by Matt Corrion
Some interesting trends have emerged this year in landscape design. In this article I describe the 5 hottest trends we are seeing – Which of these ideas will you incorporate into your landscape?
Outdoor Stone Fireplaces
Outdoor fireplaces have been around for a long time, but in the last few years they have really gained in popularity. They can serve as a focal point in the design of a backyard landscape, while providing the functional warmth of a fire adjacent to an outdoor patio.
Here in Colorado, where the summers are dry and there are few mosquitoes or other insects, cool summer and fall evenings are perfect for gathering outdoors with family and friends. Outdoor stone fireplaces can add to the ambiance of your outdoor space.
Design Considerations: Outdoor outdoor fireplaces are typically gas burning, unless the property is in a rural area with low fire danger where wood burning is allowed. They can either be custom built using a combination stone, masonry, brick, stucco, or stone veneer; or they can purchased as a prefabricated insert that is put in place and then faced with stone or another decorative material. A combination of decorative stone or concrete caps, mantels, and hearths can also be incorporated, resulting in an almost endless variety of design opportunities.
Due to the increased popularity of outdoor fireplaces and firepits, many municipalities are updating codes and ordinances to provide more specific restrictions and design guidelines. The required distance between the fireplace and any structure may vary between 15 to 25 feet. Always make sure your landscape architect or contractor has checked with your local building department on the current rules and regulations.
Pondless Water Features
Water is one of the building blocks of life. Water features can add a calming effect to your landscape through the sounds and movement of water. They can also mask unwanted noise and bring a peaceful calm to the hustle and bustle of urban living.
The problem with most water features is that they are high maintenance. While a natural looking pond can be beautiful, they are difficult to construct and can require quite a bit of maintenance. If that maintenance is neglected, or the pond is not constructed correctly one is left with pond that leaks, one does not look natural, or lacks the proper balance of plants, fish, and filters to keep the water clean.
“Pondless” water features solve most of these issues, and are the hottest trend in water feature design. In a pondless water feature, and underground basin in purchased and installed below the ground to hold the water that is circulated through the feature.
A grate is often placed over the basin, and covered with rocks to allow the water to run through to the basin below. The water is pumped from the basin over a decorative rock or sculptural feature. The sound of water is achieved not only from the above ground feature, but by the water splashing through the rocks and into the basin below. And because the basin below ground is shaded from the sunlight, algae will not grow in the water.
Design Considerations: Depending on the size of the feature and how often you intend to run it, you may opt to install a filter and an auto-fill valve connected to a water supply to keep the feature full. You may also opt for an on/off switch for the feature at the home so you can easily turn it on or off. Don’t forget to plan for lighting the feature at night. And finally, when selecting a pump always error on the side of a larger pump, because the flow of water can always be dialed back but can never be increased.
Natural Lawns
As water prices continue to rise, homeowners and businesses are looking for alternatives to the traditional bluegrass lawn. As I have written about in the past, there are many advantages to making your landscaping more efficient, and reducing the amount of bluegrass lawn is the best way to do that.
There are many types of plantings that can be used to replace a traditional lawn, but in each case the general principles are the same: plants with reduced watering requirements that require less maintenance. This can we achieved with alternative turfgrasses, Xeriscape plantings, edible garden plants, monocultures of spreading shrubs or perennials, native plants, non-natives, natural meadows, or a combination of these elements.
Another driver in the popularity of the “natural lawn” concept is the desire of individuals and organizations to move away from using pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers in large quantities- for the benefit of the environment and human health. Children often play on lawns and in our parks. So in addition to replacing traditional lawns, some people are turning to more organic and natural methods of lawn care.
Design Considerations: It is important to realize that less maintenance does not necessarily mean easier maintenance (at least initially). What I mean by that is a more complex planting such as a Xeriscape with many types of plants, or a natural meadow, will take more analysis and careful monitoring than a simple lawn. However, this monitoring and analysis will be more than made up for by the savings in time and resources by avoiding all of that mowing, edging, aerating, fertilizing, etc. that a traditional lawn would require.
Covered Outdoor Patios
Covered outdoor patios work great for blending indoor and outdoor living space. Over the last decade outdoor patios and gardens have been increasingly utilized as an extension of indoor space.
The latest trend is to build a waterproof roof structure over the top of an outdoor patio space. The roof structure is multi-functional, providing shade from the hot afternoon sun as well as protection from the rain and snow. Overhead roof structures also create a more intimate feeling space, creating an outdoor room at a much lower cost than adding a fully enclosed indoor room to a dwelling.
Another benefit to a covered outdoor patio is that outdoor amenities can be protected by the weather. Flat screen televisions, ceiling fans, outdoor kitchens, bar areas, speakers, and lighting can all be incorporated into this outdoor space.
