NEWSLETTER – Fall 2012

With the crisp morning air, you can feel that fall has arrived.  I love the fall time because of the array of fall colors, the arrival of my two favorite sports (Football & Hockey), and it’s not SUPER HOT outside (have I told you before I hate the heat??!!). Halloween is just around the corner and then Thanksgiving and Christmas to follow (Turkey…Yum!!!!). Fall is a Happy Season!

I am sure that you are aware that we have several sites that we are featured on. I would like to share with you the most popular pages on those sites:

·         Houzz:

o    Most popular Projects:

1.       Somerset Ridge Residence

2.       Troutner Way Residence

3.       Woods at Riverside Village Residence

·         YouTube:

o   Most popular SketchUp  animations:

1.      Franklin Road Residence

2.      Woods at RiversideVillage Residence

3.      Two Rivers Residence

o   Added Bown Crossing Residence Animation and Island Woods Animation.

·         Residential website:

o   Most Popular Projects

1.      Somerset Ridge Residence

2.      Hidden Springs Residence

3.      Boulder Creek Residence

In our Fall Issue we are going to talk about one of my favorite trees to bring a woodsy feeling to the yard - The River Birch.  In our project spot light we will review the Terra Nativa Residence, which details an extensive landscape installation. In our Contractor Spotlight we will highlight a local lawn and tree Landscape Maintenance Company –Mountain View Spraying.  In our Product Spotlight will focus on a product that will help lower your lawn maintenance and water usage – Forever Lawn.  In the Vendor Spotlight, we will take a look at Silver Creek Supply – a Local Supplier of Wholesale plumbing, drainage, Irrigation and fencing materials. I will also share a couple of websites that I like to visit which deal with unique hardscape items, plant materials and design elements. I hope you sit back and enjoy the Fall issue of “Sense of Place”.

Focus on plants - River Birch

                One of the great deciduous trees that bring a woodsy feeling into the yard is the River Birch. Typically sold in a clump form, the River Birch has great exfoliating bark with color hues of brown, cream, tan and pink. This tree will gain more character as it ages.  This one of the few Birches that is Bore restraint and thus the only Birch I recommend for here in the Valley.  The green leaves will take on a great yellow color in the fall time and the upright spreading shade will add shade and an overhead canopy to the yard. The mature size of the River Birch is approximately 40x35 and is a great addition to the residential landscape.

River Birch Bark

 

River Birch - Early Spring

 

River Birch - Early Fall

 

 

 

Project Spotlight - Terra Nativa Residence

 The home Owners for this Terra native residence thought they would be overwhelmed with multiple concept plans (we typical give clients multiple options) so we only developed one concept for the yard.

Before

Landscape Concept Plan (2008)

Concept– Key Points

·         Courtyard finished with Eldorado Stone and Wrought iron accents to match the residence

·         Basalite paver courtyard and entry walk with natural stone steps.

·         Cal Flame Outdoor Kitchen

·         Sunken Hot Springs spa

·         Sunken trampoline

·         Boulder wall

·         Screen plantings for privacy from neighbors.

The client loved the concept and we went on to our next step, construction documents.

·         Materials Plan – to illustrate, note and detail all hardscape items like, courtyard walls, paver patio, outdoor kitchen…..

·         Planting Plan – to illustrate all plant material proposed for the project

Landscape Installation (2009)

Now that all the drawings were done, it was time to start the construction phase and the home owner wanted to use Sterling Landscape as the landscape contractor.

The first step of construction was to rough grade the site and start construction of the hardscape items (Basalite pavers, Eldorado Stone Walls, Sandstone Slab Steps and Sandstone Landscape Boulders. The irrigation system was also started at this time.

 

 

 

                The next step was to install the boulder wall in the backyard and start placing trees. The Sunken trampoline and the Cal Flame outdoor kitchen were also installed at this time. Wrought iron accents were added to the courtyard wall to match the accents on the residence.

 

                The rest of the plants were placed and installed, than weed fabric and rock mulch was added. A concrete mowstrip was installed and sod was then put down to finish off the job.  With the majority of construction occurring during the winter months, with was a little more challenging than usual.

