Houston Landscaping Design: June 2012

Friday, June 29, 2012

Houston Landscaping Service Delivers Comprehensive Landscape Solutions --

In metropolitan cities like Houston it can be challenging to find landscape companies that deliver comprehensive landscape solutions. We have been serving the greater Houston area for over 2O years installing landscape projects and providing landscape maintenance in River Oaks, Bellaire, West University and all the Memorial Villages were discriminating clients have impeccable taste. Our solution has been a 20 year customer service commitment, delivering creative quality work with experienced contractors that have integrity. We are centrally located minutes from the Memorial Villages, I-10 and 610 loop so we are quickly able to reach and support remote Houston suburbs in an hour or less and have also done work for clients in the Woodlands, Katy, Carlton Woods, Sugarland, and Richmond Rosenburg.

Landscaping Ideas, Design Landscaping plans, Houston --

Do you cut out and collect magazine pictures of great landscaping ideas? Do you have a photo album of, say, a stately English mansion that you’d love to use for your home landscape design in Houston? Have you admired the plants and trees of European countryside estates and wondered if they would grow on the Texas coastal plains? If so, then you have a beautiful start to turning your landscaping ideas into reality.

Landscaping Ideas: The Gathering
Landscape design starts with ideas. Your ideas—before you bring in the professionals. It is the time to write down not only your needs, but also your wishes and deepest desires. This is true whether you want to landscape a two-acre homestead or install a small garden design.

Houston Landscaping Business Offers Outdoor Fireplaces & Swimming Pools --

Houston companies offer a full range of landscape services including consultation, design, installation and maintenance. Landscaping business will usually specialize in one or more areas and subcontract related installation elements such as outdoor kitchens, swimming pools, water fountains, outdoor fireplaces, and lighting.

The Steps to Get You There
When you decide to hire a landscaping business, you typically begin with an initial discovery meeting where you have an opportunity to discuss your overall goals, control elements, design intent and the overall aesthetics. The next meeting may include designs, landscape plans, permitting documents and cost estimates. A qualified professional should work diligently to help you define the scope of your outdoor project, phasing, scheduling, coordination, selection of all materials and construction methods, and project cost.

Houston landscapers Offer A Full Range Of Landscape Services --

Houston landscapers offer a full range of services including consultation, landscape design, installation and landscape maintenance. Landscapers usually specialize in one or more areas and subcontract related installation elements such as outdoor kitchens, swimming pools, water fountains, other outdoor fireplaces, arbors, and landscape lighting.

Getting Started With a Houston Landscaper
When contemplating hiring a landscaper, you typically begin with an initial meeting with them where you have an opportunity to discuss the overall design intent, program elements, the garden design approach, the overall aesthetics, and your personal landscape ideas, needs, likes and dislikes. The next meeting may include landscape designs, landscape plans and cost estimates. In providing landscape services, a professional should work patiently to help you define the scope of your landscape project, project phasing, scheduling, selection of all materials and construction methods, and final cost.

Houston Landscape Business Offering Design, Outdoor Kitchens & Water Fountains -

These companies offer a full range of landscape services including consultation, design, installation and maintenance. A landscape business will usually specialize in one or more areas and subcontract related installation elements such as outdoor kitchens, swimming pools, water fountains, outdoor fireplaces, and landscape lighting.
The Steps to Getting Your Landscape Started

When you decide to hire a landscape business, you typically begin with an initial discovery meeting where you have an opportunity to discuss your overall goals, control elements, design intent and the overall aesthetics. The next meeting may include landscape designs, landscape plans, permitting issues and cost studies. In providing landscape services, a good professional should work diligently to help you define the scope of your outdoor project, phasing, scheduling, coordination, selection of all materials and construction methods, and project cost.

Thursday, June 28, 2012

Curb Appeal Is A Important Element In Landscape Design --

Curb appeal is the sense of grand perspective that comes into view when one approaches a home from the front curb. It is essential to both architectural aesthetic and real estate value because it is the first impression one gains of the personality of the homeowner. Such a portrait of personal lifestyle, rising up from the Houston landscape, is indeed worth a thousand words.

Curb appeal ties directly into the value of the home because of the personal appeal it adds to the façade of the house. For those seeking to upgrade the appearance of the property prior to listing the home on the market, curb appeal is an investment in future returns that is sure to pay off on some level even in the toughest of markets.

