds the fire element sits in the middle of a classically shaped fountain. This pool water fountain was placed to the side of a custom swimming pool and the fountain water merges into it. For another client, we created a stand-alone fountain that was carved from a large travertine block. The gas and water lines run up through the urn. As the vessel fills with water, the water spills over the edges of the urn, creating pleasing movement and sound. A gas ring is mounted right above the water line and, when lit, the fire appears to be sitting on top of the water.

In addition to outdoor water fountains, we produce highly personalized signature designs for all your landscaping needs. We provide our clients with a focus on scale and style that is imperative when designing something as remarkable and complicated as a fire and water fountain.

At Exterior Worlds, we have the skill and expertise to do the job right from the very beginning, something we’ve proven since 1987. In all our professional landscaping projects, we perform careful pre-planning so that you don’t end up with any disappointing problems in the final product. We stay committed to our founding principles of providing our clients with the best possible service, selection, quality and value. Our goal is to create for you unforgettable luxury without any sacrifice to style or convenience.

In nearly every civilization since time began, humans have been fascinated by the interplay between fire and water. Many elaborate myths from different societies use these two primal elements as major characters. Modern humans have not changed all that much. Fire still enchants. Water still fascinates. With fire and water fountains, our goal is to make a water element that is pure attraction. These fountains are particularly stunning at night and so we pay careful attention to the appropriate landscape lighting. Further, we will be with you every step of the way—from conception to completion.

Garden Waterfall Design

Garden waterfall design continues to grow in popularity throughout the Houston Area. Many residents have become tired of traditional swimming pool and fountain design. The garden waterfall is a very ornamental landscape feature than can add a significant aesthetic to any back yard. Waterfalls are very important to the Japanese Garden design, natural pool design, and certain custom fountains as well.

The visible elements of garden waterfall design are the same as those found in Nature. You will see boulders in high places at the top of the falls, and rocks scattered along the edges of both sides of the stream. Many of these boulders are actually planters with vegetation planted inside them. This more closely resembles the manner in which vegetation grows in and around rock formations in the wild, and it completely conceals the true nature of the planter in a form that you would typically associate with wilderness areas.

The unseen elements of garden waterfall design are a bit different, however. In Nature, rivers and stream cut through rock and dirt to form deep channels. When these channels reach a cliff or steep slope, the water plummets in either a vertical or near-vertical fall to a lower elevation. It is simply not cost effective to build a garden waterfall using a rock basin. Instead, concrete is used to form the basin just like it is in swimming pool design. Concrete is not only cost effective, but is more resistant to shifting Houston soils and is by nature waterproof. Once the concrete dries, we then place rocks over the concrete to hide it, making the stream channel appear natural.

Slope is the hardest thing to recreate in garden waterfall design. In Nature, waterfalls occur in mountainous regions. It is not easy to recreate this in Houston, however. Our land is very flat in most places. The only exceptions are properties along bayous where dry gullies and ravines have been cut out of the ground by seasonal rains. These can be sometimes be shaped into garden waterfalls that run into natural swimming pools, but the slope has to be just right and look consistent with the rest of the property.

There are clients who are willing to pay the money to create hills and slopes in order to have a waterfall garden that looks truly authentic. In order to create these forms, we have to do more than simply add artificial hills and cuts into deep pools. We actually have to elevate an entire portion of the yard in order to make the slope look natural, and to make the sudden drop-off into the basin realistic. Attempting to bring the scale down to fit a smaller area, or attempting to create smaller slopes and hills on a limited budge, will generate poor results.

Contemporary water fountains

Contemporary water fountains have a look and feel that is au courant and timeless, innovative and stylish. In general, contemporary design means spare and simple geometries arranged in a pleasing, functional way. This design style uses dramatic shapes to create a point of view that is both natural and fluid. We believe these descriptors apply to contemporary water fountains, too.

With contemporary water fountain and garden design, the focus tends to be on scale in contrast to the axial relationships commonly found in formal landscape designs. In a modern landscape design, the designer’s hand is typically very evident. Perhaps you will notice that the boundaries between areas of color, textures and shapes are undefined. Conversely, you may find the opposite true with sharply drawn lines. Composition and color ignite an emotional response. It is that juxtaposition—linear and non-linear, hard and soft, energetic and restrained—that is the essence of modern landscape design.

Exterior Worlds specializes in creating one-of-a-kind fountain designs that will not only enhance your property’s value, but will also provide you, the homeowner, with the 24 hour pleasure of moving, soothing, beautifully-lit water. With our contemporary water fountain designs, we want to point out that modern design techniques do not have to imply a high-tech look. For instance, you can make use of horizontal and vertical planes to create a modern sculpture effect and then let your other landscaping choices, like materials, color and plantings, provide a warm, welcoming feel.

