by Guest Writer
Your outdoor living space is a great place to unwind.
The cool breeze of air and the warmth of the sunlight can provide relaxation to
you and your family.
There are many ways to enhance the aesthetic of your outdoor living space. For instance, the addition of a simple but comfortable furniture and a cooling misting system can turn your regular patio into a cozy haven.
However, if you’re in need of other ideas on how to
enhance your outdoor space, here are a few ways:
Clean it up.
Before turning your outdoor living space into the
patio of your dreams, you must first clean it. Getting rid of unwanted debris
and raking the leaves can prevent unwanted growth like weed and molds.
A clean outdoor space will provide you with better
air quality as well as deter insects from swarming your place.
Decorate your porch.
The outside of your home should be just as inviting
as the inside.
Simple landscaping can do wonders to your home –
specifically to your porch. Adding a few plants and trees that complement each
other will not only make your house look more appealing; it can also protect
your home from bad weather conditions.
Moreover, adding vines and hedges will make you
feel more at ease, as plants can provide you additional privacy.
Add a shade.
One of the best ways to make your patio more
comfortable is by adding a shade that will help deflect the glare and protect
you from the sun’s harmful UV rays.
On the other hand, if you do prefer some sunshine
in your patio, then adding sky lighting or a pergola to your lanai roof can
give you just the right amount of light.
If you live in an area where there are a lot of
bugs and insects, consider adding drop shades or shutters to prevent them from
entering your place.
Cool down your patio.
While it’s always nice to lounge in an outdoor
space on the weekend, some days are just more discouraging than others. The sunlight
can sometimes be too scorching for you to want to hang out in your patio.
Investing in a good quality fan or misting system
for your outdoor living space is a great way to cool you down; it can also
provide additional humidity to your patio.
Additionally, a misting system is great for the
plants in your greenhouse.
Invest in good furniture.
If your porch or patio is big enough, consider
adding comfortable yet functional furniture. There are countless designs to
choose from that will fit your style and space.
Smaller spaces, on the other hand, can still be
enhanced by adding a simple set of chairs and an umbrella.
Install an outdoor fireplace.
Colder temperatures shouldn’t dissuade you from
relaxing in your outdoor living space. An outdoor fireplace will make an
excellent addition and may also serve as the focal point of your patio.
However, if a fireplace doesn’t seem feasible, a
traditional fire pit should be a good alternative.
A seating area around the fireplace or fire pit is
a great place to relax with your friends and family.
Your outdoor living space is an ideal place to bond
with your family and friends. It is also a versatile area that can cater to
events like simple gatherings and barbecue parties.
Turning your outdoor space into a place for fun and
relaxation shouldn’t be laborious or costly. With a little investment, plenty
of effort, and lots of creativity, you can transform your porch or patio into
the perfect hangout and leisure spot.
This is the official blog of Outdoor Design Group, Colorado Landscape Architects. For more information about our business and our services, click here.
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by Guest Writer
The city of Denver uses various improvement districts to construct, improve, and maintain neighborhood and commercial areas. One such General Improvement District (GID) has been created for a section in the large Northeast Denver neighborhood of Montbello, and is called the Gateway General Improvement District (GID). We are happy to have been contracted by The Gateway GID in hopes of helping to revitalize the neighborhood by updating the current landscape and introducing more drought-tolerant, colorful plant varieties for areas around the neighborhood. These areas include street tree lawns, detention ponds, a large drainage channel, and the monument sign area. The nearby green space study, as seen below, analyzes the nearby park spaces, most of which are too far from most homes in the GID to be within walking distance. This posed a great opportunity for us to not only revitalize the outdated and rundown landscape around the neighborhood, but to help create community green spaces, by utilizing the barren and unused detention ponds.
The streetscapes throughout the neighborhood contain endless amounts of water-guzzling bluegrass, along with landscape beds overflowing, overgrown junipers and bare spots where other shrubs have died. Our design has these streetscapes being updated to replace the existing sod and desolate landscape beds with drought tolerant shrub varieties and rock mulch to reduce irrigation requirements while also providing a cohesive and interesting landscape year-round.
