This article was originally published by a www.houzz.com . Read the Original article here. .
After: Galante replaced the concrete with flagstone and added a fire pit and seating. “We went with a natural palette with the stone and the brick,” Galante says. The irregular shape of the patio is in keeping with the rustic look the homeowners desired.
The vine growing up the corner of the house and along the entry overhang was another priority within the design. “This is a hop vine [Humulus lupulus, zones 4 to 8] that the homeowner has been growing for many years. He had trained it across the overhang, and it was important to him that we protect it,” Galante says.
Galante reports that the homeowners love their pots and planters. She filled the built-in brick planters around the patio with ‘EverColor Everest’ Japanese sedge (Carex oshimensis EverColor Everest ’Carfit01’, zones 5 to 9), which adds soft color and texture against the fence. The pot on the right has autumn fern (Dryopteris erythrosora, zones 5 to 8) and creeping jenny (Lysimachia nummularia, zones 3 to 9).
This article was originally published by a www.houzz.com . Read the Original article here. .
Pleached trees. All pros we spoke with recommend pleached trees, which are trained to grow in an almost wall-like form, as seen in this patio.
“Pleached trees are a fantastic solution for screening higher buildings beyond the [yard] by adding extra height above the fence line,” Lindsay says. “They’re often a great solution for your neighbors, too, as they give pleasing green screening and privacy on both sides.”
“They can add a lovely formal feel to a garden,” Tyrrell adds. Hornbeam (Carpinus spp.) is a popular choice, and Lindsay also loves beech (Fagus spp.).
Wilson has a preference for deciduous species. “[With these,] you get seasonal change and variety, and this approach allows light levels through in the winter months while the interwoven framework of the trees will still provide a modicum of privacy,” he says.
This article was originally published by a www.houzz.com . Read the Original article here. .
Time spent outdoors can be good for your health, and you can enhance your outdoor spaces to bring a sense of calmness and relaxation. “Spending time in nature has many physical and mental health benefits. According to the Mayo Clinic, it can be an effective tool for managing stress, even for a few minutes a day,” says Jamie Gold, a Mayo Clinic-certified wellness coach and author of the book Wellness by Design: A Room-by-Room Guide to Optimizing Your Home for Health, Fitness and Happiness.
Integrating ways to promote wellness outdoors can stray into more aspirational projects, such as cold plunges and saunas (and this list will too). However, since not everyone can live like a full-time lifestyle guru, below are plenty of simple and inexpensive other ways your outdoor spaces can help improve your health. Check out these 12 ideas for promoting wellness through the landscape to see which ones are a good fit for your home.
This article was originally published by a www.houzz.com . Read the Original article here. .
As fall settles in, our homes and gardens take on a new character — inviting us to enjoy them in fresh ways. A vibrant pot of chrysanthemums can brighten an overlooked part of your porch, while outdoor lighting or a patio heater can make it feel cozy to linger outside on fall evenings. With just a few thoughtful updates, you can extend the beauty and comfort of your outdoor spaces for the season. Read on for simple, high-impact ideas to make the most of your yard.
1. Refresh Container Gardens
Container gardens are an easy way to bring color and seasonal interest to your outdoor spaces. Rework summer containers with fall perennials that are just coming into their own, such as chrysanthemums (Chrysanthemum spp.,USDA zones 5 to 9; find your zone) coneflowers (Echinacea spp., zones 3 to 9), ‘Autumn Joy’ stonecrop (Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’, zones 3 to 8) and ornamental grasses. These hardy selections add color and texture, ensuring containers remain vibrant well into fall.
9 Ways to Refresh Your Summer Container Gardens for Fall
2. Plant a Fruit Tree
For a fall harvest you’ll enjoy for years to come, consider planting an apple, pear, pomegrante or persimmon tree. September and October are the best months to plant fruit trees in mild climates. (Cold-winter climates should wait until late winter or spring.) Soils are still warm, rain is more frequent and trees can settle in over the winter, establishing strong root systems that will fuel growth next spring.
Find a landscape contractor in your area
3. Update Entry Lighting
As the days grow shorter, exterior lighting can transform your home’s entry from dark and shadowy to warm and welcoming. Focus on your front entrance, where the impact is greatest. Lighting options include wall-mounted sconces, pendant lights, recessed fixtures, pathway lighting or a layered combination of several sources. If your current lighting setup is effective, fall is a good time to replace bulbs, clean fixtures and ensure everything shines its brightest.
What to Know About Adding Outdoor Lighting
4. Rethink Outdoor Dining
With a few additions for comfort, your patio or deck can be a welcoming spot for meals and fall gatherings. Layer warm textiles to make seating cozy and inviting, and add soft lighting with string lights or lanterns to create ambiance as dusk falls. Bring in seasonal table settings with gourds, branches and fall colors. If your outdoor table is on an exposed deck or patio, you may want to consider moving it under the covering of a porch or solid-roof shade structure to provide more shelter.
10 Ideas for Styling Your Patio for Outdoor Dining This Fall
5. Heat Your Deck or Patio
The addition of outdoor heaters can help extend your enjoyment of outdoor spaces as temperatures dip. Freestanding propane-fueled outdoor heaters (as pictured here) can provide an area of warmth 10 to 12 feet in diameter. You’ll need one heater for a small table or seating area and two to cover an eight-person table.
See why you should hire a professional who uses Houzz Pro software
6. Layer Cozy Throws and Textiles
If you’re not investing in outdoor heaters this season, bring out blankets and quilts for warmth. Tuck them into a basket near the door or drape them over chairs for family members and guests to enjoy. To further increase coziness in your outdoor seating area, consider adding a textured outdoor rug to define the space and create warmth underfoot.
New to home remodeling? Learn the basics
7. Keep the Fun Going Outdoors
The end of summer doesn’t mean outdoor fun has to come to a halt. Even as temperatures cool, kids of all ages need space to stay active, explore and burn off energy. Encourage them to get outside by including play and sports equipment in the backyard. Install a swing set, rig up a badminton net or soccer goal and establish a new routine for after school.
8. Fill Bare Spots in Garden Beds
Adding a few fall-blooming flowers, ornamental grasses or shrubs with colorful foliage or berries can help add interest for the season. Nurseries should be well stocked this time of year with plenty of seasonal options to choose from.
Don’t have the time for planting? A top dressing of fresh mulch can make garden beds look tidy and insulate bulbs and shallow roots over the winter. Choose a quality bark mulch (avoiding ones with dyes) and spread on garden beds about 2 to 3 inches thick, keeping mulch away from the trunks of trees and large shrubs.
20 Favorite Flowers for the Fall Landscape
Shop for Outdoor Products
Item 1 of 5
This article was originally published by a www.houzz.com . Read the Original article here. .
Perched high atop a mountain in Lansing, North Carolina, this home has spectacular views of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The yard around it, consisting of a steep and rocky slope, immediately drops and experiences other unforgiving conditions, such as harsh sunlight, extreme winds and poor drainage. When the couple who lives here turned to garden designer Jay Sifford for help beautifying the hillside, he embraced the idea of meeting the site’s challenges.
“The biggest challenge was balance. I didn’t want the garden to compete with the mountains. But the garden needed to speak to the mountains and hold its own against them without overpowering them,” Sifford says. The tectonic plates that formed the mountains hundreds of millions of years ago inspired his design, which is composed of stunning mounds of plants, including grasses, shrubs, ground covers, evergreens and perennials.
This article was originally published by a www.houzz.com . Read the Original article here. .
When this family purchased a home in California’s Oakland Hills, there wasn’t much in the steeply sloped backyard to encourage spending time outdoors. But what the yard lacked in usable space, it more than made up for in natural beauty, with sweeping views down a hillside of native oaks and redwoods.
Seeing the site’s potential, the homeowners enlisted Barry Sacher, owner of Rock Paper Scissors Landscape, to craft an outdoor retreat that would both serve their family’s needs and work in harmony with the landscape. “Embracing the existing natural landscape drove the design,” Sacher says. “It was and still is the star of the show.”
This article was originally published by a www.houzz.com . Read the Original article here. .
Is your yard a little too sunny for comfort? The right mix of shade sources not only can cool things down and make your outdoor spaces more inviting, but also can enhance the overall design of your landscape. To help you find the best approach, eight landscape experts share their take on the pros and cons of shade options ranging from quick fixes to long-term investments.
A few themes stand out in their advice: Umbrellas are hard to beat for instant shade and flexibility, pergolas and other structures deliver the most reliable coverage for outdoor living, and planting a shade tree is the best investment for natural shade.
This article was originally published by a www.houzz.com . Read the Original article here. .
These Austin, Texas, homeowners have daughters in elementary and middle schools, and they wanted to create more usable space in their steeply sloped backyard to encourage outdoor play. They also wanted space for entertaining their friends.
José Roberto Corea of Austin Outdoor Design transformed the yard into a series of outdoor rooms featuring a pool, a spa, an outdoor shower, a fire table lounge, a play area, a renovated two-story porch and a pergola-covered dining and grilling area. At the same time, he preserved several existing live oak trees. The result is a cohesive, beautifully terraced modern yard that the whole family and their friends enjoy.
This article was originally published by a www.houzz.com . Read the Original article here. .
At first, these Henrico County, Virginia, homeowners were looking to add a pool that would make their house the place to be for their three kids and their friends. But once landscape designer Greg Koehler of Outdoor Dreams stopped by for a consult, the project expanded.
“They thought they’d be able to work with their existing deck, but we couldn’t in good conscience tell them that it was worth fixing up,” he says. “In order to give them a well-designed deck and some usable lounge space they desired beneath it, we let them know that replacing that deck would be best.” By the time the project was done, they’d also added a fire table area and a putting green for family fun.
This article was originally published by a www.houzz.com . Read the Original article here. .
You can also see one of the ways she gave the small space depth, with the eye going from the black patio door frames to the steel pergola to the black wood posts attached to the shed.
Bejanaru also planted four new trees, placing the two tallest nearer to the house and the two shorter ones at the back. “The plants in front draw the eye upward, then the shorter ones — visually below the other two — draw your eye to the back of the [yard], so you have several focal points,” she says.
The new trees consist of two Tasmanian tree ferns (Dicksonia antarctica, USDA zones 9 to 10; find your zone) — one on the front left and the other at the back right; a tall windmill palm (Trachycarpus fortunei, zones 7 to 11) and a pineapple guava (Acca sellowiana, zones 8 to 10) in front of the shed.
The huge olive tree was already there. “We kept it, of course, because it’s beautiful and I also love the color of the bark, which stands out,” Bejanaru says.
9 Design Tips to Enhance Views of Your Garden From Indoors