Top Landscaping Trends

Gatsby houseLandscaping styles are always changing, just like interior design. For homeowners who want to maximize their experience in their yard while also making smart investments in their property, it’s helpful to follow those trends and keep up. If you’d like to get the most out of your yard this summer, the following landscaping trends can help you dress up the exterior space around your house.

Drought-Tolerant Plants

Sustainability is important to homeowners who want to protect their community and save money on utilities. Planting drought-tolerant plants on your property is one way that you can save money on watering while greening up your space at the same time. There are many types of drought-tolerant plants, so you can choose the type that’s most suitable for your tastes and needs.

  • Succulents. Succulents need to be watered regularly, but often don’t need as much water as other types of plants. They need well-drained soil and prefer some soil dryness between waterings. Succulents tend to need full sun, so if your property is shady, check the growing requirements before planting.
  • Cacti. You can plant some types of cacti in Ohio! Prickly pear cactus, for example, produce beautiful flowers. Plant in well-drained soil and full sun.
  • Lavender. Lavender can get by with infrequent watering. Plant lavender in full sun and water well until established, then cut back watering.

Multi-Season Hardscaping

Want to make use of your outdoor spaces even when the weather gets chilly or wet? Work with a landscape contractor to install multi-season hardscaping like a covered outdoor kitchen or a covered outdoor living space. Your contractor can install electric heaters or even a ceiling fan to make the space more comfortable no matter what the temperature.

If you’re planning to spend your evenings outside in your outdoor dining room or living room, work with your contractor to install a fire pit or an outdoor fireplace where you can huddle up and keep warm… even on chilly evenings.

Native Plants

Native plants are lovely because they come in all different shapes and sizes, can be suitable to a variety of growing conditions, and yet they’re also perfectly suited for your outdoor environment. Native plants in Ohio can be found growing in forests and fields, so some native plants need full sun, while other native plants need partial or deep shade.

There are many types of native plants that you can grow in your Ohio backyard, including:

  • Black-eyed Susan. This daisy-like flower is best grown in full-sun and will produce blooms for months, with regular dead-heading.
  • Goldenrod. This plant can reach heights of about 4 feet tall. It blooms in early fall, but plant it in the spring to give it time to mature.
  • Wild geranium. This wildflower is found in forests and prefers to grow in shady conditions. It produces cheerful, beautiful purple blossoms.
  • Butterfly weed. This beautiful flower produces clusters of orange flowers in late summer. True to its name, it attracts butterflies.

Lovely Lighting

Spending time outdoors with family, friends and loved ones is more important to people than ever before. Installing outdoor lighting makes it easier to spend time outdoors after the sun goes down. Although solar lighting options are available for sale in home improvement stores, these lights are easy to knock over and often need their batteries to be changed.

Rather than installing low-cost solar-powered lighting, it’s better to hardwire your lighting to make it more reliable overall. Working with a contractor to install your lighting will also help ensure that your lighting is attractive and functional at the same time.

Vegetable Gardens

Vegetable gardens are popular, especially among people who enjoy eating fresh foods. Vegetable gardens need to be installed in a full-sun patch of yard. They look their best when they’re installed in permanent stone-lined beds.

Raised beds tend to be easier to maintain than in-the-ground beds, because they’re easier to reach and often need less weeding. If you’d like to install stone vegetable beds in your garden, work with a landscape contractor to make this happen.

Extra Durable Decks

Decks have been popular for decades, but there’s been a new development in the world of deck-making: composite decking material. Composite decking material is made from a combination of wood pulp and resin, but it looks like wood. Composite decking is now the most popular decking material for homeowners installing a new deck on their property because it’s incredibly durable, long-lasting and it never needs to be refinished.

What needs to be done to maintain composite decking? Just clean it periodically to remove mold, mildew, moss or dirt. You’ll love the way composite decking looks like natural decking material but needs less care.

Smart Irrigation

Years ago, irrigation systems were run on automatic timers that had to be turned on at the control panel at the beginning of the season, turned off at the control panel when they were no longer needed, and until turned off, the irrigation system continued to work no matter what the conditions.

Today, irrigation systems are designed differently. Some systems respond to exterior conditions like rain and can also be controlled with a remote control or a connection to WiFi. This gives you total control over your irrigation system and allows you to run your in-ground sprinklers according to the needs of your yard.

Your landscape contractor can help you set up your irrigation system so that it meets the needs of your plants and grass. If you’re relying on an old sprinkler system, you could be wasting a lot of water and doing your lawn an injustice. Contact a landscape contractor to have a new sprinkler system installed.

