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Transform Your Landscape into a Recreational Space for Kids

Transform Your Landscape into a Recreational Space for Kids
Source: Dargan Landscape Architects

There’s no reason for families to sacrifice beautiful landscape designs in an effort to house their children’s play equipment. In fact, the best outdoor areas should include a mix of hardscaping and landscaping elements that are consciously chosen to engage both adults and children.

Your landscape should be thought of as a whole comprised of complementary parts. Hardscape elements and plants should flow into one another to create boundaries and defined spaces used to direct the eye or feet in a specific direction. When done well, your children will be able to experience an outdoor wonderland that encourages movement, engagement with Mother Nature, and plenty of opportunities to use your imagination.

Here are some suggestions for creating landscapes that children and adults alike will thoroughly enjoy together.

Include a space for a vegetable garden. There’s no need to dedicate a large amount of space for a vegetable garden unless you want to. Even small kitchen or container gardens will provide hours of entertainment, delight, activity, learning and — most importantly — abundant harvests. Planting, watering and picking vegetables is an enjoyable activity for everyone.

Use hardscape features for an interactive design. From water features to pathways and raised garden beds, the right hardscape elements will delight your children. Additionally, koi and water plants can live year-round in the right pond. Winding pathways with a blend of plants that block the view around corners add a sense of mystery and wonder. When used safely, fire pits are wonderful places for families to gather, tell stories, and enjoy the soothing nighttime chorus.

Plant flowers for year-round interest. Engage your children when purchasing seeds and flowers to create year-round interest. For example, you can create magical spaces with tall sunflowers planted next to blooming climbers, like morning glories. Then, make sure to include some winter berry-bearing plants to attract winter birds and animals during the colder months.

There’s no yard too large or too small when it comes to creating recreational spaces for children. Larger spaces can accommodate swimming pools or an expanse of lawn sized for croquet, lawn tennis, or badminton. You can read more about detailed plans for multi-purpose landscapes in my book, Lifelong Landscape Design. Contact Dargan Landscape Architects to make your landscape design ideas a reality.

Therapeutic Landscape Designs for Mental Well-Being

Are you bogged down with stress and looking for an outdoor escape? Gardening has long been considered an activity that can be cathartic and calming for those who enjoy working with plants and soil. The idea of nurturing plants to produce a bounty of vegetables and fruits, or creating a beautiful display of flowers and greenery, can provide a space for healing, meditation, restoration, and contemplation. 

Recently, scientists, doctors, and landscape architects have started collaborating to create therapeutic landscape designs for mental well-being.  Unlike traditional gardens, landscape planning for therapeutic gardens involves specific goals.

While a healing garden is designed to encourage overall health and encourage meditation, restoration, and contemplation, therapeutic gardens are designed to go beyond these goals to promote health and well-being. Landscape architects often work closely with the medical community to create gardens that will measurably contribute to a patient’s healing.

While this form of landscape planning is often used in long-term care facilities or rehabilitation centers, you can also opt to work with a landscape architect to develop your own therapeutic garden. Since the goals and measurable outcomes vary with the client, it’s essential to know what you want your therapeutic garden to accomplish.

For example, a garden created for a hospice may focus on quality of life and restoration for families, while a rehabilitation center’s therapeutic garden may serve as an actual component of therapy that provides respite from the hard work of physical therapy.

With 40 years in the business of landscape architecture, Dargan Landscape Architects would be happy to consult with you on a therapeutic garden design. Browse our portfolio of completed projects and contact us to learn how we can help.

Light Up Your Landscape with Votive Candles

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Do you want to light up your garden for late night strolls? Have you been looking to bring whimsical details into your garden design? From safety to creating a new focal point, votive candles can make a visual statement in a variety of garden and landscape designs.

Landscape lighting can be used to create safely-lit pathways, highlight certain features of your yard, or create an intimate setting for evening conversations. And when you are looking for soft light that encourages intimacy and a relaxed atmosphere, votive candles is an excellent choice.

The vessels you choose to contain your votive candles help define the style you wish to convey. Our Dargan Boundless Garden product line has many beautiful votive candles and accessories to make landscape lighting easy.

