exteriorworlds

exteriorworlds

Landscape Drainage Systems

Landscape Drainage Systems
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, Houston sits only 39 feet
above sea level. We have 21 major bayous in the greater metropolitan area,
creating significant watershed boundaries. The dominant component of the local
soil is clay, which has a particular sensitivity to moisture fluctuations. Oh,
yes—and we regularly get torrential rainfall. While these conditions don’t make
us, say, New Orleans, they certainly give homeowners pause when considering a
functional landscape drainage system. The advantages of a proper
residential landscape drainage solutions are self-evident. It protects your home
from flooding. It is also important for plant and tree health, which further
enhances your property value. It protects the foundation of your home from
cracking and uneven shrinkage and swelling. It drains water away from the roof,
patio, garden landscape and lawn areas to prevent standing water that can cause
slippery surfaces, mosquito breeding grounds and drowned landscaping. All of
these benefits underscore the importance of a whole-system approach to a
landscape drainage system so that all the appropriate functions and fixtures
work together for the betterment of the entire property.

Beautiful Yard & Garden in Houston

Beautiful Yard & Garden in Houston
Beautiful
Yard
The first step toward attaining a beautiful yard is to have a
professional landscape design plan created for the front yard should introduce
the architecture of the home with a theme that reflects its basic principles and
geometry.
The portions of the
yard that border either side of the home should parallel its linear movement and
function as transition spaces between the front and back yards. The back
yard itself should be an extension of indoor living space. More than anything,
it should contain elements and themes that directly symbolize the motivations
and values of the homeowner’s heart.

Landscape Lighting

Landscape Lighting
Let There Be LightThe
basics of landscape lighting
Landscape
lighting is all about the artistry of light. Whether subtle or dramatic, it
creates a different kind of beauty, one built on the way light and shadow play
together. It turns the ordinary into the extraordinary—just like on a theater
stage. The right landscape lighting allows you to showcase beautiful trees and
garden elements, but, at the same time, lets you control what you don’t want
people to see by leaving some things dark. From a practical standpoint, it
provides security and safe access and is often recommended as a relatively
inexpensive way to increase your property value.For the homeowners’
pleasure as well as guests, landscape lighting acknowledges and addresses the
fact that, for about 30 percent of the time, your landscape is viewed at night.
“Since so many people work and don’t come home until after dark, landscape
lighting means homeowners can still enjoy their outdoor property, whenever they
get home,” says Jeff Halper of Exterior Worlds. “It turns the landscape into a
24-hour event.”

Landscape Architectural Services

Landscape Architectural Services


Landscape Architectural Services
The heart and soul of landscape architectural services is
schematic design of the general landscaping
plan. We develop this plan through a series of consultations with the
client. During these meetings, we discuss the intentions that the client has in
mind for the project. Over the years we have discovered that most people have a
definite sense of what they want, but they have little ability to articulate the
specifics of their desires in terms of design, form, and structure. It is our
professional obligation to help clarify these specifics by asking the right
questions, then using the answers we glean through the consultation process to
develop a graphical frame of reference for the entire plan of action.

Hardscape

Hardscape
The term “hardscape” refers any non-organic landscape element that is deliberately
planned and constructed. It gets its name from the nature of the materials
used to build the many forms that constitute this family of landscaping
elements. Most construction materials used in these projects are very hard, and
create lasting, durable, and resilient fixed that serve special purposes and add
beauty and aesthetic impact to the yard.
Hardscape
structures are almost always the first forms built when the time comes to
actually implement a residential
landscaping design project. This is due to the powerful visual impact they
carry which lends itself so well to the establishment of order and system
throughout the property. Though non-organic themselves, these structures are
crucial to the proper showcasing of vibrant colors of garden design and the lush
shades of green of a well-manicured lawn.

Houston Landscape

Houston Landscape
The Houston landscape today is
very different from the landscape that European settlers found when they first
arrived in Texas. At that time, the areas around Buffalo Bayou and its many
tributaries was a dark swamp populated by cypress and magnolia trees. In many
places, the forest was so impenetrable (and filled with mosquitoes) that even
the Karankaway Indians would not venture too far in. Over the years, the
Houston landscape gave way to industrialization and residential development. It
has never lost its greenery or its waterways, however, and today is still home
to a wide variety of oak and pine tree species that line the bayous and scenic
roadways that connect the outer rims of the city to downtown.
Houston’s climate
is hot and humid in the summer and temperate and humid during the winter. This
makes it very amenable to growing a plethora of both exotic and indigenous
plants. Because of this, it also makes it possible for the professional
landscaper to provide the homeowner with an eclectic range of options when
it comes to styles and types of gardens. Because of our mild winters, we
seldom see much freeze damage to plants, shrubs, and trees. In fact, Houston
landscapes are known throughout the South for having flowers of some sort or
the other throughout the year. There are a number of species, such as pansies
and cyclamen, which routinely bloom in the winter.