Concealed Custom Drainage Systems that Protect the Houston Landscape --

Custom, concealed drainage systems are some of the most important elements of a quality Houston landscape design. While unseen, they play a critical role not only in the health and welfare of your plant life, but also to the health and welfare of human beings, as we will see in a moment.

By definition, a concealed, custom drainage system is one engineered to address all the drainage needs of a home or a business in such a manner that it does not disrupt the paving or visibly terrain of the Houston landscape with severe slopes.

Changing the Grade of the Houston Landscape Creates Areas of Interest --

Grading, by definition, is altering the slope of the Houston landscape between one point and the property and another. This is a vital, albeit little publicized element to residential landscape design.

Water runoff is one of the primary functions of landscape grading. Drainage is always a challenge anywhere we work on the Houston landscape because almost the entire city is completely flat. Virtually anywhere we build something, we must engineer strategies for getting excess water away from sensitive plants and expensive outdoor architecture.

Houston Landscape Design Using Organic Elements --





Houston Landscape Design A Houston landscape design company is not the same as a Houston landscaping company. Landscaping companies, as a general rule, work only with the organic elements of the front and back yard. Many only do lawn work, while others perform more specialized gardening services. Almost none of them, however, do anything to create sophisticated outdoor environments. The truth is that organic elements represent only a fraction of what true Houston landscape design really is. What a landscape design firm creates in the form of a master plan is the equivalent of an home outdoors, complete with outdoor rooms and buildings, special gathering and recreation areas, and zones of highly aesthetic interest and emotional tone.

Memorial Villages Landscaping Design Houston Texas --





Memorial Villages Landscaping Memorial Villages landscaping is ripe with creative opportunity to make your outdoors great. Do you want to turn your landscape into a haven? Would you like to make it a staycation vacation spot? Are you ready to upgrade your property so you can do more entertaining? Does your current landscape need new life? By working with an expert landscape architect or landscape designer, you can find tailor-made solutions to your landscaping needs and desires. Here are some ideas that can transform your Memorial Villages landscaping from the mundane to the memorable. For example: While not as eye-catching as some landscape elements, drainage systems can make the

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Houston Masonry, stone installation, Patios, Walkways

Hardscape constitutes 60%-80% of the existing landscape of any Houston yard. Masonry is an important part of any hardscape because it adds a vertical, multidimensional element to an otherwise horizontal plane. This is one of the most important elements of landscape architecture you can invest in if you are a Houston homeowner looking to create a superior outdoor living environment that also lends curb appeal and ultimate resale value to your property. The otherwise flat terrain of the Houston landscape becomes transformed into ascending and descending realities of ornamental stonework, custom patios, special stepping stone access points, and a myriad of specialty structures that provide unique living environments for plants above the surface of the ground.

Adding A Garden Increases The Value Of Your Property --





Houston Gardens A Houston garden installed by Exterior Worlds will do several things to protect, if not increase, the value of your property. It will reflect the architecture of the home first and foremost, functioning as an organic reflection of your house. If you have trees in your yard, it will compliment the canopy of branches and leaves with a deliberate, geometric expression of growth and vitality. Your outdoor buildings and hardscapes will look a lot better as well. Various shrubs and flowering plants help link man-made structures to the landscape and create a unified sense of expression where landscape design and architectural variety fuse into a new reality of outdoor living experience.

Houston Landscaping Requires A Professional Landscape Services -

Houston Area Landscaping

Houston area landscaping by Exterior Worlds offers the full range for professional landscape services. These services range from consultation, design, installation, outdoor building construction, and lawn and garden maintenance. Many Houston area landscaping business specialize in one or two or these subdisciplines, but Exterior Worlds makes it a point to multi-specialize in all of these things at the high end level of the landscape design and landscape architecture spectrum.

Houston area landscaping occurs in one of the most difficult and challenging climates in the United States. The terrain here is almost totally flat and easily floods. Careful attention must be paid to landscape grade and drainage systems that will siphon off excess rain water before it can damage outdoor structures and kill sensitive grasses and garden plants.

Why use Drought Resistant Perennials? --

Exterior Worlds can reduce your landscape maintenance by planting drought resistant perennials. These plants specialize in water conservation that allows them to endure long periods of dry weather. Few are actually desert plants in the strictest sense of the term, so they can be used with any number of Houston landscaping designs. Many are also indigenous to Texas and can be used in virtually every part of the yard to create year round world of color and form that resists extreme weather, insect predation, and troublesome plant diseases.

