Architectural Landscape Design Blog

Borrow Scenery Beyond Your Boundaries: Plan Now To Make Small Yards Appear Larger

A small space doesn’t need to have the feeling of being confined even though obvious boundaries can make a space appear restricted. We can help by building fences, retaining stone walls, and plantings with imagination that do both the job of defining your space or yard and expand it. You can obscure boundaries and give a larger feel by several methods. Simple masses of green in your landscape plan can easily blur the distinction between your garden and the neighboring properties when your carefully crafted plan includes the right trees, shrubs, or vines.

If you have boundaries that are really obvious, like all the lots on your street are the same size or the houses are a variation of the same style, you can obscure the boundaries by implying that more lies beyond. You might want to construct a stone walk or pathway that disappears around the bend by a corner of the garden. The path might actually be ending just out of your line of sight behind the shrubbery, but the feeling that it still seems to lead to some part of the garden won’t immediately be seen.

Borrowing scenery is another way our landscape designers at Architectural Landscape Design can expand the borders of your Minnesota garden visually. We’ll use the attractive structures or plantings of your neighbors next door or the views in the distance, and incorporate it in your landscaping plans. If there is a grove of trees or a rolling hillside, we’ll frame that with plantings so it becomes part of your yard and extends the view. If there is a majestic tree that promises beautiful fall color year after year, we’ll maybe plan to plant smaller trees in front of it so that the entire planting appears to be in your garden.

If you are interested in expanding your boundaries call our Minneapolis landscape design group today on 952-292-7712 today!

Plan for Color in the Garden Now: Color It Warm or Cool!

Your choices of color will determine whether your garden feels warm or cool. Thinking of your small garden as an outdoor living room that needs to be painted is extremely helpful. You can do this exercise anytime whether it’s Minnesota landscaping in winter, spring, fall or summer. The question is, “How do you want the space to feel?” The use of warm or cool colors in a small garden are critical, they can open it up or make it feel confined.

Cool colors—those centered on green, blue, and violet-tend to retreat visually, giving the impression of greater space. While warm colors— those that are clustered around yellow, orange, and red—come towards you, making the space seem smaller.

Choosing colors is something that our landscape designers at Architectural Landscape Design in MN excel in. We choose whatever you like and design it to meet your needs. Because at the end of the day it’s all about what you want and like.

Cool colors are usually the most effective in small gardens-but no need to be limited to them. You may want to use contrasting colors—violet and yellow are good, or any other colors that are directly opposite each other on the color wheel. If you decide to use warm and cool colors together, plan on four to five times as much of the cool color to balance the warm. Why? Because warm colors jump out at you, they demand attention.

Deciding on whether your outside garden room with color will be warm or cool can be a lot of fun, contact our Mpls and St. Paul landscape design group to help you design it. We’ll consider your trees and shrubbery to be the “trim” to your outside room, call us on 952-292-7717.

Garden Unity, Balance, Transition, Proportion: Make Beautiful Landscapes Sing

We all want to be in a garden that is pleasing to look at and be in. How does that happen? No matter what style of landscaping it is all the basic priniciples of garden design.

Unity, balance, transition, proportion, rhythm, views, focal points and order are the basic principles. It almost sounds like you are making music. There are those that say good landscaping and great gardens do sing. Whether they sing or not, they are what makes a garden or a landscape pleasing to the eye.

Landscape Architects have studied these basic principles as part of their design studies at a university and are trained to create landscape design. Landscape Contractors are installation specialists, who work closely with the Landscape Architects and Designers. At MN Architectural Landscape Design we have Garden Designers, Landscape Architects and we are Landscape Contractors.

In designing landscapes and gardens we incorporate these principles in our planning so your landscape looks effortless and flows:

Unity gives a garden it’s consistency, it’s the ease with which means all parts look like they go together.

Balance is achieved through symmetry (features on one side of an axis are mirror images of what is on the other side of the axis) or by asymmetry (features provide balance on each side of an axis, like a path).

Transition can be the changing textures, forms and sizes of leaves and plants along a path, it’s how the viewer’s eye is brought along.

Proportion is how no one element: tree, shrub, pathway, fence, or gazebo seems too large or too small.

Rhythm in the garden is created by the design changing and moving from things such as paving.

Views and Focal Points cause the eye to be directed. A view could be from the house to the garden and a focal point could be a large magnolia or a statute.

Lastly, Order is established through the overall design, as well as through the individual parts like trees and garden structures.

Call us today on 952-292-7717 for a one hour no commitment meeting to review how we can help make your landscape pleasing to you!

Commercial Landscape Lighting in Minneapolis

If you run a business, then you know how challenging it can be to attract your customers’ attention. With so many buildings along a commercial street, making yours stand out is just one of the challenges of getting ahead. One easy way to make your business stand out is to add some outdoor lighting. Simple up-lights added to your building’s exterior will grab anyone’s attention, even if you are not open. There is something about driving by a building that is lit up at night; it makes people remember to stop by the next time they are nearby.