 

 

                With the project complete, I feel this blank slate was transformed into a usable space that was dynamic and interesting. A special thanks to Sterling Landscape for making this project looks so good!

                 The only thing that would make this project look better is time… here are some picture of the installation after a few years of growth!!

 

 

 

                Here is a sneak peek at the project we will highlight in our winter issue …..

Before

Contractor Spotlight – Mountain View Spraying

               Mountain View Spraying is one the valleys trusted Spray and Maintenance companies. With over 20 years of industry experience, Mountain View Spaying can handle all of you landscape maintenance and spay needs. The one thing that I really like about them is that they offer a program for almost every style of customer – they offer organic lawn and tree programs and well as traditional spray programs,  they offer a Do it yourself Lawn Program.  From just handing out helpful advice to taking care of all your lawn and Maintenance issues, Mountain View Spraying can handle it all.

                Mountain View Spraying takes pride in keeping their clients happy. They guarantee all their work and strive to be an industry leader. If you need any lawn and tree spraying, spider barriers, lawn and  sprinkler maintenance, organic  lawn and tree services, do it yourself lawn info and help or anything else related to landscape lawn and Tree maintenance and spraying, why not try Mountain View Spraying! Sorry for the long, run-on sentence – but they do a lot of stuff!!!

 

 

 

Product Spotlight – Forever Lawn

Do you have a shady yard and are having trouble growing grass?    Are you tired of mowing, watering, and spaying your lawn?   Would you like to sit back and live your life vs. taking care of your lawn? If so, there is a product out there for you - It is called Forever lawn. We are not talking Astro-Turf here; Forever Lawn is a high quality, low maintenance lawn replacement solution.    

 

               

Forever Lawn Offers 5 different t styles of Synthetic Lawns for the residential Home buyer. Forever Lawn can be installed in areas were irrigation and maintenance would be an issue for traditional lawn. Forever lawn can be used to visually breakup driveways, patios and entry walks without the worry of the grass dying from compaction and heat issues. 

 

 

 

 

                Synthetic lawns have come a long way from the Asto-Turf days – why not contact Bill at Forever lawn (wlish@idaho.foreverlawn.com) to see how you can get a low maintenance lawn today!

Vendor Spotlight – Silver Creek Supply

For all the contractors and specifies, there is a local company that can help you with all your plumbing, drainage, irrigation and fencing needs – Silver Creek Supply.  The Company has 6 locations (Boise, Nampa, Pocatello, Hailey and Idaho Falls in Idaho and Jackson Hole in Wyoming) and strives to be an industry leader in products, knowledge and service to help its customers be successful.

                Silver Creek carries materials for all your irrigation, water feature, paver and landscape lighting needs (as well as plumbing, fencing and drainage).  Silver Creek Supply has been a leader in the irrigation industry since 1972 and excels at offering technical assistance and information for builders and specifies. From Training classes and technical support to supplying superior products, Silver Creek Works hard to make sure your project is successful.  As their slogan says “Your success is our Success!”

                In the Boise Area, Contact John Slaughter (jslaughter@silvercreeksupply.com) for all your wholesale plumbing, drainage, irrigation and fencing needs!

Cool landscape/design related web site from around the world

Trying to stay up on the latest trends in plants, hardscape items and design elements, has kept me busy searching the Web.  Here are a few of my favorite sites to visit:

Plant site – Buchholz & Buchholz –- A great Site to look at plants. Not only do they have some great introductions into the nursery trade – their On-line Plant library is one of the largest on-line collections of plant images I have seen!

 

Hardscape site – Gabionenlicht – a cool site for glass filled Gabion Walls. To make more of an artistic statement, these colorful wall systems will stand out in the landscape!

 

 

Design site – Land 8  – A great design site that features blogs, images and articles related to Landscape Architecture and Design.

 

 

Fall Newsletter Partners

I hope you enjoyed our 2012 Fall Newsletter. I would like to thank our partners for their help to make this newsletter possible.  Please visit their web sites to review their products and services. Thanks!!

Our Main Partners are:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our associate partners are: