Glass Garden Walls

If you are looking for a distinctive custom hardscape element to put in your landscape design, consider glass garden walls from Exterior Worlds. These adaptable structures have been gaining in popularity due to their capacity for creating attention-grabbing focal points on your property that will encourage your family and friends to enjoy the outdoors in new and interesting ways.

Our glass garden walls are constructed most often of frosted, sandblasted, clear, customized etched, or architectural, also known as specialty, glass. Because it must withstand the rigors of our climate conditions while still letting in light, your choice of glass material must be approved for outdoor use.

Glass garden walls have several benefits: to act as a windbreak, to create suntraps and, depending on the glass style chosen, to provide privacy without shutting off the dimensions of the exterior space. Today’s glass, available in a range of design options, features different surface textures that distort images, which is useful when privacy is still desired, and cellular structures that control the amount of light transmitted.

Our clients value glass walls for their ability to create rooms within rooms. This facility allows you to define spaces within your luxury landscape design without isolating one area from another. Because of this unique quality, glass as a garden wall can be a useful tool for urban landscaping, which often must contend with unusually-shaped or small spaces.

Because they strike just the right balance between openness, light and privacy, glass walls really benefit another landscaping zone—your custom pool. Architectural glass possesses decorative dimensional elements that surprise and delight with its artistic possibilities, particularly around water features.

In general, glass can have a contemporary feel to it—depending on style and design, of course—therefore, glass is a natural for modern homes and gardens. Walls made of glass are perfect accessories for a modern home garden and are especially effective when paired with a modern water fountain.

If you’ve got a possible landscaping remodeling project in mind, please note that glass walls produce a big wow factor for the money invested. With just the right design, material choice and placement, it could be the singular, spectacular element that you’ve been looking for.

All garden walls must be built using correct engineering techniques. Many governing bodies place restrictions on walls built over a certain height—for instance, regulations may require that plans for walls of two-feet tall or more must be reviewed and approved by an engineer. Exterior Worlds is known for its expertise in this area.

Once we build your glass garden wall, you face several design-conscious decisions.
Your outdoor lighting can be used to play up the glass wall. Down-lighting, up-lighting and back-lighting are placement techniques that seriously up the ante on the dramatic effect of your wall at night.

To further enhance the appeal of the wall you can place interesting varieties of plants behind it. Bamboo, palm trees, river birch and Japanese maple are all good choices that make interesting movement and shadows behind the glass.

Visit www.exteriorworlds.com for all the high-end landscape design and services offered by Exterior Worlds. In Houston, 713-827-2255.

Small Garden Walls

Size does matter, so the saying goes. Yet Exterior Worlds has found that small garden walls can carry a big wallop, so don’t let the use of the word “small” here mislead you.

A classic concept within the landscaping lexicon, the small garden wall—so called due to its short height—lends its strong, clean lines to bring order and structure to a garden landscape. Short walls create zones. They direct traffic from one area to another. They divide a space. We prize the short wall in our landscape design work, particularly in the way they can bring interest to otherwise flat and uninspired terrain.

Some of ways we have used short walls for our clients:

• We have built small garden walls in entertainment areas to provide de facto seating or table space.
• They have been used as lines of demarcation, specifying areas to be highlighted—a custom swimming pool, rose garden or outdoor room.
• When built to enclose flower beds, these walls can protect the plants from wind and other elements.
• They can serve as retaining walls when constructed with proper engineering.
• With a subtle but sophisticated touch, a small wall can delineate a property line to give it clear distinction. A small wall used in this way is particularly apt for a front yard, since it creates a visual barrier rather than an actual one, thus preserving a welcoming look for your home.
• Conversely, we have used a small wall in combination with a wrought iron fence. The results—a finely crafted fence that is built for durability, longevity and beauty. These combination fences convey an open ambiance and elegance while also providing protection.

If you are working within a particular theme for your landscape design—maybe a French garden or a Southern garden—small garden walls can further underscore that choice. With a classic theme like a French garden, all you need to do is visualize the structured gardens of Versailles to understand the impact of short walls. For romantic designs like a Southern garden, a small wall builds on the sense of intimacy and enclosure.