  1. Our Iron Rope Sconce with glass mounts to any flat surface and features a wrought iron scroll that encases protective glass for your votive candles. Mounted on deck posts or walls surrounding your conversation areas, you can create a soft, warm glow for relaxation or entertaining.
  2. Garden Votive candles are offered in several different color choices of textured glass. Whether used singly or in groups, these votive holders can cast beautiful light from any surface in your garden.
  3. Spring Mix is a selection of six garden votive selections in spring colors that come with their own wrought iron basket to create a beautiful spring centerpiece for any table.
  4. Add some romance to your landscape with our Hanging Wildewood Votive with glass. Wrought iron construction with detailed leaves can create a softly-lit romantic pathway or highlight an intimate conversation area.
  5. For a touch of whimsy in your garden, the Shard Rabbit Planter is the perfect size to accommodate a votive candle and makes a great conversation piece while casting soft light. These can be strategically placed to highlight features or used in a centerpiece to invite conversation.

Dargan Landscape Architects has many products and services that will make your landscape beautiful and unique to your tastes. Please visit our site for more landscape lighting ideas, or contact us to learn how we can design the perfect landscape for you.

How do I Bring Eye-Catching Textures into My Garden?

As sensory beings, incorporating texture into your garden design ideas will generate appeal that draws all passers. Not only will your garden provide a beautiful visual effect with color and depth, it will exude wonderful scents to fulfill the sense of smell and stimulate the sensations of touch and sight when you add texture.

Many people shy away from experimenting with texture worrying that their garden may take on an air of messiness or become overly cluttered. But when done properly, eye-catching garden texture can bring beauty and serenity into a number of settings.

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To create a sense of luxury, try layering colors and textures in your garden beds by combining short and tall plants with similar colors. Shorter plants and flowers should be situated toward the front of the garden, while taller varieties can go in the background. This simple garden design idea really draws to your landscape.

For a look that can be striking, while still giving a sense of serenity at the same time, combine textural elements in a single color such as paving bricks or garden path tiles. These textural elements can be surrounded by smooth pebbles in muted shades or bordered with lush green feather grass. Not only will you be adding several textures, you are adding a striking contrast with the foliage that borders your design.

If you have limited space for your garden design, there are many different options when container gardening. These eye-catching vessels can lift up a garden while incorporating texture. To keep the setting cohesive, you may wish to center your design on a single color scheme.

Finding the right garden design can be a difficult challenge. Dargan Landscape Architects are experts at taking the concept you visualize in your head and bringing them to life. Please visit our website to learn how we can help you bring your design to life.

Catch Mary Palmer Dargan’s Lecture at Magnolia Plantation and Gardens in Charleston

Have you wanted to plant or design a romantic garden for your home? If so, mark your calendar for Friday, November 14th, so you do not miss Hugh and Mary Palmer Dargan’s lecture at Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, located at 3550 Ashley River Road in Charleston. For the general admission adult price of only $15.00, you can attend the lecture in Magnolia’s Orientation Theatre and enjoy the gardens afterwards with a new perspective.

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Source: Dargan Landscape Architects via Facebook

The lecture will explore romantic-style gardening and its influence. Magnolia Plantation and Gardens provides a perfect location for such an event as it is the last large-scale romantic garden in America. As a licensed and vastly experienced landscape architect, Mary Palmer will share the knowledge she has gained from extensive travels both home and abroad, and how they played a part in her romantic garden designs. 

Having designed many beautiful romantic gardens in Charleston and other areas in North Carolina and Georgia, Mary Palmer will discuss how a romantic garden differs from a formal garden. She will also share tips on how to create a romantic garden within your own landscape. Mary Palmer believes, “A romantic garden provides the perfect canvas for creative thought and inspiration to solace your soul.” Not only will you learn the fundamental elements to this style of gardening, you are guaranteed to find some inspiration in Mary Palmer’s words.

Steeped in history, Magnolia Plantation has been family-owned for more than 300 years. In the late 17th century the gardens were started and during the 18th century their beauty and size expanded exponentially, however, it was not until the 19th century that they took on the grand scale that they maintain today. 

Join Mary Palmer of Dargan Landscape Architects as she details this beautiful, romantic style of gardening and bask in the beauty of the Magnolia Plantation and Gardens.