In the detention ponds around the neighborhood, our landscape designs aim to incorporate a more usable lawn space with pedestrian access, as well as add colorful, xeric varieties of shrubs and trees to the perimeter of the pond at street level to increase passerby interest and beautify the area. These ponds present a huge opportunity to provide nearby families with accessible parks. Two of the detention ponds are located directly across the street from two elementary schools in the neighborhood. These particular ponds presented us with a huge opportunity to not only turn these unused areas into park spaces, but educational learning landscapes as well.
We collaborated with Denver Public Schools to incorporate interesting educational elements and various ecosystems that will coincide with lesson plans made by teachers. Ecosystems include a wetland ecosystem where students can do water testing and observe the various birds and insects, as well as a dryland ecosystem featuring drought tolerant, native Colorado plant varieties. Other educational elements include a pollinator garden that will feature colorful shrubs and perennials attractive to bees and butterflies, demonstrating the importance of pollinators.
A boulder garden can also be found in the new educational landscape designs with an array of boulders showcasing Colorado’s diverse geology. To offer a more structured outdoor classroom, we have designed the detention pond slopes to incorporate an amphitheater with siloam stone slab seating. To top it off, children can follow a concrete pathway painted with the planets from our solar system, down into one of the amphitheaters.
With the Gateway Village General Improvement District being large in scope, we hope to reach a vast majority of the community at and positively impact them with all of these desired improvements.
This is the official blog of Outdoor Design Group, Colorado Landscape Architects. For more information about our business and our services, click here.
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by Guest Writer
From time to time, we here at Outdoor Design Group like to hand over the reins of this blog to a guest writer. This allows us to peer over the fence into the realm of another business, and bring our readers new views on topics related to our field of work.
This week, T.J. Wood from Plan-It Geo (a company that Outdoor Design Group has collaborated with in the past on various projects) gives us a description of an application they developed for the Colorado State Forest Service. This online tool helps Colorado communities assess their public street and park trees locally to provide a statewide picture of tree diversity and health.
Introduction:
At Plan-It Geo, we specialize in “Trees and Technology.” A tree inventory combines both of these elements seamlessly by management of this important natural resource with use of mobile devices and technology in the field. The Colorado State Forest Service contracted Plan-It Geo to develop a web-based application that communities, campuses, and HOA’s can upload their tree inventories and view important state-wide tree data summaries. To access all of our web and mobile GIS software applications, click here.
A screen shot from CO-Tree View
Colorado Tree View:
Project Profile: Colorado Tree View
Project Title: Colorado Tree View – Statewide Inventory and Ash management Application
Client: Colorado State Forest Service
Timeframe: February 2015 – Present
Description: Tree inventories provide critical information for cities, neighborhood associations, and other entities to proactively manage their urban and community forestry resource. This project provided a tool to help diversify the planning and planting of tree species. It also provided a first-time statewide view of the structure of Colorado’s urban forests. The tool is a starting point for a long-term strategy and provides substantial new technical support to communities.
Outcomes: A statewide web-based application was created for Colorado. This application has the built-in ability to “crosswalk” a wide variety of inventory data into the application. The main fields collected are species, dbh (diameter breast height), condition, and location of each tree. The application has a hierarchy of log ins based on city and user approvals with different functionality at each level. A customized dashboard was created for the state to view important number and population statistics on each community or organizational inventory.
A screen shot from CO-Tree View
This is the official blog of Outdoor Design Group, Colorado Landscape Architects. For more information about our business and our services, click here.
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by Guest Writer
No matter what season it is, patios are an essential part of any outdoor setup. Design a great one for a sunny day with the kids, or for relaxing with friends by a fire pit. Here are 5 beautiful patios to draw inspiration from.
1. ALL INCLUSIVE IN BRICK
Via Houzz
Laid out in beautiful brick and stone work, this patio really has it all. It’s the perfect place for to hold that Labor Day barbecue or celebrate your favorite team’s latest victory. The layout of the grill, oven, and counter tops make this a streamline system for cooking food for the masses. Plus in the winter, you can cozy up in front of the fire to warm up between playing in the snow.
2. A LOVELY GARDEN
Via Houzz
Bring on the romance with beautiful trailing vines which give an open air effect while still providing shade and privacy. The fireplace becomes the central point with the seating curling around it, making it a cozy and intimate setting. Mix up the textures by bringing in some wicker furniture.