Drought resistance is primarily determined by leaf constitution. Species in this category have evolved variegated foliage that maximizes water retention. The plants can literally store water in their leaves for long periods of time and consequently require only infrequent rainfall to replenish themselves. They have also evolved something of a limited growth mechanism in their genetic makeup. Drought resistant plants grow to a certain size and no more. Pruning is required only a few rare occasions. Otherwise, the plants basically take care of themselves and retain their desired shape free from human support.

Tips on Drought Resistant Flowers & Landscpe Design --

Drought resistant flowers save tremendous money on irrigation costs during extended dry spells. The vitality and color they contribute to your yard will maintain your home’s curb appeal during the most brutal months of the summer. While other vegetation in surrounding areas withers, your yard will have a hardy, lively attraction factor that will make it stand out from other properties on your block.

Think beyond what you normally conceive of as “flowers” when listing ideas for your Houston landscaping designer. There are many different plant types that produce beautiful flowers, so you can enjoy a broad spectrum of design characterized by varying levels of concentration and vertical impact no matter how badly the local environment is impacted by our next severe drought.

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Drought Resistant Annuals Inclues Flowers In Landscape Design --

Most people want at least some flowers in their Houston landscaping design. If you are among this group, consider using drought resistant annuals in some portions of your yard. Perennial blooms will form the foundation for your design which will remain consistent, year after year. Annuals, on the other hand, can be varied each new year as part of a landscape maintenance agreement--adding variety and interest to the curb appeal of your property.

Annuals that are resistant to dry weather will save you money by adding low-maintenance coloration to key areas in your yard. Because they have evolved to depend only on local rainfall, they do not require daily watering. Native plants especially can endure a summer month or two without needing much, if any, city water to survive. The next time Houston limits the use of water due to drought; such plants can maintain your yards aesthetic no matter what is happening in yards along your street. This is definitely a point to consider if you are planning to list your home on the market and want to make sure that your curb appeal is maintained regardless of what the local weather is doing.

Tips about Drought Resistant Shrubs, Plants & Grasses --

Drought resistant shrubs offer you low-maintenance curb appeal. Using species that are either native to Texas or non-invasive to our area is ecologically wise. In some ways it helps restore elements of our original, indigenous ecosystem. It also works very well for conservation by requiring Houston residents to use far less water than would normally be needed to maintain their curb appeal during our long, hot summers.

To understand what these shrubs actually are, we have to get a good, sound grasp on what it means to be “resistant” to drought. The term is used loosely, and in several different ways, by a variety of landscaping designers and garden experts. To quibble over definitions is pointless. Essentially, what we are talking about in practical terms is the ability of a shrub to either protect itself against dehydration or store water within itself in a way that minimizes dehydration.

Elements of Drought Resistant Landscaping, Garden & Lawn --

Local interest in drought resistant landscaping has drastically increased since the grueling summer of 2011. Many people lost beautiful trees that were decades old, and everyone’s lawn, garden, and flower beds suffered terribly from the weather. Understanding how this unique approach to Houston landscaping design works, and who to call to have it implemented in your yard, can save both your curb appeal and considerable money when the next drought comes our way.

Drought resistant landscaping requires special soil amendments prior to the planting of any vegetation. Most drought resistant plants are categorized by slow growth which better enables them to retain water in their leaves, stems, and roots. The soil should be prepared in a way that encourages it to retain as much water as possible. This will surround root systems with plenty of underground moisture that will reduce the need for constant watering. A yard designed to withstand a drought should feature soil that has been mixed extensively with mulch several inches down. This will help it retain whatever rainwater or irrigation water it receives. As a general rule, fertilizer should be used sparingly, if at all, because too much of it would cause vegetation to grow more quickly than desired and use too much water in the process.

Drought Resistant Grasses Use Less Water --

Drought resistant grasses require less water than standard lawn grass. During long periods of hot, dry weather, they are less likely to wilt in the sun and develop brown patches. While it is necessary to deliver some water to the lawn, you will not need to use nearly as much water as people who run their sprinklers every evening. Exterior Worlds normally builds a custom lawn sprinkler system that irrigates the lawn more efficiently—and cost effectively—than the retail systems you see in stores.