In general, walls are versatile tools for any custom landscaping project done by Exterior Worlds. For instance, living garden walls—in which we sculpt tall plants such as a lantana, cherry laurel (both of which are drought-resistant and have the added benefit of flowering), or reedy bamboo and turn them into green and living walls—add form, interest and texture to your yard. A glass garden wall that uses architectural glass within a sturdy framework provides both definition and privacy. You even get a hint of mystery when the sun shines through it and back-lights the plants on the other side.

Whether small, glass, brick, stone, or living, exterior walls allow you to take advantage of the strength inherent in geometric lines. Your garden will bloom, grow and flourish by putting this concept to work in your landscape design. It is such design consciousness that brings distinction to a landscape, so let Exterior Worlds seamlessly integrate walls into your landscape plan.

Call Exterior Worlds at 713-827-2255 or visit www.exteriorworlds.com for more information on this topic. Providing the greater Houston area with high-end landscaping design and services since 1987.

Small Garden Walls

Size does matter, so the saying goes. Yet Exterior Worlds has found that small garden walls can carry a big wallop, so don’t let the use of the word “small” here mislead you.

A classic concept within the landscaping lexicon, the small garden wall—so called due to its short height—lends its strong, clean lines to bring order and structure to a garden landscape. Short walls create zones. They direct traffic from one area to another. They divide a space. We prize the short wall in our landscape design work, particularly in the way they can bring interest to otherwise flat and uninspired terrain.

Some of ways we have used short walls for our clients:

• We have built small garden walls in entertainment areas to provide de facto seating or table space.
• They have been used as lines of demarcation, specifying areas to be highlighted—a custom swimming pool, rose garden or outdoor room.
• When built to enclose flower beds, these walls can protect the plants from wind and other elements.
• They can serve as retaining walls when constructed with proper engineering.
• With a subtle but sophisticated touch, a small wall can delineate a property line to give it clear distinction. A small wall used in this way is particularly apt for a front yard, since it creates a visual barrier rather than an actual one, thus preserving a welcoming look for your home.
• Conversely, we have used a small wall in combination with a wrought iron fence. The results—a finely crafted fence that is built for durability, longevity and beauty. These combination fences convey an open ambiance and elegance while also providing protection.

If you are working within a particular theme for your landscape design—maybe a French garden or a Southern garden—small garden walls can further underscore that choice. With a classic theme like a French garden, all you need to do is visualize the structured gardens of Versailles to understand the impact of short walls. For romantic designs like a Southern garden, a small wall builds on the sense of intimacy and enclosure.

In general, walls are versatile tools for any custom landscaping project done by Exterior Worlds. For instance, living garden walls—in which we sculpt tall plants such as a lantana, cherry laurel (both of which are drought-resistant and have the added benefit of flowering), or reedy bamboo and turn them into green and living walls—add form, interest and texture to your yard. A glass garden wall that uses architectural glass within a sturdy framework provides both definition and privacy. You even get a hint of mystery when the sun shines through it and back-lights the plants on the other side.

Whether small, glass, brick, stone, or living, exterior walls allow you to take advantage of the strength inherent in geometric lines. Your garden will bloom, grow and flourish by putting this concept to work in your landscape design. It is such design consciousness that brings distinction to a landscape, so let Exterior Worlds seamlessly integrate walls into your landscape plan.

Garden Wall Fountains

You can turn your Houston outdoor patio into a refuge and retreat with the addition of a garden wall water fountain from Exterior Worlds. Water is one of the four cardinal elements and brings us back to nature, brings us back to ourselves. The calming and nurturing sound of water, its ever-changing movement, and the cycle that it represents all combine to put mind, body and soul at rest.

A garden wall fountain is the perfect solution for people who have always wanted a water fountain, but don’t have room for a free-standing one. Since they come in a variety of sizes, you can find the perfect one for the area you have available—a brick garden wall, a small garden wall or even a fence. In any event, wall fountains take up little space, thus providing a lot bang for your landscaping buck.

