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Relax, Rejuvenate in a Garden Spa or Sauna

Relax, Rejuvenate in a Garden Spa or Sauna
Source: HGTV via Pinterest

It’s no wonder why designers everywhere are creating spa-like environments in their client’s interior and exterior spaces. Spas provide experiences that are so relaxing and beneficial to your health that they are sought after by homeowners who want to recreate that experience in the comfort of their own homes.

When we made the decision to install a far-infrared sauna in our potting shed, it was part luxury item and part health equipment. Of course, the health benefits of far-infrared saunas are no secret.

Health Benefits of Far-Infrared Saunas

  • Detoxification: Due to a rise in the core temperature, the resulting detoxifying sweat occurs at a cellular level, outing harmful toxins.
  • Lowering Blood Pressure: Sweating encourages the heart to beat faster, which increases blood flow, thereby lowering blood pressure and aiding circulation.
  • Weight Loss: You can burn up to 600 calories just by relaxing in your garden spa! The cause is an increase in cardiac and metabolic rates, which burns calories.
  • Anti-Aging and Skin Purification: Infrared spas promote collagen production which reduces wrinkles and battles the symptoms of aging.
  • Pain Relief and Relaxation: When heat penetrates tissues, joints, and muscles, minor to severe pain can be readily decreased. And unlike traditional saunas, infrared saunas are gentle, soothing, and therapeutic. The deep tissue sweat is relaxing and invigorating. I’ve found that a relaxing swim followed by a massage or sauna is a fantastic way to de-stress!

Typically, a one-person sauna is around forty-eight inches wide and thirty-six inches deep. We absolutely prefer far-infrared saunas because they promote perspiration while allowing you to avoid the overwhelmingly hot feeling associated with traditional hot rocks and wood-fired moist saunas. Far-infrared saunas are, however, electrically powered and need to be housed in a shelter. A conveniently placed outdoor shower is equally desirable due to the high amount of perspiration.

Garden spas can be constructed of stone, self-contained in a wooden tub, or ordered in plastic form for in-ground use. Spas are often associated with swimming pools and should be located near the pool house. They have hot water and massage jets that are operated by a pump commonly housed adjacent to the spa. While sizes of spas do vary, the most efficient ones are approximately five to six feet across and can comfortably hold two people. Generally, they are three feet deep with a conveniently placed seating ledge.

To see how we can help you relax and rejuvenate in a garden spa or sauna, contact Dargan Landscape Architects today to schedule a consultation.

Build a Rain Garden for a Sustainable Landscape

Build a Rain Garden for a Sustainable Landscape
Source: Pinterest

At a typical home, rainwater gushes out of the downspout, across the lawn, into the street, and down a storm drain — never to be thought of by the homeowner again. What they’re probably not considering is pollution from storm drains is dumped into local streams, rivers, and bays. The clever few take rainfall and build rain gardens, and here’s why:

  • Your simple gutter water can be diverted into a visually stunning garden. Soil in the planting beds works like a sponge, filtering the water and allowing it to percolate into the surrounding area.
  • Because rain gardens capture and filter water from roofs, driveways, and parking lots, they actually improve water quality in nearby bodies of water.
  • You can inexpensively store over one hundred gallons of collected water to use for your garden and other outdoor purposes.

Tips on How to Build a Rain Garden for a Sustainable Landscape

Before you begin, ask your local Cooperative Extension Office to inform you about soil mix, garden size, and plants for your specific area. Start by obtaining one or more water storage barrels. You can acquire them used or online; just be sure to thoroughly clean them with soapy water. A barrel that can hold between 30 and 55 gallons is best, and you can connect two or three together as part of the same water collection system.

Creating a rich plant basin to collect and filter storm water involves three planting zones for wet, semi-wet, and dry conditions. When choosing native plants for your rain garden, you’ll need to consider the height, bloom time, color, and overall texture of each plant. Choosing plants that bloom at different times will result in a beautiful, long flowering season.

To give your rain garden the best chance of flourishing, seek out an area of your landscape that isn’t already overly soggy. We also suggest selecting plants that have a well-established root system. Generally, plants need one inch of water per week immediately after planting, so be sure to baby them!

Contact Dargan Landscape Architects today to start planning your sustainable rain garden.

