Design

It is a well proven fact gardening and viewing gardens/landscaping is a soothing way to unwind. With the modern low voltage lighting systems available today our homes can be very welcoming and soothing in the dark.

Unfortunately most home owners and landscape professionals overlook all the benefits of low voltage lighting in our landscapes. By adding a well designed system we can improve safety and security, illuminate our entry sequence, highlight our best features in the landscape, and set up dramatic “scenes”.

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Gardening has been well documented as the most popular pastime in America. It can be a very relaxing and rewarding hobby. Many people have a natural talent for creating lovely gardens. Some even will take on building the structural elements of their gardens and landscapes.

For some people they undertake a landscape project on their own without engaging professionals because they have a deep passion for what they are planning and want to create it themselves. Others may be trying to control the project cost. Sometimes it is a combination of both reasons. Whatever the reason you will need to create a budget based on your project needs.

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After almost two decades in the landscape industry you really begin to notice the most common problems and mistakes in landscapes. One major problem is plant choice and location. Most homeowners, builders and even many landscapers are guilty of these errors. Today with the internet, Rutgers Cooperative Extension Service, the plethora of gardening books and magazines, it is easier than ever to find information on plant selection.

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Today’s lifestyles have us utilizing our outdoor spaces more and more. We have all heard of the “outdoor room” concept. So how do we achieve this roomy comfortable feeling in our yards? The professional landscape designer knows there is more to landscaping than plants, bricks, and mulch. To create the perfect atmosphere many elements must be carefully considered.

 

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When I was a kid I always wanted to do what my friends were up to. I would run to my parents and ask if I could also do as my peers. My parents would often say no and I would quickly say but everyone else is doing it! To answer me they would say “if your friends jumped of the Brooklyn Bridge would you”?

This familiar childhood problem can be compared to how most people select the landscape for their homes. They see their neighbors and friends installing a project and they purchase a similar style project at their home.

Our homes already are losing their individuality in these vast developments of modern center hall colonials.

Why would we want our landscapes to be so similar as well? Or if we do have a different style home why should its landscape look alike as well. There is inadequate public appreciation for the value of design and planning in enhancing the quality of life in our communities.

Your landscape should reflect your personality and lifestyle.

Don’t get caught in the “keeping up with the Jones’s” trap. Why not do a web search (or an old fashioned library search) for the history of landscape architecture. Study some of the greats like Frederick Law Olmsted, Beatrix Farrand, Ellen Biddle Shipman, Fletcher Steele and other major influences in garden design. If you read about these people you will come to understand it is not all about a serpentine paver walkway and a collection of varied plants mounded in rock and mulch. They studied spaces, views, textures, shadows, and other nuances that created an experience when you enter their gardens.

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If you take a close look at the majority of landscapes installed in New Jersey you may start to notice a pattern. What you will notice is your eye jum...

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The wave of phone calls to my office usually starts during the first warm week of March. Virtually all these prospective clients are astounded to hear we are booked for the next 8 to 10 weeks.

I often relate to friends that owning a landscape firm in spring is like owning a toy store at Christmas time.

There are more similarities than you may think but the main one is people get caught up in the spirit and often make poor choices they must pay for later. 



The problem is you need to plan a little more ahead than March or April. Anyone from New Jersey knows if you want to rent a nice house down the shore you reserve it in January if not a whole year before!

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Many people are shocked to find out that a large percentage of what a design/build professional does is re-design and re-build others peoples landscape projects. Some are thirty to fifty years old and must be upgraded. But many are often less than ten years old. These newer projects are the lion’s share of what my company re-designs and build. Why rip out and re-do landscaping that is so new?

The reasons are many but often it was poor planning, cost cutting, and “cutting corners”.

 

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A good design is critical when investing in your homes landscape. Many homeowners enjoy dabbling in garden and landscape design on their own. Unfortunately very few of these amateur landscape designers/home gardeners follow the principals of good design. All too often they spend most of their efforts choosing plants and not in planning and layout. By following some basic guidelines even the very “green” designer/gardener can enjoy success.

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