3. SUMMER DAYS
Via Houzz
For the dog days of summer, a ceiling fan comes in handy in this cool patio. It’s the perfect place to sip lemonade or as the bar off to the side implies, margaritas. With both a dining and a lounge side, this patio functions as a great outdoor dining room as well as a cool place to hang out in front of the TV in those ultra plush chairs. The stone next to the wood gives it a stylish contemporary look while keeping it classic.
4. SMOOTH AND SLEEK AND CONTEMPORARY
Via Houzz
With the smooth lines that make up the core of mid-century style, this patio is stunningly awesome. The wood panel housing for the grill is genius, not only does it provide a shield for your grill from the elements, but it also provides shade while you stand over it to slow cook your pork chops to perfection. Another really great touch is the lattice designs on the on the ceiling which adds a sense of artistry with the rest of the furnishings being solids.
5. PERFECT PARTY PATIO
Via Houzz
Think of this not only as a patio, but also as an extension to your kitchen. This is the perfect space to host a cookout. Serve up your favorite recipe from behind a bar with no concerns about people getting in the way. Enjoy some great lighting that bounces beautifully off the polished marble floor. There’s the plus of having a fireplace for people to gather around to roast marshmallows or TVs to catch the game, all while having the ability to cook without being shut away in the kitchen.
This is a guest post by Tim Smith of Modernize.com. For more inspiration on designs for your backyard, check out Modernize.com.
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by Guest Writer
If you’re in the market to replace your existing deck or want to build a new one, you will want to know what products are available and what your contractor can do with them.
A beautiful deck starts with careful planning and design. The best looking deck often reflects some architectural elements from the house and uses them in the deck. If you have multiple decks on your home consider using matching handrails and decking material for uniformity. Consult with your builder or designer for the many options available today.
Overall deck costs tend to range from $25-$35 per square foot and cost varies due to height and complexity of construction. The cheapest decking material on the market is probably pressure treated pine the most expensive include exotic hardwood species and top-end coated composite decking. Here is a quick run-down on some of the decking materials available:
Decking Materials:
Redwood – soft wood prone to damage from hail, includes the removal of old growth forests that take centuries to recover. Redwood takes hundreds of years to mature and therefore is not a sustainable wood source. Redwood coast around $3-4 per linear foot depending upon the quality ordered.
IPE – Brazilian rainforest lumber that is very dense (hard) and durable. It has a dark color and requires pre-drilling for fasteners. I do not know of any that is sustainably grown / harvested lumber. IPE costs around $4 per linear foot depending on thickness used.
Tigerwood – Brazillian or African rainforest lumber that is very dense (hard) and durable. It has a light dark color variation (tiger striping) and requires pre-drilling for fasteners. I do not know of any that is sustainably grown / harvested lumber. Tigerwood costs around $4 per linear foot depending on thickness used.
Cedar – Soft wood prone to damage from hail, be sure to specify better grades of wood and tight knot or better, can come rough sawn for beams or trimmers and works well for handrails. Tight knot cedar cost around $2 per linear foot and the price almost doubles for clear cedar.
Pressure treated pine: Typically made from southern yellow pine which is pressure treated forcing chemicals into the wood that resist rotting and insect damage. The treatments usually contain copper compounds & other chemicals that are highly corrosive to metals, so extra zinc treatment to galvanized fasteners is recommended to avoid rusting. Older treated wood, produced prior to 2004, often contain arsenic & chromium which can be easily released if burned. It is important to allow the wood to dry out prior to staining or sealing. Pressure treated wood is prone to warping, splitting and twisting and these qualities seem to be exacerbated in dry climates. I believe that staining & sealing these woods can help their look and performance. P.T. pine should be either screwed in place nailed with 16d ring shank nails all fasteners should be hot dipped galvanized.