We also encourage our clients to remember that, more than with any other type of fountain design, it is imperative that the modern style blends and complements the architecture of the home and existing landscape. Otherwise, the imagery is too jarring.

Concrete, steel, metals and glass are good material choices within the modern landscape design. In some of our designs, we have left the materials, such as stone, metal, plastics, steel and glass, in a raw or exposed state. The resulting beauty is a metaphor of nature and humans working together to create something artful—for instance, the way steel rusts to a warm, burnt patina.

In particular, concrete has won top honors in the contemporary garden design lexicon, primarily due to its hardiness and malleability. Its cool, gray color fits perfectly into the sparse detailing found in this style. If you use concrete in your contemporary water fountain design, you can extend that material theme by using concrete in a simple garden structure or as the flooring of your patio design.

As with all outdoor water fountains, lighting can be used to heighten a fountain’s extant loveliness and liveliness. We actually think lighting is critical for the full enjoyment of your investment in a water fountain, just as proper landscape lighting brings your entire landscape architecture to full fruition.

Exterior Worlds delivers landscape solutions that are tailored especially to meet your needs and desires. Further, we pride ourselves on our commitment to the customer and to excellence. Therefore, all of our designs are custom-made—nothing is pre-fabricated. Our goal is to create a special atmosphere in your landscape design, one that is design conscious, polished and impeccable.

Modern Outdoor Lighting

The purpose of modern outdoor lighting is to place an emphasis on architecture in such a manner as to create a sense of living outdoors. Modern outdoor lighting is effect oriented, not function oriented. It is as if the feeling of being inside has been removed from the home interior and placed around structures and gathering spots around the yard to create an outdoor living experience. Selective illumination is then placed around trees and gardens to differentiate the organic nature of outdoor space from the more sterile and cerebral elements of the interior. This has to be done very selectively, however, so as not to undermine the modernesque feelings we are trying to create.

Showcasing the architecture of the home itself is top priority in a modern outdoor lighting design. The house is obviously the first thing people see when they enter the property. No matter what is done on the landscape that surrounds it, the house defines the experience of being on that property by virtue of its size and function. It is the largest and most dominant feature on the landscape, and it is represents the most personal and private elements of human life. Each house has certain features that distinguish it from neighboring residences. These features tend to give the house a life of its own, and they tend to attract homeowners who feel these designs reflect their own personalities and lifestyles.

The modern outdoor lighting expert understands the importance of home architecture and knows how to find these structural keynotes that work as the basic points of definition for the entire structure’s design. These elements must be illuminated at night to maintain the position of defining prominence that they hold during the day. In order to do this properly, landscape architects must walk 360 degrees around the house, noting these features from a number of vantage points to find the highest points of power to illuminate. When the survey is complete, they document their findings in the landscaping plan, and then contract a professional lighting firm to handle the installation.

The equipment installed in modern outdoor lighting should ideally be manufactured in the United States and warranted for at least 3-5 years against equipment failure. It should be manufactured at specification grade—a level of quality that far surpasses retail home lighting fixtures. These fixtures can be installed by the outdoor lighting designer in one of two ways. They can be placed in relatively concealed locations to create patterns of apparently sourceless illumination over rooftops, balconies, and chimneys. Or, they can be installed as decorative elements in their own right that are mounted in clearly visible locations. In either instance, the angle at which the light is directed at the rooftop, balcony, window, or chimney is the critical issue here. Without proper angle of incidence, there will be glare that can spill over into neighboring properties, or there could be shadows that could hide your home in the night.

Once the home is lit, a circle of light expands outward into the landscape. Public gathering places like pools and patios are always given special attention in modern outdoor lighting. With the right lighting design, a pool will become a mirror to the home, and its patio will become a new form of living room, punctuated by anything from decorative lamp posts that stand like sentinels around its perimeter to pool of artificial moonlight cast by mercury vapor lights around the bottoms of nearby trees. Ornamental landscape features like statuary and fountains are also given special treatment in modern outdoor lighting. Because they are artistic creations, they contribute a powerful sense of a truly human living experience that is definitively lived outside.

At the same time, the landscape designer has to balance the modern sensibility with a lighting design that pays homage to the natural world that surrounds these islands of comfort. Many times, bamboo, Japanese yew, and larger boxwoods can be planted near a garden patio, outdoor fireplace, fire pit, or Zen garden patio. Modern outdoor lighting experts can turn scenes into outdoor living rooms that further bring the indoors to the outdoors, the comforts of the home to the diversity and freedom of the yard.