There are a several features that distinguish drought resistant grasses from standard lawn grass. One of these is growth rate. Drought tolerant grasses typically grow more slowly than other types of grass. Because of this, they use significantly less water over the course of a summer than faster growing species require. Normal varieties of grass have roots that only penetrate about 3 inches into the ground. Drought resistant plants have roots that go down as much as 12 inches. This allows them to draw much more from the soil without needing nearly as much fertilizer as the typical lawn.

Houston Landscape Design, Residential Garden Design Texas -

After the drought of 2011, large numbers of Houstonians became very interested in the idea of drought resistant gardens. Many people call us wanting to know what plants they should buy and how they can best design such a garden for themselves. While we do not discourage do-it-yourself gardening across the board, when it comes to something like planting a garden developed specifically for the purpose of withstanding several months with no rain, we strongly urge you to seek professional assistance.

To truly resistant a dry, hot summer, a garden needs more than drought resistant plants to weather a long, dry spell. To the greatest extent possible, it should minimize the dehydration so that what water does penetrate the soil remains in it longer. This allows plants which have already evolved a tolerance for dry weather to further extend their vitality by trapping water within easy access of root systems that can draw from them even during the hottest times in August.

Monday, June 25, 2012

What Are The Benefits Of A Drought Resistant Landscape? --

A drought resistant landscape is an ecologically sound investment that can enhance your curb appeal with a statement that you care as much about the environment than you do about the good life. As more people become environmentally conscious, this will definitely be a factor in home sales in the future. One of the greatest concerns will be the threat of invasive plant species to local ecosystems. Fifty years ago, no one thought about the impact that exotic plants could have on our local environment. Now, people are beginning to realize that not just any plant is good to add to a yard because it can grow out of control and become a weed in someone else’s yard.

One of the best things about a drought resistant landscape is that it can be built entirely from native Texas plants and trees. Our state has such vast and varied geography that it is possible to landscape with plants that grow wild only a few hundred miles away. There are also drought resistant plants from neighboring states that are not technically native, but are still friendly enough to our environment that they pose no threat to native plant life. Most of these species are also slow-growing, so there is little chance they would ever get out of control. Due to the fact that many of them have more sophisticated root systems than typical species, they also dig deeper into the earth and control erosion. Their ability to store water in their roots, stems, and leaves makes them ideal for modern landscaping and contemporary landscaping designs which favor organic minimalism over lush, green overgrowth.

Why Shade Landscaping Plays A Important Part of Landscape Design --

Shade landscaping is a very important part of Houston landscaping design. With our city experiencing some of the highest temperatures in the country, it is essential that we create areas of shade in people’s yards that will allow them to enjoy outdoor living in comfort. There are many ways to create these pockets of shade with plant life, trees, and structures that will work with any style of landscaping.

One of the most important places to create shade is in the garden. Gardens are meant to be enjoyed from the inside as well as from the outside. Many types of garden design involve building a patio that functions as a central seating area. Shade can be generated here with something as simple as erecting trellises on the west and east sides of the garden to block the sunlight and generate a dappled shade effect on the area below.

Shade can also be created with outdoor buildings like gazebos and pergolas.

Learn Why Shade Gardens Need Constant Tree Pruning --

While it is possible to plant a garden in what we would call heavy shade, we do not recommend this. The number of plants that can actually do well in near complete darkness is considerably less than those that flourish in partial shade. Not only that, but you cannot see color well in a near dark area. It is for these reasons that shade gardens need constant tree pruning to stay optimized for light.

The amount of light that falls on your plants should be calculated by two factors. The most obvious factor is the shade resistant plants themselves. The other factor is whether or not you will use mostly flowering plants in your garden, or mostly evergreen plants.

Some species require what you might call a half shade effect. This is where the garden is exposed to full light for a few hours in the morning or the evening, and then resides in the shadow for the hotter part of the day.

Shade Gardens Design Constructed Beneath Trees --

A shade garden, by definition, is a garden that is planted beneath trees, in the shade. We have to take great care in designing such a garden, particularly when it comes to soil preparation. A common mistake that many do-it-yourselfers make is to till the soil too much. While it may appear to make sense to dig deep into the earth to give plants as much room as possible to grow, this principle becomes secondary to the absolute of tree preservation. Digging too deep near one or more large trees will invariably lead to you cutting one or more essential roots. In order to plant a shade garden without ruining your trees in the process, it is far better to hire a professional landscaping design firm with expertise and experience in both garden installation and tree preservation.