The garden wall fountains we use are made from many different material types, including slate, stone, cast concrete and metals, such as steel and copper. You will find strengths and special appeal in each choice, but we always remind our clients that durability is a key characteristic to look for in addition to any aesthetic quality.

When planning for a garden wall fountain installation, you will need to have the appropriate plumbing wherever you place your fountain. As experts in this area, Exterior Worlds will ensure that your fountain has access to incoming water as well as proper drainage.

As another consideration, you will want to envision the wall fountain in both daylight and nighttime conditions, including the landscape lighting you plan to use, to increase your overall pleasure in the fountain. Once again, we would be happy to help with this aspect of the project.

Garden wall fountains can further be used to augment your existing garden theme. A modern courtyard design could come alive with a dramatic contemporary garden fountain, as one example. The proper garden wall water fountain situated in your patio, outdoor room or outdoor lounge design can recall the Old World cultures of Europe; for example, a wall water fountain made from cast stone recalls the traditional Mediterranean wall fountains commonly found in Greece, Italy, Spain, and France. Or you can find a fountain in the style reminiscent of Asia, Mexico or Native America—dependent on the design of your home and gardens, of course.

Visually attractive and soothing water features, wall fountains make any space more interesting, beautiful and restful. A wall fountain designed and installed by Exterior Worlds can make your luxury backyard an extension of your exquisite interior world by serving both as a centerpiece of your landscape design and as a secondary accessory within the overall outdoor design. The sight and sound they create can provide a lovely accoutrement to a luxury spa, become a focal point during a morning meditation, or create as a pleasant backdrop to conversations during times of formal entertainment. For all occasions, wall fountains are works of art that enhance your garden by turning it into a tranquil and enchanted space.

Garden Walls

Straight or curvilinear, square, rectangular or circled, walls are vibrant additions to the design of your landscape. At Exterior Worlds, we have built them for needed privacy, as the backdrop for raised flowerbeds or rock landscaping, to demark property lines, for a visual divide between your turf and the garden beds or between your patio and lawn, to guide guests through your gardens, or to terrace the contours of your property.

A type of landscape architecture, walls are the means to accomplish a beautiful end: as a living garden wall to give your space verdant definition, as a natural and visual transition between your house and the yards, put to work as a sturdy retaining garden wall, perhaps doubling as permanent seating or planter. In other words, use them anywhere you need to define a space with a lovely touch.

Our clients have enjoyed them in additional ways. We have installed outdoor walls to function as the dividers that close off part of a patio to provide a quiet retreat and to encircle an outdoor room. We have created micro-climates with them—building a wall facing north or east followed by planting species of plants that prefer shade. Similarly, we have used the wall as support for vines and climbing roses.

For material choices when building an outdoor wall, you have a wide range of options, including stone, brick, pre-formed masonry blocks, wood, stucco and frosted glass, each with its own look. For example, a brick garden wall lends a formal touch to your landscape in comparison to wood. Because the wall should unify your landscape with the architecture of your property’s structures, we encourage our clients to carefully consider the relationship of the wall to their home and the style of both.

Because exterior walls come in all heights, they are perfect tools within your landscape’s “language” for creating physical or mental private areas and barriers. Exterior Worlds is known for our expertise in navigating through the approval process that most municipalities have in place for walls built over a certain height. For instance, some cities may require that an engineer approve plans for any wall built two feet or taller.

We have found that an exterior wall fits into any garden theme or design. You will find walls work well in a Zen garden or modern garden décor, while the romantic ones, such as English gardens and Southern gardens, practically demand one.

Walls in gardens complement other features within your landscape design—for example, paired with a luxury spa, thus providing additional seclusion and a sense of enclosure. They are also suitable for garden wall fountains which you can find in a range of shapes, styles and configurations.

Outdoor walls are delightful, charming and useful architectural elements in your yard’s design. But please keep in mind that building such a structure is a craft, in its planning, placement and construction. At Exterior Worlds, we pride ourselves in the highest level of professionalism and workmanship, which will only increase your pleasure in your outdoor wall—now, and for all the years to come.