Design Considerations: There are numerous design decisions that need to be made when designing a covered outdoor patio. Will the cover be attached to the home, or free-standing? Support columns for the roof structure can be designed with stone bases. The “ceiling” of the enclosure is also an important design element that should be carefully considered as it will probably be the main surface that you will see when using the space.
Urban Gardening
As the farming industry continues to get more commercialized and corporate, there has been a pushback in the form an increased demand for local farmers markets. And there is no place more local than one’s own yard.
As individuals strive to have more control and knowledge of where their food comes from and how it is grown, many are turning to growing their own produce. Growing a garden is nothing new- however today’s gardens are getting larger and taking up a bigger percentage of the yard. In some cases, urban gardening is being used for an entire backyard or a good portion of a front yard.
The urban gardening trend jives perfectly with the “natural lawn” trend. While some people are replacing their traditional lawn with decorative Xeriscapes, others are replacing their lawns with edible gardens. But even edible gardens can be beautiful- there are many decorative herbs that get showy flowers, and some produce such as bright red and yellow peppers can add visual interest to the landscape.
Design Considerations: If you are considering expanding or adding edible garden space there are a few aspects to be mindful of. If you have a homeowner’s association, remember to check their rules on gardens. Consider using decorative paths between your beds, and attractive raised planters can be utilized to keep the space looking a little more organized. Finally, be mindful of pests and rodents that may be attracted to the garden.
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 Matt Corrion
The drought of 2002 was very hard on landscaping in Colorado. Plants and lawns were stressed by the hot and dry conditions, and mandatory watering restrictions were put in place across the state. Many of us in the landscaping industry vividly remember these hard times.
Well, the drought is back. Today the USDA predicted a huge drop in corn yields, the latest is a long summer of bad drought news. Below are maps issued by the U.S. Drought Monitor from back in July of 2002 and from July of 2012. As you can see, there are many similarities and much of Colorado is once again in an “extreme drought” situation.
Outlook Does Not Look Good
According to the National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center, the U.S. Seasonal Drought Outlook doe not look promising, although some improvement may occur in southwestern Colorado:
Dryness and drought, exacerbated by above-normal temperatures, have been increasing both in extent and intensity across much of the central and northern U.S. Based upon the July 24 U.S. Drought Monitor, almost 64 percent of the contiguous U.S. was in drought (D1-D4), the highest such value for the U.S. Drought Monitor since its inception in 2000. The last time the lower 48 States had a comparable area of drought (based upon the monthly Palmer Drought Index) was in 1956, according to NCDC.
Across the Southwest, the odds favor an active (wet) southwest monsoon in both the 1- and 3-month precipitation outlooks. As a result, improvement is anticipated across much of Arizona, southern Utah, and southwestern Colorado as the summer monsoon continues.
What Does this Mean for Landscaping in Colorado?
As these maps illustrate, the drought conditions that plagued Colorado in 2002 have resurfaced, and most long-term indicators point to continued drought. The good new is that there are some relatively simple changes and considerations for your landscaping to make it resilient to these conditions.
Some of the lessons we have learned and changes that can be made to your landscaping to better withstand drought include:
- Design new landscapes to be more drought tolerant in the first place. Take a more thoughtful professional approach to your landscape design and consider long term maintenance costs as well as installation costs. Consider hiring a landscape architect or design professional.
- Install the latest irrigation technologies to eliminate wasted water: smart weather based controllers, rain sensors, efficient spray nozzles and drip irrigation, to name a few.
- If lawn areas are not used for foot traffic, and are simply for aesthetics, convert these areas to masses of low growing shrubs, groundcovers, or native grass. You can achieve a similar look with plant massings at the groundplane while reducing water needs and maintenance requirements significantly.
- If you have an older irrigation system, consider having a professional do a water audit, and upgrade old nozzles to new, more efficient ones. If you are stuck with a landscape that requires a lot of water (such as large areas of bluegrass with spray irrigation) you should at least fine tune your sprinkler system. This approach is kind of like putting lipstick on a pig (since your landscape will still “require” the same amount of water to be healthy), however there are some new irrigation nozzles such as the Hunter MP Rotator that can be much more efficient at delivering water where it’s needed. At the very least, these upgrades could be a stopgap measure until the landscape can be renovated.
- Remove large areas of high water use bluegrass and lawns, and replace with native or drought tolerant plantings. A renovation of this sort will make the biggest impact by far. You can covert your landscaping from one that requires a lot of water to remain healthy, to one that requires minimal water and still looks beautiful.
So there you have it. The drought is here to stay. Colorado is a semi-arid climate that will remain dry. While tweaks and minor changes to irrigation systems can provide temporary relief, landscaping that requires a lot of water to stay healthy will always struggle in Colorado and the best approach is to install drought tolerant landscaping from the start, or renovate your landscaping to plantings that require less water.
