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.