Stay Current With New Trends in Landscaping

Coloradans love being outside, and they stay current with new trends in landscaping. Read on to learn a little more about how Colorado homeowners are utilizing and enjoying their great outdoors.

Modern/Contemporary Design

• A greater use of raw materials, including board form concrete which has a wood-sawn look, and corten steel, which is designed to weather without need for painting

• Mass plantings to create impact and harmony in a landscape

• Combining fire and water elements to create an enigmatic, dramatic look in a fire pit/fountain, for instance

Updated Planting Design

• Formal hedge gardens, mass plantings of grasses and tone-on-tone color pallets each bring a fresh, appealing look to a garden space

• Year-round container gardening for seasonal color, and holiday decor using both plants and textures from around your existing garden

Technology in the Landscape

• Using a smart controller to check irrigation from a smart phone, and integrating landscape controllers with a home-automated system

• LED lighting with transformers that can be zoned, along with dimmable lights

• Outdoor sound systems

• Rain sensors/ET weather monitoring stations

• Heating elements to lengthen season

• 3D design to help visualize during planning stage

Edible Gardens

• Bee farming, both for honey and to encourage bee population growth

• Roof top gardens or living roofs to reduce heat sink in urban areas

• Incorporating herbs and vegetables in perennial gardens

• Community gardens/crop sharing

Outdoor Living

• Creating backyard retreats, incorporating kitchens, fire features, patios

• Back yard studios; building new, or repurposing an old storage container

• Landscape lighting, which extends the hours of use of the outdoor space

• Designing adult tree houses to feel like a kid again

LeAnn Ostheimer is a senior designer with Lifescape, a Denver-based design, construction and maintenance landscape architecture firm. You can reach one of Lifescape’s designers at 303-831-8310.

Content for this article provided by Lifescape.