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 Matt Corrion
You may have heard that you can save big bucks on water and maintenance by renovating your landscaping to be more water-efficient.
But, did you know that Cities across the country will pay you cash to do it?
As water supplies dwindle and populations rise, many municipalities are offering great incentives for reducing water use in the landscape. When property owners, businesses, or managers factor in the payback from these rebates along with the water and maintenance savings, a landscape renovation can make a lot of sense.
The 2 Main Types of Rebates
Generally speaking, incentives for reducing water use fall into two categories. The first category is paying customers to remove landscapes that have high water use and replace them with attractive low water use plantings, and the second category is to provide rebates for purchasing and installing irrigation components that reduce water use and that are more efficient than older systems.
As we have discussed in the past, the real water savings (as well as the largest rebates) come from replacing high water use lawns and landscaping, with new plantings that require less water and are more adapted to the local climate. There are many benefits to this approach- see The Top 10 Benefits of Making Landscaping More Water Efficient.
14 Specific Examples of Rebate Programs
Incentives for Removing Turf: $0.75 per square foot for single family homes and multi-family or commercial properties.
Equipment Rebates: Rebates for smart controllers, rain sensors, rotary nozzles, and equipment for removing sod and placing compost.
Additional Program Notes: Rebates of up to $150.00 are also offered for rainwater collection systems, and with the installation of a rainwater collection system the incentives double to $1.50 per square foot. Residents may also receive a $20.00 credit for attending a water efficiency class.
Equipment Rebates: Rebates for smart water controllers, weather sensors, and moisture sensors for single homes and multi-family or commercial properties.
Additional Program Notes: Rebates include 50% of the purchase price for valves, and $75.00 per drip zone installed.
Incentives for Removing Turf: $1.00 per square foot, up to $10,000 for single family homes, and up to $25,000 for multi-family or commercial properties.
Additional Program Notes: Rebates are also available for removing old hardscapes, and for seeding areas with native grasses.
Incentives for Removing Turf: $18.50 per 1,000 gallons of water saved for multi-family or commercial properties.
Equipment Rebates: Single family residential customers can receive $2.00 per efficient nozzle and $100.00 for weather-based smart controllers with rain sensors. Multi-family or commercial properties can receive $2.00 per efficient nozzle, and 25% of the cost of a smart controller.
Equipment Rebates: Single family residential customers can receive up to $1,000 for installing smart controllers and rain sensors. Multi-family or commercial properties can receive up to $5,000 for installing smart controllers and rain sensors.
Additional Program Notes: Rebates are also available for rotary nozzles, mpr spray heads, pressure reducing drip valves, and backflow prevention devices specifically made for drip systems.
Incentives for Removing Turf: $0.25 per square foot for installing drought tolerant Buffalo Grass for single family homes and multi-family or commercial properties.
Equipment Rebates: Rebates of $50.00 for moisture sensors, and 50% of the purchase price of a drip irrigation system are available for single family homes and multi-family or commercial properties.
Equipment Rebates: Single family residential customers can receive up to $550.00 for installing smart controllers, rain sensors, and rotary nozzles. Multi-family or commercial properties can receive up to $3,550.00 for installing smart controllers, rain sensors, and rotary nozzles.
Additional Program Notes: Rotary nozzle rebates are available for up to $200.00 for single family residential, and up to $2,000 for multi-family or commercial properties. Rebates are available for 50% of the purchase price of smart controllers and rain sensors.
Incentives for Removing Turf: Rebates of up to $1,650 are available for single family homes and multi-family or commercial properties.
Equipment Rebates: Rebates of up to $250.00 are available for installing smart controllers.
Incentives for Removing Turf: Up to $3,000 for single family homes and multi-family or commercial properties.
Equipment Rebates: Single family residential customers can receive up to $250.00 for installing smart controllers. Multi-family or commercial properties can receive up to $1,250.00 for installing smart controllers.
Additional Program Notes: A minimum area of 1,000 square feet of turf must be removed to qualify for turf removal incentives.
Incentives for Removing Turf: $1.50 to $1.00 per square foot, up to $300,000 for single family and multi-family or commercial properties.
Equipment Rebates: 50% of the cost of smart controllers, and $25.00 for rain sensors for single family and multi-family or commercial properties.
Incentives for Removing Turf: $1.50 per square foot up to $3,000 for single family homes, and $1.50 per square foot up to $9,000 for multi-family or commercial properties.
Equipment Rebates: Single family residential customers can receive up to $400.00 for installing smart controllers. Multi-family or commercial properties can receive $25.00 per station up to 68 stations ($1,700) for installing a smart controller.
Additional Program Notes: Rebates of $0.50 for every gallon of storage capacity up to 400 gallons are offered for rainwater collection systems.