Composite:
Should you use real wood or composite decking? In the last ten years composite decking materials (plastic/ wood particles glued together) have taken hold of the market and are used on over half the decks being built. Several companies use 90% recycled plastics in their products which will help reduce waste. However, I do not know of any composites that are recyclable when they need replacement. If decking could be continually recycled it would truly be a sustainable product, but no companies, to my knowledge, have produced such a product. All composite decking materials rely on a type of adhesive or glue that bond all of the plastic and wood particles together. These adhesives can be any number of polymers(resin) some which can cause environmental concern if released into the environment especially if burned. The life span of composite decking is similar to a wood deck that is maintained, around 25 years. Eventually all decking materials will end up in a landfill.
There are around ten different companies producing composite deck materials in the U.S. with Trex being one of the first and widely know. These materials include decking and handrail systems and most companies offer different product lines that vary in color and consistency. One California company even offers a bamboo composite BamDeck which uses 30% bamboo and 70% recycled plastic.
The cost of composite decking varies from $2-$4 per linear foot of decking board. Common sizes for composite decking boards are 12’, 16’, 18’ and some 24’ lengths are available from certain manufacturers. Try to design your deck so that no butt joints are required. Composite boards require spacing butt joints from 1/8”-1/4” for board expansion which can be unsightly.
THE GOOD
- Composite decking does not require as much maintenance as natural wood products.
- Does not splinter or split.
- Have built in slip resistance.
- Are consistent in color, shape, and texture.
- Grooved boards can utilize hidden fastener systems which are attractive.
- Boards can be heated and bent into circular patterns.
- Boards are often made with recycled plastic materials up to 90%, which make it more sustainable.
THE BAD
- Boards without a pvc treatment are prone to staining from many different sources. PVC treatments usually cost around $1 more per linear foot of board.
- Material holds heat and can reach temperatures that will burn bare feet in the summer.
- Material is not structural and typically requires a maximum joist spacing of 16 inches, which also limits what can be done with handrails.
- Material shrinks and swells more that wood which requires spacing at butt joints if used.
- Material requires pre-drilling in many circumstances for fasteners.
- Catastrophic failure, rapid deterioration is possible and almost all manufacturers have had to warranty their product for this reason at one time.
- Material is not recyclable.
- Polymers used to glue product together can be harmful if released into the environment, i.e. burning.
People often ask me what is the best composite to use and to be honest I don’t know. The reason for this is that almost all of the companies making composite materials have produced materials that have failed and needed to be replaced.
In 2009 Louisiana Pacific recalled around 48 million linear foot of decking that was sold under three different trade names (WeatherBest®, ABTCo., and Veranda®). Many other companies have had warranty claims for products that are less than five years old. When composite decking fails you will often notice that the color comes off like chalk when you rub it with a finger.
Once composite decking boards start to fail, they can simply start to rot or you may notice flaking, splits, bubbling or other abnormalities. Boards can also break between joists in extreme failures causing injury. Warranties vary from company to company, but in general you can expect a limited 20 year warranty. One thing to note is that the manufacturer’s warranty will only cover material replacement, not labor to remove the old boards and replace them, which can be a substantial cost. Therefore, do your homework and make an informed decision based on a company’s track record.
Some things you should consider if you are planning to use composite decking:
- Texture (slip resistance) especially in frost prone areas.
- Color – try to compliment your homes color. Most composite deck materials fade 30% in the first year and then stabilize. Some even change color so look at samples that have been weathered when possible.
- Cost – almost everyone is on a budget so pick the best material you can afford.
- Warranty – since there have been failures in the past research the company’s products that you are considering and find out their track record and read the fine print on warranties.
- Maintenance – consult manufacturer’s suggestions but most can be cleaned with mild soaps and water.
There are a lot of things to consider when it comes time to build or replace a deck. A new deck can cost as much as a new car so take the time to weigh your options and hire a competent builder. I suggest that you not only talk with a builder’s past client but also take the time to see one of their completed projects.
No decking is completely environmentally friendly or sustainable. In general, many of the natural wood decking products available are from hardwoods or slow growing softwoods which make them less sustainable. Pressure treated southern yellow pine is a faster growing, more sustainable wood product but it utilizes chemicals for rot and insect resistance. If the composite decking industry can develop a product that is recyclable and will consistently perform it will climb to the top of the sustainability chart and my “A” list.
This is a guest post by Bruce Kehr. The owner of Sunlit Builders, LLC, Bruce is one of the top deck builders in Colorado. You can reach Bruce via email at [email protected].
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