These lights can be hardwired into the buildings existing electric panel, or set up to store solar energy in batteries. Either way, a relatively small initial investment will pay off big in the long run. Even an older building seems to come alive with the proper lighting shining on it.

There was an artist who was not anything special really, he could paint but it was nothing out of the ordinary. At least until he started adding some lights to his frames. He would paint a picture of a house in the woods, but make one window very bright as if someone was inside. This one simple addition to his drab paintings made him a sensation almost overnight. People are drawn to light, so by adding some to your commercial business will only improve your standing in the community.

Spot lights, up-lights, walk way lights, a bright lamp post, there are so many ways accent your place of business it takes an experienced landscaper to help you wade through all the options. Proper landscaping and lighting will define a space and send the message that ‘this place is well taken care of, if you do business here, you will get taken care of, too.’

Make sure you are taking the lead when it comes to presenting your business to the community. Do everyone a favor and light up your life so others will be drawn to you. Call us at Minneapolis’ Architectural Landscape Design to learn more about what we can do for you. 952-292-7717

Minnesota Spas

Building a spa in your backyard was often reserved for those lucky few who managed their retirement well. However, few design builders knew how to put one together correctly, and didn’t always consider the weight of it when full of water. These spas often ended up getting not much use and being little more than an eyesore 2 or 3 years later. With Architectural Landscape Design in Minneapolis, all that has changed. We understand how to get you the spa you have always wanted, build it to last, and remove all the hassle of maintaining it.

Spas are one piece units now that are built directly within the landscape. Most of the higher quality ones will only need a few water treatments now and then to balance the pH, and there are even professional pool companies that will take care of this for you if you don’t want to.

An outdoor spa can add a new room to your existing home, giving a new dimension to your life you never thought possible. Great for retirees, the kids and grandkids will enjoy their downtime in them, too. More people are discovering that having a spa in your back yard is something that can be used all year long, even in the wintertime. If designed and built with this in mind, there are ways to build it so that one can step out of the water and into a protected area so that you will not have to walk too long in the freezing cold. You may even want to build a greenhouse around it, one that will still allow you to open it up in the summer, but still protect you in the winter.

The design build options are countless; this is why you will need the help of a professional landscape architect to help come up with something practical that will work for you and your family. Outdoor spas and kitchens are becoming more and more popular now, and once you have one you will know why. Minnesota is too beautiful to leave outdoors. 952-292-7717

Landscaping in Minnesota With Your Grandkids in Mind

If you are a grandparent, then you know the joys of having your grandkids come by and spend a few days with grandma and grandpa. There are ways to modify your outdoor living space in order to make it more kid friendly, so that you and mom won’t have to worry if little Johnny is safe and sound while playing outside.

While building fences and gates are not always practical or desirable, a tree line will do a lot to help grandkids remember the limits of their imagination. Tree lines are just a row of plantings that act as a visual barrier and provide some measure of protection form people coming in or out.

If you enjoy spending timeout door with your grandkids, then consider designing a new patio that has a build in game. Paving the ground with different colored stones is a fun way to play a form of ‘Twister’, or hop-scotch while still maintaining your aesthetic décor.

Out door kitchens and fireplaces are another great way to make the most of your visits, and with these items, you will be able to enjoy their use whether the kids are there or not.

There is no need to move to a better location when you can design your outdoor spaces to be practical and functional at the same time. These kinds of investments, while fairly substantial, will also raise the value of your home, and give you years of pleasure in between now and the time you decide to sell; if that day ever comes.

Preparing a place for grandkids, as well as your own kids, can provide some of the happiest times in your life, and it doesn’t have to cost a fortune. Using the experience and expertise of professionals like those found at Minneapolis’ Architectural Landscape Design will help give you some ideas about how you can improve your family gatherings and create memories for the next generation. Give us a call to learn more about we help get these things done for you. 952-292-7717

Drying Out a Minnesota Basement

With all the lakes in and around Minneapolis, a wet basement is something that many people just live with; thinking that the only way to dry it out is to move. Not so; there are several tricks that will enable homeowners to capture that space, and give them the security of a dry basement once and for all.

When a home’s foundation is below ground, it can sometimes find itself planted right in the middle of an underground stream, or water table. Whenever it rains, or the ground water starts to rise, this water will work its way into the basement walls, and eventually into the living space. Sump pumps are great to help relieve this pressure, but the real problem with them is that they are rarely dug deep enough.

In order for a sump pump to stop the water from coming in, it needs to grab the water before it rises above the homes foundation. By simply digging it a little deeper, many wet basements can be dried out without re-tarring the outside.

Another solution is to surround the home with plants that will absorb much of this water. Certain species of plant will develop root systems that will find the water, but not uproot your foundation. Meeting with a professional Minneapolis horticulturist, who is familiar with architecture will be able to help you learn more about what is best for you.

As a third line of defense, homeowners can install a vapor barrier in the basement walls. This is a thick piece of plastic that is stapled to the framing, and then covered with drywall. As water comes through the foundation walls, it hits this barrier and runs down into an underground trough in the floor. From here it travels to the sump pump, so it can be pumped back outside. With this method, contractors will have to come in and jackhammer a 1’ wide trough around the perimeter of your basement floor, and then place a little stone and perforated pipe. Once this is done and covered over with cement, it is ready for carpet and good for another 30+ years. Your vapor barrier will be in place and keeping your basement dry like you never thought possible. Just remember to pump the water far enough away from your home so that it doesn’t drain right back inside! 952-292-7717

Creating Winter Interest in Your Landscape

When it comes to planning winter landscapes the focus is to create winter interest outside. A good start is to locate the places in your yard that are mostly sunny and sheltered from the wind. Next take an inventory of your current plants and trees. What do they look like in the winter? Are they doing well in their current locations?

Take a shortcut here and involve Architectural Landscape Design. Our professional design team will create a winter landscape plan with your input that maximizes all four seasons. We can protect your investments and promote the health of your landscape by recommending trees that are hardy in this climate, aren’t crushed by wet snow, and can survive winter wildlife.

We can help promote winter interest throughout your landscape by clustering plantings of evergreens, red twig dogwoods, and rhododendrons to name a few. Also, we may add plants that have decorative red fruit that holds throughout the winter like crabapples. Some perennials that you may want to leave up for winter interest in the garden are grasses, astilbe, blazing stars, coneflowers, liatris, russian sage, and hydrangeas. Our design process starts with what your personal needs and tastes and incorporates your total property in the design.

If one of the things you identified was that you wanted a gazebo we’ll incorporate that with the full master plan for your property. In addition, our winter landscape design will include a focus on plant textures and their interesting forms and foliage. We can also integrate into your landscape plan our custom designed for your home Holiday Lighting. We design, install, disassemble and store your custom designed holiday lighting. In addition, we offer a Winter Seasonal Container Garden. Let us help you tie up your winter landscaping plans today. Minnesota’s Architectural Landscape Design offers professional landscape designs in Lakeville, MN and all of the areas surrounding the metro. Call 952-292-7717 to set up a meeting at your location.

When your Minneapolis backyard pond is ready for spring

Depending on where you live, a Minneapolis backyard pond may not be quite ready to set up just yet, so take a few things into consideration before you decide to start feeding the fish. Snow is still falling, and ponds are still freezing and thawing this time of year, so don’t be fooled and start setting up plants and fish that could easily pass away this early in the year. Spring is still a few months away.

You may start to see some string algae at this time of the year, but this is ok. The pond is still dormant, and the bacterium is not active this early in the year. Nothing is stealing nutrients just yet, and this alga is the only green thing in there, so let it be. Remember, even after you clean the pond some algae may still grow this early in the year, but this is not a problem at this time. Once the temperature reaches a consistent 50 degrees, this is the time to start adding beneficial bacteria and other balancing chemicals to the water.

You may start to see some fish coming to the surface looking for food, but if you really care about them, you will wait until their digestion acclimates to the 50+ degrees. It could cause them some problems if they are fed too early.

Cleaning out the pond, and setting the stones in place is fine to do this early, you may even want to drain it a little and take a closer look at what is going on down there. Just remember that you can’t force nature, and trying to jump start your pond too early is mistake that may cost you later in the year. It never hurts to get the advice of a professional in this area, and you will find them at Minneapolis’ Architectural Landscape Design. We are a fully licensed and insured team of horticulturists that love what we do. Setting up a backyard pond, stream, or waterscape is our specialty. So when you are ready to take action, give us a call at 952-292-7717. We are here to serve you.

Excavating in Minneapolis is More Than Just Clearing the Land

When you are in the building and landscaping business like we are, you learn very quickly that excavating the property and securing the foundation is one of the most important jobs there is. Excavation is way more than just clearing a lot and pushing dirt around until it looks good. Proper excavating will build an underground world that will allow the world above ground to function to your expectation, without any floods, cracks, or failures.

A good excavator will dig trenches and install materials that will allow water to be managed properly, so that all this hard work is not washed away 10-20 years down the road. It will also provide keenly placed conduits that will allow electricity to be placed above ground, even in remote parts of your property. Most importantly, good excavating will render a solid foundation so that your building will not settle and start to come apart way before its time. For this reason alone, it is worth the time and energy it takes to find and use a great excavating company.

When debris and water are on a lot, they need special attention to make sure the final lot is truly ready to build on. These 2 things in particular have very dynamic properties in that water will drain away, and debris will decompose, leaving sink holes on the property that weren’t there before the work began. Only companies that work with the before, during and after stages of development will truly appreciate all hard the work that needs to go into this part of the development. At Architectural Landscape Design, we deal with all the stages involved in producing a perfectly sound structure. One of the advantages is the work you do with us will be all our responsibility, so you can be sure it will be done right; right from the start.

If you would like to learn more, give us a call at. 952-292-7717, we are here for you.