With the landscape season winding down now would be a good time start thinking about the spring time. You can begin by having a design in mind. You can have a rough idea and have your landscaping professional help you finalize it or hire a landscape architect to design your ideas. Either way, get ahead of the game by planning now.
Once you have a design and plan set, you might consider having a pro do all of the beds and hardscape layout and prepare work such as turning beds, add mix soil etc. With our mild winters in Houston, you can usually go ahead and complete your project, with the only draw back being the chance we have an unexpected severe freeze, which is fairly rare for us. But on the economy side of things you can consider pricing now and saving up for the spring, which will allow you to have all the spring color varieties available right away. This leads us up to the next phase, hardscape.
Hardscape can be a little part of your project or it can be the majority of your project. Todays trends seem to be leaning towards more than less. Another words, with total outdoor living environments being on the rise with more patio, arbors, etc, and less planting, hence less maintenance. You can do some incredible backyard projects these days, with magazines, or self help clinics at your local supply house. A fairly hands on person can do a lot on their own. But if your like most of us now with daily life so busy and hectic, you have to measure your time and back, and see that if it may be more feasible to contract your project out.
Some of the most popular outdoor trends these days are stone patios and or paver patios. One combination that seems to becoming more popular is combining natural stone and manufactured stones such as veneers or pavers. Together you can have some very unique beds and or walkways or patios. One example would be to use wall block such as celtike and for in your beds by using these as a border or doing multi level to form a terrace look. Then perhaps use a flagstone path either on a granite base or on a permanent concrete base with mortared joints. Or you could do a paver walkway or patio and your walls in natural stone or a veneer rock finish. There are many combinations and colors or styles, with everybody having their own likes or dislikes.
No matter what project you have in mind, winter time is a good time for those of us in the landscaping profession. With work slowing down, now would be the time to get it done without waiting in line in the peak season. Remember, having an outdoor project can be fun and exciting, whether you’re doing it yourself or hiring out. Get involved, give input, ask questions, get it right the first time and enjoy it for years to come. |