Toad Hall’s Gardens Evoke Folklore & Spirit Through Native Plants

Toad Hall's Gardens Evoke Folklore & Spirit Through Native Plants
Source: Architectural Digest

The tale of Toad Hall is steeped in folklore. Toad Hall is a 32-acre residential property located in a magnificent valley in Tennessee’s Great Smoky Mountains. The property boasts historic log structures, a passageway barn, a writer’s cottage, a stone bank barn, and a potting shed. When it came time to design the landscape, the owners turned to our team here at Dargan Landscape Architects.

The owners had a vision to turn the whole site into a lush English-style garden with native plants, natural materials, picturesque pathways, and majestic trees. The approach and arrival sequence takes you on a long pastoral drive amidst covered bridges, wildflower fields, grazing sheep, a trout stream, and even a little white chapel. The trout stream runs parallel to the drive and leads you to the heart of Toad Hall, a meadow nestled between majestic mountain woodland and soaring mossy boulder cliffs on the edge of Blackberry Farm.

A geothermal pond in a private enclave near the trout stream makes for a mini oasis. Complete with a tulip poplar island with turkey sculptures, the picturesque pond inherently ignites the same childlike wonder as “The Adventures of Huck Finn.” Weeping willows line the lake, and a crescent moon can be spotted on the door of the log guest cottage. Rustic locust posts stand in place of lamp standards.

Arriving on the grounds, you are greeted by a gravel courtyard framed by a beautiful barn and stone shed. A pathway of orchard stones takes you through a grassy forecourt enclosed by billowing boxwoods. From tulip poplars to old-fashioned hydrangea to antique roses, native flowers weave in and out of the property, forming postcard-like backdrops.

The centerpiece of the site is a stunning eighteenth-century kitchen garden. The period design consists of four parts enclosed by an edible natural fence of espalier and apple trees. The four areas are separated by Kingsville boxwoods and are connected by rosemary and lavender in the center. Edges are constructed of tumbled cobblestone, and walkways are made of weathered stepping stones nestled in grass which help to blend the garden gracefully into the natural surroundings.

Read more about the enchanting landscape and log homes of Toad Hall in the Architectural Digest article online.

We’d love to see how we can help create your own home utopia. To learn more about our landscape design services, contact Dargan Landscape Architects online or by calling 404-231-3889.

How Architectural Design Integrates with Landscape Design

How Architectural Design Integrates with Landscape Design
Source: Dargan Landscape Architects via Houzz

A well-designed landscape complements the home while blending it into the natural surroundings. The best way to ensure a landscape design that enhances property value is to take cues from the home’s architectural style.

Each architectural style is associated with building materials that can become the foundation for a fantastic landscape design. Whether it’s a combination of brick and wood or fieldstone and stucco, the colors and textures of building materials can help to harmonize the home with the landscape to create a naturally beautiful and cohesive design. These materials can specifically be used for freestanding walls and paved areas, creating a direct connection between the home and landscape.

Here are some other questions that can help to jumpstart a landscape design based on the home’s architectural style:

  • What are the dominant hues of the home and building materials?
  • What is the size and mass of your home? Is it a little architectural gem, cottage/bungalow, mini-mansion, or mega-mansion?
  • What is your home’s relationship to the ground plane?

Taking cues from architecture goes far beyond materials. Scale, for instance, is determined by the home’s size and is paramount in designing terraces, parking courts, foundation plantings, and other improvements.

Foundation plantings, such as ivy and boxwoods, are a popular design element for anchoring and merging the home into the rest of the landscape. Before drainage solutions like gutters, paving ran right up to the edges of homes, and architects like Andrea Palladio – a sixteenth century Italian architect – mastered the art of stand-alone home designs. Now, landscape designs can incorporate foundation plants that not only ground and balance the home, but add to its attractiveness.

In the past, consistent architecture and limited planting options made integrating homes rather self-explanatory. Today, however, with the melding of architectural styles and the variety of plants available, knowing how to create a planting scheme that will marry with the landscape, scale, and style of the home is paramount.

For larger homes and mansions, large-scale shrubs and shade trees can bring it down in scale to connect it with the landscape. When designing for cottages and little architectural gems, go for plants that create an intimate and personal atmosphere. Historic homes and old photographs can be great inspiration for planting schemes.

Dargan Landscape Architects would love to help bring your home to life with a landscape design that highlights its best architectural features. Contact us to learn more.