Landscape Designers Turning Yards Into Landscapes
Landscape designers take open space, plants, naturally-occurring elements and hardscapes and arrange them into interesting compositions
. Thus a yard becomes more than a yard. Your Houston landscape becomes something soothing or striking or naturalistic or whatever your intention was in working with a landscape designer in the first place.
Landscape designers will usually start with a frank and open conversation to ascertain your needs, lifestyle, limitations, preferences and wishes. Perhaps landscaping for entertainment is important. Maybe a tropical landscaping or butterfly garden design, both highly compatible with our climate, is deeply wished for. The exploratory discussions are the time for all these concepts to come to the fore.
From these dialogues, landscape designers develop landscape master plans, always incorporating principles based on solid design theory, such as scale and line. Scale is defined as how the size of one object relates to another or to the space in which it is placed. For instance, a large water element on a small patio would be out of scale.
Lines, both real and imaginary, help define a raw space. They also indicate movement and flow from one zone to another. Lines further help with the placement of hardscapes. There are many types of lines and each impacts the space in different ways. You could even say that lines have a style all their own.
As an example, rectilinear lines imply a grid and convey a very formal style. Most often, the space is carefully in balance and symmetrical. Expert landscapers will take care to avoid rigidity and coldness, however. Conversely, curvilinear lines naturally flow and reflect the shapes found in nature. Here, the professional landscaper works to reveal the designer's hand instead creating an ungoverned and wild messiness.
The master plan will also address the infrastructure of the yard, items like drainage. Houston property owners regularly deal with the double-edged problem of flat topography and torrential rains. All that water has to go somewhere and the question is...where? Professional designers can address this critical concern. Likewise with erosion and irrigation issues.
The master plan will also include proposals for hardscapes, the non-plant features in your yard. This category covers items such as wrought iron fencing and driveway gates, patios, custom swimming pools, outdoor fireplaces and all the other marvelous accoutrements that define luxury landscapes.
Local design professionals will also be attuned to the inherent differences in the many upscale neighborhoods in our area. What works in, say, Bellaire landscaping may or may not work in Piney Point landscaping, whether due to terrain, vegetation, soil, or regulatory and permitting constraints. Dealing with these difficult, time-consuming and sometimes conflicting demands is where your landscape professional proves his or her worth.
In the final analysis, you want a designer who is creative and attuned to your wants and needs. Additionally, you want to work with a professional who possesses material know-how, including the durability of materials specifically for our climate, and knows local construction standards. You will best be served by such a professional with your Houston home and garden being the ultimate beneficiary.
by: Jeff Halper
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