How Gander Planting Soil Effects Landscape Design --

When thinking about your Houston landscape, your key ingredient is the planting soil. It is the foundation from which all your glorious plant material will spring. Your blooming vines, verdant bushes, flowering trees and seasonal color are the beneficiaries of this important and necessary first step.

In the excitement of dreaming about planting gardens, it is a common mistake to skimp on the items you can’t see, like planting soil. But Exterior Worlds proposes that proper site preparation is a sure formula for lasting success.

Friday, June 22, 2012

Baseball Field Equipment

What type of baseball equipment do you sell?

We sell protective screens for dugouts that make official games and practices much safer for players. We sell a number of backstops, backstop panels, backstop transporters, and foul ball poles that improve the quality of official game play. We also have a very extensive selection of practice equipment for pitchers and batters.

Planting Azaleas Adds A Breath Of Fresh Air To Garden Design --

Of the many things that a Houston landscape has going for it, planting azaleas definitely tops the list. Azaleas supply that heart-stopping beauty that tells us spring has arrived. At Exterior Worlds, we think any and all landscapes benefit from such loveliness.

There are thousands of azalea varieties, although even the large garden centers will carry only a fraction of that quantity. Blossom colors run the spectrum from white to red. Some varieties grow quite tall and tend to spread with age. Others grow less than 12 inches in height and provide good mid-range filler in a layered bed or serve as a spreading groundcover. Planting azaleas in a butterfly garden design or shade garden design will amplify all the other decisions you’ve made for these styles. The azalea bush is a great choice for foundation planting, too.

Planting Annuals & Seasonal Flowers Add Value To Garden Design --

Planting annuals in your Houston landscape is the visual “fresh air” that an outdoor design needs. The human eye is naturally drawn to what is new, which annuals provide. They bring color, texture and liveliness to your gardens. Purple pansies, red geraniums, orange daisies and pink begonias delight and captivate us. As each new season rolls around, this seasonal color will renew an appreciation of the exterior landscapes, on your part and the passers-by.

When planting annuals, Exterior Worlds uses the basic design philosophies of unity, repetition and balance. There are many ways we accomplish these goals. For instance, by limiting the color choices to those that work well together and by repeating a single specimen through the gardens. Conversely, we may repeat a color across several different plant types. Always we consider the whole so that the overall scheme stays in balance. These principles are foundational to planting gardens of all types, shapes and sizes.

Garden Layout & Landscaping Design Using Sophisticated Software --

We begin our process of garden layout landscaping by determining the scope and scale of the garden. We study the size of your home and the proportions of your yard.

The garden design is developed within the context of these parameters. Using sophisticated design software, we can mathematically calculate the optimal size of the garden and the optimal geometric form as its shape.

The next element we work on is the hardscape structure of the garden. While the most noticeable thing about any garden is the vegetation, the structures within which plants grow are foundational to the ultimate aesthetic success of the vegetation.

Foundation Planting & Gardens Are Landscape Camouflage

Foundation planting refers to the plantings—usually bushes—that are arrayed up close to the house. It is a term that started when many homes were pier-and-beam construction and homeowners needed landscaping to camouflage that visual distraction. However, foundation planting need not be a series of stiff bushes hugging the house. Instead these plantings can be an elegant part of your Houston landscape.

At Exterior Worlds, we recommend that the best place to start in planting gardens of any location is to plan first. We can help you choreograph the layout on paper to determine how much to plant and where. Together we establish a thoughtful approach to your landscape design, including foundation planting, that truly enhances your home.

Bush Planting and Garden Design Are Key Landscape Elements --

Bush planting is one of the foundational elements in your Houston landscape. Taller, evergreen bushes create the backdrop against which showier plants can shine. Shorter bushes provide mid-level, or filler, interest. Flowering bushes add color and texture. That’s why Exterior Worlds call the hard-working bush one of the gardener’s best friends.

When planting gardens, plan before you plant. Perhaps you want to start with an enlarged photo of your house from which you can trace its outline onto paper, including any features, such as mature trees, that you plan to keep. Then draw in your preferred plants, including bush plantings, at their mature size and shape. The professional landscape designers at Exterior Worlds can aid tremendously in this important first step.