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This has been an unseasonably cold winter this year in
Boise. I hope everyone was able to stay warm!! We have been busy here at Breckon land design
with a couple of exciting updates:
·Best of Houzz 2013!! – For the second straight
year we have won the customer satisfaction award from Houzz!!! Less than 3% of all Houzz professionals won an
award this year, I am very excited that we were able to win two years in a
row!! Whoo Hoo!! Check out our Houzz profile here.
·Company Web site – we updated the company wide
website. On the residential side, not much has changed –we used our residential
site as the design theme for the entire company site. A big thanks goes out to
Andrew Conkey for making this happen. If you have not had a chance to check out
the update site, why not check it out now!!
·2013 Boise Flower and garden Show – Sterling
landscape will be installing and manning the Lobby Theme Garden this year.The theme this year was modern landscape with water;
Sterling contacted us to come up with a couple of different concepts for the
space. We come up with a few concepts – you will have to check out the Boise
Flower and Garden Show on March 22-24, to find out which design Sterling
installed! Stop by our Booth after viewing the main lobby, we are located at booth #312
Lobby Concept plan #1
Lobby Concept plan #2
Lobby Concept plan #3
Lobby Concept plan #4
Which
design is your favorite?
·KTVB – News at Noon – For the last 5 months I
have been appearing once a month during the News at noon segments to talk with
Carolyn Holly about Landscape design. Our past topics have been about adding
shade to the yard, water features, fall color, the front entry walk and
landscape lighting. My next segment will be Monday, February 11th,
why not check it out!!
In our Winter Issue we are going to
talk about one of my favorite evergreen trees - The Hoopsi Blue Spruce.In our project spot light we will review the Two
Rivers Residence, which details an extensive landscape installation. In our
Contractor Spotlight we will highlight a local landscape contractor LCG.I will also share a couple of websites that I
like to visit which deal with unique hardscape items and plant material. I hope
you sit back and enjoy the Winter issue of “Sense of Place”.
One of
the best evergreen trees for a typical sized yard is the Hoopsi blue spruce.
First off, it is by far the brightest blue of all the spruces, so it will add a
lot of color and interest to the yard. Secondly, the Hoopsi blue spruce is a
grafted spruce, and will be a fraction of the size of a standard Colorado blue
spruce.
The tree will get large, with an approximate mature size of 30’ tall by
12’ wide, but compared to the size of a Colorado spruce (50’+ high by 20’+
wide) it stays quite compact.If you
have the space and would like to add an evergreen tree with great blue
coloring, why not try the Hoopsi Blue Spruce!!
Hoopsi Blue Spruce - The brightest Blue of all the spruces!!
This
Two Rivers Residence had a typical “builder special” landscape that did not
match my client’s tastes. My clients we
looking for a more attractive curb appeal, better
circulation, more additional patio area, privacy from the
neighbors, year round color and an area for gardening. We initially came up
with 4 concept plans for the yard.
Front Yard - Before
Back Yard - Before
Landscape
Master Plan (2011)
Concept #1 – Key Points
·The existingentry walk was removed and a new paver walk
connects the front door to the street
·Small front yard waterfall
·Small entry patio
·Large, multi-level back yard patio
·Landscape walls with plantings to screen
out neighbors
·Open view to existing lake
·Flagstone paths from back yard to side
yards
·Raised beds garden area
Concept #1 - Video
Concept #2 – Key Points
·Existing entry walk is removed and a new
larger entry courtyard with pavers, cmu wall and wrought iron accents act as
the main focal point for the front yard.
·A small lattice structure is attached to
the roof to add additional shade to the back patio
·landscape wall and plantings to add privacy
from the neighbor to the south
·A private sitting area by the existing lake
·Small garden area
Concept #2 - video
Concept #3 – Key Points
·The existing walk is removed and new paver
entry walk adds a connection to the street
·A curved CMU wall (stone to match
residence) with lush plantings act as the foundation to the front yard
·No turf back yard
·Large shade structure to ad shade to the
back yard
·Large multi-level flagstone patio with CMU
walls (stone to match residence) and heavy plantings adds a woodsy and secluded
feeling to this back yard
·A large waterfall and disappearing stream
adds to the woodsy feeling
·Small garden area
Concept #3 - video
Concept #4 – Key Points
·Remove existing front walk and add new
paver entry walk
·Island planter to break up the sea of lawn
·Expanded paver patio
·Multi-level deck with outdoor fireplace
Concept #4 - video
After presenting the 4 concepts to our client, they gravitated
towards concept #1, but they also like elements from the other concepts.The final concept was designed and approved
Final Concept– Key Points
·Basalite paver entry walk and back yard
multi-level patios and bullnose pavers for all steps
·paths along both side yards
·Basalite Landscape walls with heavy
plantings to add privacy from the neighbor
·Raised bed garden area
·Lush plantings for year round color
The client loved the final concept and we went on to our next
step, construction documents.
·Materials Plan – to illustrate, note and
detail all hardscape items like, pavers, paths, walls…..
·Planting Plan – to illustrate all plant
material proposed for the project
Now that all the drawings were
done, it was time to get bids from Howard landscape and Sterling Landscape.
After reviewing the bid packages, the client decided to go with Sterling
Landscape.
The first step of construction was to
demo the hardscape items (existing concrete walk and landing landing) and
softscape items (existing grass and plants that were to be removed). Once the
site was clear it was time to start construction.
start of site demo
The site was then prepped for
pavers, steps and all other hardscape items.The paver and wall were then installed (Basalite pavers and wall units,
plus bullnose pavers for all the steps). Once most of the hardscape was
installed, additional top soil was then brought in and berms were roughed
in.Boulders were then installed. Once
all the hardscape items were in, the new irrigation system was trenched in.
Base prep for the new paver walk and steps
time for boulders to be placed and dug in.. top soil still needs to be added to give the boulders a more "buried" look
With the majority of the hard work
competed it was time to spray out the bed lines and place the plants. Once the
plants were adjusted and planted, soil aid mulch was applied to the beds and
fresh sod was installed.
the plants have been placed and the bed lines are sprayed out
New sod and multi-level patio
New raised garden beds with Drip
New entry walk and steps
Flagstone stepping stone path
As with all new installations, I
recommend patience, as the beds will look rather open at first, but with time
the plants will mature and the yard will grow up!A special thanks to Sterling Landscape, for
making this project looks so good!
LCG, or Land Construction
Group, Inc,is one of Valleys premier
and most complete landscape construction and Maintenance Companies. From
complex residential estate projects, commercial projects to Municipal/state and
federal agencies – LCG can handle it all.
The Company
is headed up by Tom Morton and is headquartered out of Nampa, Idaho. LCG can
handle all elements of landscape installation from complex outdoor living rooms
to lush plantings. Tom take great pride to make sure the project is installed
correctly the first time and that it exceeds your expectations. Tom specialty
is handling complex estate projects, from installation thru maintenance but he
also tackles smaller projects with the same detailed focus.
LCG can handle your typical mowing
and fertilization service to more detailed services that includes annual color
planting, Holiday light design/installation and more.If you are in need of some landscape
construction or maintenance services, please feel free to contact Tom at LCG
today!
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 – Perennial Resource –-A
great site if you like perennials. The have an extensive perennial
encyclopedia, with glorious pictures and detailed descriptions that will get
you excited about perennials!
Hardscape site– Ore Containers–a
cool site if you are looking for some planters, benches or other garden
elements, but you want something a little different… Ore Containers, located
out of North Salt lake City, might just be the ticket!!
I hope you enjoyed our 2013 Winter 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!!
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