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Posts Tagged ‘minneapolis landscaper’

Swimming Pools and Spas Require A High Degree of Privacy And Safety

Wednesday, October 10th, 2012

Pools and spas are a good way to add more enjoyment to your property, but these areas demand privacy as well as safety features. Fences are a good bet for providing both, and are a requirement in many local ordinances. Container plants and vines are often used to brighten corners of the angular fence enclosures and softening the lines. Screens and fences allow air circulation. They can be built so they are baffled or louvered to allow or stop air currents from going through. This feature can lengthen the amount of time a pool can be used.

Whether it’s a hot tub, spa, or swimming pool, a water feature has a high demand for privacy. It’s nice to be able to relax and enjoy yourself without feeling that you’re on public display. However, along with a pool or any kind of water spot comes some special problems or constraints when it comes to landscaping them.

If you are going to have a pool, spa, or hot tub, it is a necessity to plant some “neat” trees and shrubs that won’t contribute debris to the water, because it’s not always practical to cover them when they aren’t in use. You also want to stay away from fruit or berry-producing trees around your tub or pools because they can make pool decks slippery as well as produce stains. Our landscape designers and architects can help you decide what are the right plantings that will enhance safety and privacy without creating clean-up problems. We can also review the local ordinances and keep you safe. Plus, we are able to design the pool, hot tub, or spa and surrounding areas. Particular care must be taken when choosing plantings next to a water source as the constant evaporation of water raises the moisture content of the surrounding air, and not all species thrive in a moist environment.

Let us help you keep your swimming, hot tub, or spa areas clean, neat, and safe by letting us design the pools, and creating the safety fences and plantings with you. Call us on 952-292-7717 today!

Tags: landscape design, landscape designer, Minneapolis Garden Design, minneapolis landscaper, Minneapolis pools and spas, Minnesota Water Landscapes, Outdoor Living Space Minneapolis, St Paul Landscaping Company
Posted in All, Landscape Design Minnesota, Minneapolis Landscaping, Outdoor Living Spaces, Pools and Spas | No Comments »

Turn A Drab Winter Landscape Into Something To Look At When You’re Shoveling

Thursday, September 27th, 2012

Now is a great time to consider making some changes to your landscaping which will provide beauty and interest this winter. What makes a popular plant for the winter landscape that is sometimes nothing more than a blanket of white? You can generate some winning combinations if you combine plantings and hardscapes. An alternative to concrete such as pavers and natural stone walkways can add interest against the winter white and remind you of the promise of spring. They should be considered for their year-round beauty.

Evergreen shrubs and conifer trees always add visual interest with the difference in their leaf structure. Rhododendrons (aside from their leaves turning green to red in the fall) remain on, giving a delicate leaf to view in the winter. Red color can be added with the bark of the red twig dogwoods, and the shaggy bark of birches adds to the view out a window. A winning plant or tree for a charming winter landscape must be a plant that has one or more of the following characteristics:

- Contains colorful berries that birds like so you get berries and birds in the mix

- Catches snow on its branches and even ice when it freezes

- Has bark that has interesting structure or bark color to look at when there aren’t any leaves

- Bears evergreen foliage

- Has an interesting branch pattern

- Has a delicate structure

- Has enough height so it doesn’t get dwarfed or buried by the snow

There is also something incredibly beautiful about the moon shining on snow in the winter. You can create this winter interest in your garden by introducing low-voltage lighting that showcases your plantings in different ways using focal lights, up lights, path lights, etc.

As outdoor lighting contractors, landscape designers, and landscape architects we can enhance what you see when you look out your windows this winter. Our MN landscape design company would be happy to sit and talk about your ideas for creating beauty that can turn winter in your yard like a painting you view. Call us at 952-292-7717.

Tags: birches, conifer trees, evergreen shrubs, landscape design, landscape designers, Minneapolis Garden Design, minneapolis landscaper, minnesota landscaper, outdoor lighting contractor, Outdoor Lighting Contractor Minneapolis, red twig dogwoods, St Paul Landscaping Company, winter landscape
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Well-Designed Decks Transform Slopes to the Water

Thursday, September 6th, 2012

Does your home sit on a hill with a slope to the water? Lake homes or cabins by design are usually built on higher ground due to the water table. A house built on higher ground by a river, lake, or stream is less likely to have water problems. What comes with that terrain typically are some access and use issues for the land that slopes down to the body of water. This usually can mean slopes, hills, or even cliffs.

Getting the benefits of the water views becomes harder when the only access that’s flat is sometimes next to the house.A well-designed deck can transform slopes into level spaces that can be one or a series of outdoor living rooms. You can have decks for lounging, entertaining, swimming pools, barbecuing, and any other kind of outdoor living.

Our landscape designers can create decks that are either single-level structures that hover above the landscape, or multi-levels ones that descend into it. Here are some great decking opportunities to consider:

- A freestanding deck partway down the slope for the best views, enjoying the shade of a great maple tree.

- A floating deck that is off the ground – it seems to be nestled among trees and shrubbery .

- A viewing deck that has built in seating all around that offers a lot of scenery.

- Several levels of decks that wrap around the house, providing a variety of views.

- A multi-tiered deck system that steps down a cliff following the natural outline of the slope, with multiple decks.

- A multi-level deck that transforms a severely sloping hillside into a spacious outdoor living room.

- A stand-alone deck featuring an arbor at the end of a path, covered by climbing roses or clematis.

There are many uses for decks on waterfronts. Decks can serve as a substitution for stairs or a combination of stairs and landings that can make a steep descent to the water much more interesting. Give us a call to help you with your decking needs on 952-292-7717.

Tags: backyard garden minnesota, deck system, decks, floating deck, landscape design, landscape designer, landscape designers, landscaping contractors minneapolis, minneapolis landscaper, Minnesota Water Landscapes, Outdoor Living Space Minneapolis, slopes, St Paul Landscaping Company, swimming pools
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Informal and Formal Brick Steps and Paths for Minneapolis Landscaping

Monday, August 27th, 2012

Brick steps or pathways are always beautiful, whatever the weather or season. When it rains they are dark red, and when it’s dry they can be as pale as pink roses. Brick also ages beautifully, and it can be laid in so many different ways. Brick in the Midwest can provide warmth during the winter, fall, spring, and summer. Brick is often an earthy red color; this brick gives the feeling of warming up the steps or pathways even during the winter months.

Our landscape designers and landscape architects can walk you through the use of brick and the different impact a brick can have, depending on how it’s laid. Brick paths in tight herringbone or basket weave patterns bordered with bricks are traditional and elegant.

Red brick is also a wonderful garden accent for drawing attention to a focal point when it’s installed in a circular pattern around a birdbath, reflection pond, or water fountain. You can also mix it up and make it more informal. A patchwork of brick and stone or brick and tile is very interesting. You leave spaces of about an inch between the bricks so that moss can grow. You can also plant creeping thyme or some other fragrant plant that will provide a little unexpected pleasant aroma when stepped on. (Caution: Moss and other plants can be slippery, so don’t use this application on steps.)

The look you are trying to achieve will direct the method of laying brick. If you are looking for a worn and used-looking path, you can lay a brick walkway right on the soil without a foundation. It will start to shift and tilt, especially with winter freezing. If you are looking for a clean, flat surface without a brick out of place, then using a bricklayer is going to be your best bet.

If you’d like to add some brickwork to your yard, call our Minneapolis area landscape designers today at 952-292-7717.

Tags: brick walkways, landscape architects, landscape designers, minneapolis landscaper
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Solve the Landscaping Puzzles: Rise Above the Ordinary with Raised Planting Beds

Monday, August 27th, 2012

Landscape design often involves finding just the right solution for troubling areas. A creative architectural landscape designer can help you address problems such as:

Design puzzle: Your front yard is on an incline.

Neighbor puzzle: You share a driveway, but you want to delineate the space.

Traffic puzzle: You want garden planting but also want patio seating in a too-small space.

Growing puzzle: You want to plant vegetables, but you also want flowers in the same space.

The solution to all these design puzzles? Building raised beds. Raised beds are not just dirt-filled wooden squares or rectangles that look like you’ve just put down old railroad ties. Today, raised beds are a landscape design element that offers solutions to many of the puzzles homeowners deal with in planning their landscape and garden designs. Our landscape designers can plan and build custom raised beds out of wood, stone, brick, and other natural stones, making them a beautiful design element in your landscape.

A raised bed can solve the problem of the slight incline in the front yard by providing a transition that is graceful from one level to another. Putting a series of raised planting beds down the middle of a shared driveway space can create an exciting and beautiful visual display of vegetables and flowers. It can also meet building code requirements while at the same time positioning your plantings to get the right amount of air and sun. Vegetable gardeners know that raised beds often produce early bumper crops as they allow for a longer growing season due to the soil staying warmer longer.

You can also expand your raised bed configuration to have a patio, a deck, and garden space – no need to choose just one element. You can build your raised bed with a space for flowers and vegetables and create seating at the transition between one raised bed to another. This is great for entertaining and provides a comfortable place for the gardener in the house to rest from weeding.

Do you have a puzzling landscape problem? We can plan and build custom raised beds that just might solve it. Call Architectural Landscape Design – serving Mpls and St. Paul. 952-292-7717.

Tags: backyard garden minnesota, Minneapolis Garden Design, minneapolis landscaper, raised planting beds
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Creating Mystery, Anticipation and Depth in Just Twenty Feet

Wednesday, July 25th, 2012

How can you create a sense of mystery and anticipation and make your garden have depth? The Japanese have done this for centuries. They developed a technique to conceal parts on a garden from the initial view; than gradually to reveal them.

In just a twenty-foot space lush foliage and planted containers in a layered planting fronted by airy foliage can make a mystery retreat in an area. Couple that with swirls of bricks in a patio, stone paths, or retaining walls around a concrete swimming pool and you can heighten the mystery and anticipation.

Another simple way is to screen just part of a view from the house or patio with an arbor to frame a panorama in the distance. Only when you go beyond the shrub screen is the view entirely revealed. This technique is very effective at making it impossible to determine or judge a space at the first glance.

Creating depth by arranging plants in certain ways can add to the allure. Our landscape designers and landscape architects often add depth creating irregular borders as they produce a greater sensation of depth than a linear unadorned fence or uniform hedge. They use the outer edges of the garden and mass together vines, small trees, and shrubs of different shapes.

Double-planting is another landscape tool used by our design team. Planting one row of plants in front of another one makes it appear as the greenery goes back further than it really does. There’s room for double planting in all sizes of gardens.

“Layering” structures for greater depth like attaching a wooden trellis to a tall brick wall, or a concrete wall with planters in front of it, or even a fountain in front of a large retaining wall provides depth.

Whether you’re interested in simply creating a difference between close up or far off objects, or you want a swimming pool surrounded by an area of mystery, we can help you with our Mpls and St. Paul designers. Call us on 952-292-7717.

Tags: backyard garden minnesota, hardscapes, Minneapolis Garden Design, minneapolis landscaper, retaining walls, St Paul Landscaping Company, Stone Walks Minneapolis, swimming pools
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Water Pools and Fountains In Styles That Work For Everyone

Wednesday, July 25th, 2012

Water pools and fountains come in many different styles. Designing the one that will work for you is very much defined by personal style, along with matching it to your landscape. Whether you plan to install a water pond, or a fountain, our garden designers and architects can help you pick the right option for you.

Formal water pool-A formal water pool is often designated by the use of pavers or hardscapes that lead up to the pool. There is typically a flat-stone border that encircles the water line of the pond, and there is a sitting area around it. They can be geometric or classical shapes but typically are round. Other shapes include square, rectangular or polygon shapes. It can be set above the ground or halfway between. Adding a water spray is an option, but it must be centered to maintain the formality. Different spray patterns are available that include: bubblers, bell or tulip shaped sprays, or spitter sprays.

Informal water pool or garden ponds-An informal water pool will usually be much more natural in form, with relaxed curves with a focus on blending into the landscape. Rocks and informal retaining walls can be used with garden plantings to maintain the informal feel. Sprays are also an option, but no rules of placement are required.

Classic Tiered Fountains-These classic multi-tiered fountains add an air of formality and classic design and are a great addition to a formal garden.

Wall fountains-Most wall fountains are just “spitters” that require a pool or basin below them since they are part of or are hung on a wall. They add a formal and classy look to any garden. A wall-of-water fountain is another option where one sheet of water flows down the front of the fountain.

Formal ponds and fountains are a great addition to any garden and as an add on to decks and patios can give a dead space some life. Call us today to explore how a fountain or pond for you, 952-292-7717.

Tags: backyard garden minnesota, fountains, garden design, Minneapolis Garden Design, minneapolis landscaper, Minnesota Water Landscapes, Outdoor Living Space Minneapolis, ponds
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Covered Structures Create Seclusion from Spring to Fall

Wednesday, July 25th, 2012

A garden filled with trees, shrubs, and flowers and a lawn can be quite delightful. Edith Wharton, the noted American author lived most of her life in Europe. She noted that in Italy, “the grounds were as carefully and conveniently planned as the house,” and that “the old Italian garden was meant to be lived in-a use to which, at least in America, the modern garden is seldom put.” There has been a growing trend in America to landscapes that are more similar to the Italian way Ms. Wharton described.

One of the most dependable ways to attain the essential atmosphere of privacy that she was noted is using covered garden structures. They lend the garden a special sense that invites people in. Now any type of roof like structure can be attached to the house to make shade, create privacy, provide shelter from wind and rain during the summer, spring, fall, and winter. A completely closed overhead structure can protect you from rain and snow. An overhead structure that is partially open, say with a lattice work can offer ventilation and a sense of privacy with vines growing over it.

The simplest of overhead structures is the trellis that just extends from the rafters of the house out. It offers a sense of shelter, seclusion and secrecy. If you put vines on it, it will soon be covered. The most popular is an overhead structure that covers the patio deck that is next to the house.

When it comes to the spacing of the rafters it is good to know what the sun exposure is for that space, what the wind or breeze possibilities are, and what kind of privacy is available. Our landscape designers and landscape architects at our MN landscape company are experienced in assessing locations, and creating effective designs for covered structures that will do the best in combining nature, art, and landscape in your yard. Call 952-292-7717.

Tags: backyard garden minnesota, decks, garden design, landscape design, landscape designer, minneapolis landscaper, minnesota landscaper, patios, trellis
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Borders in Gardens Are Both a 3-D Element And An Area For Planting

Tuesday, June 19th, 2012

A garden border provides a defined area for planting and a three-dimensional element for the yard. Some of the critical elements for a garden are lawns, paving, and borders. When you design a border for your yard you are defining something that will make a big impact on your space. As you spend time considering the shape that is will be seen as on the lawn, what type of character (rubber edging, stone retaining walls, etc) and the type of planting it will provide your yard really is being defined.

You have to decide how you want borders to fit in the scheme of things in your garden. Do you want to break up an area in your yard, maybe for a planting bed? Do you want to create the illusion of some more distance between you and your neighbors? Do you want to take a long narrow space and break it up by putting in a set of formal geometrical borders? Or do you want to have an informal edge-strip border that goes around the perimeter of your yard? Our MN landscape designers can show you how different choices of borders could make your yard look completely different.

Here are just six different types of border that you can put in a yard that will accomplish different things. The edge-strip border that uses the boundary fence as a part of it. The geometrical border relates to some sort of formal design. The island border that is set within the lawn. The peninsular border comes out from a boundary fence. The border runs right up against the wall of your house. And the final one is the border that relates to some sort of functional scheme in your yard like it goes around the birdbath or the sundial.

The edgings used for the borders can include landscape edging, brickwork, retaining walls of stone, concrete, etc. Call us today at 952-292-7717 to talk about your borders today.

Tags: backyard garden minnesota, garden design, landscaping contractors minneapolis, minneapolis landscaper, minnesota landscaper, stone walls
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Plan Your Decking Design Now: Decks To Consider For Slopes, Rocks, and Damp Areas

Tuesday, June 19th, 2012

Decking is a great way to float a solution over problem, unusable space in your yard, or even outside drains. It is an immediate solution to a place where installing a patio may not work for a variety of reasons. Creating a new place for sitting in difficult spaces is one of the things that our landscape designers and architects do best. They’ll work with you to answer the questions you may have and design a space that works.

While a deck is a platform made of wood, there are multitudes of interesting options. You can have a singular deck, a series of terrace like decking going up a slope, bridges made from decks over stone riverbeds, decks around trees, decks around trees next to patios, or decking snaking across your yard to create interest. These questions are just a few to consider for getting your decking plans started:

How are you going to use the deck, are you interested in sunbathing or sitting in the shade?

Do you want the kids to play on it, or is it for barbecuing, or both?

Do you want the deck to be isolated, or linked to the house physically?

Are you interested in it being at ground level, or raised up on legs?

Does your deck need to wrap around a corner of your house, or do you want it to come out like a pier?

Are you interested in the lowest maintenance wood or are you looking for a lower cost option?

How does your deck affect the view of your neighbors and their view of you?

Are there overhead power lines to consider that are going to be a problem?

How does the deck integrate with your overall house and landscape plan?

Do you want built in seating on your deck?

Let us help you with your decking designs call Architectural Landscape Design Minneapolis at 952-292-7717.

Tags: backyard garden minnesota, deck materials, decks, landscape design, minneapolis landscaper, outdoor living
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