Incentives for Removing Turf: $0.75 per square foot up to $2,000 is available for for single family homes, and $0.75 per square foot up to $20,000 is available for multi-family or commercial properties.
Equipment Rebates: Rebates are available for smart controllers, rain sensors, rotary nozzles, and dedicated landscape meters.
Additional Program Notes: Rebates of $1.50 per square foot up to $30,000 are also available for commercial properties through a “cost sharing areas” program.
Equipment Rebates: Single family residential customers can receive up to $375.00 in equipment rebates. Multi-family properties can receive up to $500.00 for new equipment.
Additional Program Notes: Rain water harvesting rebates of up to $5,000 are available for no-pressurized or pressurized systems.
Incentives for Removing Turf: Rebates of up to $400.00 are available for reducing water bill for single family homes and multi-family or commercial properties.
Equipment Rebates: Rebates of up to $3,200 are available for installing smart controllers, rain sensors, and rotary nozzles.
Additional Program Notes: Incentives are offered for capping irrigation zones and/or converting existing irrigation systems to drip.
These incentive and rebate programs are typically limited to a maximum allowable rebate amount based on the area of the project, and the purchase price of the irrigation components. Many of the programs also are only available on a first come first serve basis. With limited funding many municipalities exhaust their funds in the first few months of the year. Other program requirements include selecting plants from specific drought tolerant or native plant lists, percentage of plant area coverage, and the make and model of irrigation components.
Because of the complexity of the projects and the paperwork involved, it may make sense to have a landscape architect assist you for a moderate fee. These professional consultants can prepare any plans that are needed, submit applications, gain approval from local building departments and HOA’s, and maximize the potential rebate amount you will get back.
In addition, most states require a licensed landscape architect to prepare plans for any major renovation on a commercial or larger residential property. The fees for these services are often offset by the savings that come from having a good plan that can be accurately bid and installed by contractors.
So, if you are looking to make your property more sustainable, update it’s image, and save on maintenance and water, look into what programs may be available in your area.
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 Matt Corrion
It’s good for the environment.
It can save you money on water bills and maintenance.
There are many reasons for you to renovate your landscaping to save water. But why would a water provider or utility want you to use less of what they provide- water?
Since we work with customers to reduce their water-use, we hear this question quite often. It does seem counter intuitive: Why would someone who is in the business of selling water want you to use less of it- in many cases offering rebates and incentives to do so?
Can you imagine a Walmart employee standing outside of the store offering to give you $20 back, if you spent LESS money inside the store?
There are a few key reasons why water conservation is encouraged by water providers:
First, water demand will always continue to increase, regardless of how much our water use is reduced. Population growth and land development put a great deal of strain on our water supply and the water delivery system.
Because the demand will always be there, it is in the water provider’s best interest to slow the rate of growth as much as possible. There are large systems for treating, storing, and delivering water that need constant expansion and repair.
Secondly, water conservation is already built into the billing system. Most water suppliers now use a conservation-oriented “tiered” rate structure. These rate structures charge a base rate regardless of how much water is used, and separate rates for the levels of water that is actually consumed.
Finally, water utilities often consist of complex public/private partnerships, so there are environmental and public health considerations that are just as important as profit. Would we really want our water system to be based totally on how much revenue and profit could be generated?
When considering the public good in terms of water conservation, there are numerous considerations: Preparedness for droughts; the health of our rivers, lakes, and streams, and aquifers; impacts to other cities and states “downstream”; and even national security.
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 Matt Corrion
Landscape rebates are becoming popular across the county as water conservation becomes a bigger issue and more people look for ways to save water.
Population growth is straining 
water supplies and delivery systems, causing many water providers to provide great incentives to reduce water use. Homeowner’s, businesses, and HOA’s are also looking for ways to trim their budgets and increase their long-term sustainability.
But landscape renovations can get expensive. Thankfully, there are some great rebates out there that you can take advantage of to help offset the costs. When you factor in the rebates, as well as significant water and maintenance savings, a landscape renovation can make a lot of sense for your property.
Irrigation Upgrades vs. Turf Removal
Most of the rebates out there focus on 2 main areas: Irrigation Upgrades and Turf Removal.
Irrigation upgrade rebates are offered to water customers to increase the efficiency of their irrigation systems. Rebates are often offered to install more efficient spray nozzles, rain sensors, and controllers.
The rebates for these items are usually calculated per item installed, for example, $5 per efficient rotary nozzle, and $50 for a rain sensor. For larger commercial properties there are often limit to the maximum rebate that can be obtained.
Turf removal rebates are geared toward removing areas of high water-use landscaping (usually lawns and turfgrass) and replacing those areas with low water-use landscaping. The replacement landscaping can consist of Xeriscape, native plants, and a variety of colorful shrubs, perennials, trees, and ornamental grasses.
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