Ready to Upgrade Your Landscaping? Contact Hidden Creek Landscaping

This is the perfect time of year to upgrade your landscaping and make your yard look. beautiful! To get started with your upcoming exterior renovation, contact Hidden Creek Landscaping. With over 20 years in the business, Hidden Creek Landscaping is a trusted name in residential and commercial landscaping in Ohio. Call us today!

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3 Landscape Design Trends for 2018

Taking advantage of the latest landscape design trends will help you enjoy your home more and boost your property value. This is why landscape designers and property builders explore the evolution of trends and ideas in landscaping. Here are the landscape design trends we’ve seen grow and ones we predict to be popular in 2018.

Trend 1: Outdoor Living & Dining, Fire Pits & More

We like to treat your backyard as another room and added living space. This trend will continue to grow this year as more people are interested in spending more time outdoors. We strive to create livable outdoor spaces that will add to the function and enjoyment of your home.

Outdoor Dining and Kitchens

We believe kitchens and outdoor dining will be more popular this year. Spaces dedicated to outdoor dining and entertainment are great for people who have upcoming special events or often throw parties. Having a kitchen as well just adds to the convenience and overall atmosphere.

Firepits

In connection to this, fire pits are also going to grow in popularity. Fire pits allow people to stay outdoors longer when it gets dark and even in colder temperatures. Apart from adding ambiance and keeping the atmosphere warm, the pits also double up nicely as a sort of table. In the mornings and afternoons, you and family can gather around it for coffee and conversation.

Outdoor living, of course, is not about dining only. Many are also interested in sunken lounges, outdoor showers, daybeds, as well as comfortable outdoor furniture.

Trend 2: Masonry, Textured Paving, and More

Masonry and stonework patios and walkways are predicted to undergo changes in 2018. 

patioNow there are a variety of exciting stones including granite, limestone, porphyry. These can be turned into unique cobbles and flagging to break up larger spaces into smaller, textured paving. These stones are also becoming increasingly available in different shapes, sizes, and finishes. This will give landscapers more freedom to introduce exciting ideas in cobblestones such as mixing rounded shapes with linear lines. In short, expect asymmetry to be the leading trend in place of the polygonal paving of the yesteryears.

When it comes to flooring, wood-effect tiles have risen in popularity in the last couple of years. We predict this trend to continue now with the introduction of sophisticated wood-effect porcelain tiles. These are heat, scratch, and stain-resistant, hard-wearing and we may expect an increased use of them in both cladding and flooring.

Copper is another material that is making a comeback this year. Since the color of copper gradually weathers to a beautiful looking bluish-green patina, this serves to provide a wonderful sense of contrast with the surrounding wood, stone, and the gravel. More generally, the trend is moving to a naturally weathered patina away from the shiny stainless steel of the last years, so all the more reason why copper is going to get popular.

Trend 3: Small Gardens and Unique Plants

The garden trend in 2018 seems to be moving to smaller gardens that are integrated with the outdoor living space. In other words, the gardens and living spaces will come closer and often mix into each other instead of being separate areas of our outdoor space. So, expect a lot of plants inside and around your outdoor kitchen. Also, we expect pergolas with integrated heating, drainage, and lighting will grow in popularity.

Interesting Plants

As to the plants themselves, the opinions seem to be a little varied. Some believe that cacti and other succulents will hold their ground. We can mix these with a variety of other unique plants. For example, dwarf fan palms or dwarf palmettos may be preferred along with the big ‘Rex’ with its two feet palmate leaves to lend an exotic charm to the garden. However, this can be toned down by mixing some country-style plantings to soften the hard edges.

small gardenOthers contend that shrubs and woodland plants will steal the trend this year. The woodland style with its mix of tufted grasses, anemones, mosses, and ferns may become popular following the installation of a similar style at the NEO Bankside at London. However, according to some other garden experts, we may be moving away from grasses, palms and naturalistic perennials towards a variety of unique and exotic shrubs.

Ecological Gardens

Another big trend in 2018 can be the ecological gardens. As interest in locally grown food continues to increase, we predict that greenhouses with a variety of edible plants may see a big comeback. These gardens may include some unique plants too, but for the most part, they will include locally-sourced materials and plants native to the area.

If any of these trends sound appealing to you or sparked your own ideas, contact us today! Contact us to discuss your dream landscape and put plans into action to make it happen.

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