Landscape Design Tips

Join Mary Palmer Dargan at the North Georgia Camellia Society

November 10, 2014

Are you struggling to bring camellias into your landscape design? On Monday, Nov. 10, Mary Palmer Dargan would like to invite you to a lecture titled, “Camellias Dazzle your Landscape Design with Flowers, Form and Structure.” Presented by Mary Palmer herself, this lecture will be held at the North Georgia Camellia Society, which meets at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens in Atlanta, Ga on the second Monday of each month.

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Source: North Georgia Camellia Society Facebook

As a licensed and storied landscape architect and designer, Mary Palmer will share her knowledge with you about creating idyllic garden designs featuring camellias. Due to the vast variety, size, color and multi-season blooming capabilities of this versatile flowering plant, understanding the important concepts in Mary’s lecture will help inspire your creative endeavors. Mary will also share some of her tips and tricks on how best to work with camellias.

Members of the non-profit North Georgia Camellia Society meet on the second Monday of every month from September through April at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens. They share their passion for camellias, as well as their ideas for grafting, planting and maintaining these beautiful plants.

As low-maintenance shrubs, camellias can easily be incorporated into garden designs as a privacy screen or even a shrub border. Although the appropriate spot for planting is critical to their growth success, camellias are a hardy shrub and can grow as tall as 12 feet. And according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, they thrive best in hardiness zones seven through nine.

Come join Mary Palmer Dargan on Nov. 10 and learn more about this incredible flowering shrub. To learn more about Mary Palmer and Dargan Landscape Architects, we invite you to browse around our website, or contact us to discuss the design and development of your idyllic garden.

How Should I Prepare My Landscape for Winter Weather?

October 23, 2014

Winter will soon be upon us, but that doesn’t mean your garden duties can be placed on the back burner. There are several important landscape maintenance procedures to perform before the cold snap arrives. By preparing your landscape for winter weather, you’ll ensure grass, trees and perennials survive the winter and that beds will be ready for new plants in the spring.

While leaves can provide valuable nutrients to grass and soil, thick layers of wet leaves can smother your lawn when they compact. If you have a large amount of leaves on your lawn, it’s best to rake them into a big pile that can compost over the winter, or to use a mulching mower to shred them so they’re not as heavy.

To best prepare your trees for the cold weather, you should protect smaller, new plantings with chicken wire or specialty cages to keep animals that feed on tender bark. Remember to fertilize young trees, and if you live in a fairly dry climate, water them until they’re well-saturated before the ground freezes. For large trees, trim off any unhealthy branches that may crack or break under the weight of snow. Lastly, spread a good layer of mulch around your trees to help regulate the temperature.

Contrary to the notion that perennials need lots of care in the winter, a gardener has the opportunity to be part of the web of life, and do nothing. If you like order and structure in a perennial garden, simply break or bend down the stems and place them on the ground so they become natural mulch.

To help pollinators overwinter, a messy perennial garden is not all bad! By leaving seed heads and stems standing and intact over winter, native bees, eggs from butterflies and other pollinators are allowed to complete a natural cycle. As the plant matter decays, organic bits nourish the ground and the eggs fall with it. Pupae who hatch therefore remain in situ, ready to help your garden, and other gardens nearby, be pollinated and to set seed in the future.

Leaving 6-8″ of stems cut back or bent also provides places for birds to perch and peck thru the leaf litter looking for insect larvae…and essential food to nourish them through the winter.

Performing landscape maintenance will ensure your vegetation not only survives the winter, but thrives in the spring. Visit Dargan Landscape Architects for beautiful landscape inspiration in the autumn months, or contact us today about your landscape design.

Enhance Your Landscape with an Outdoor Fireplace or Fire Pit

April 29, 2014

An outdoor fireplace or fire pit is one of the most attractive, useful and special hardscape design features you can install in your backyard landscape. Why? Because they can be used year-round, become a part of your outdoor kitchen and be a spot where your family, friends and guests will make memories that last a lifetime.

There are so many different styles of outdoor fireplaces and fire pits, so we thought we we’d share some of them with you and discuss the best applications of each for your backyard.

Extend your outdoor living space
Oftentimes, we see outdoor fireplaces added directly to the perimeter landscape, which instantly increases the square footage of your home. Your fireplace can be built directly on the outside of your house, tying into an existing chimney system on the inside. Additional seating alongside the fireplace will enhance its function. You can also build a fireplace niche on a wall that extends adjacent to your home. This is ideal if you live in an area that’s windy or with close neighbors, in order to create a more private and sheltered courtyard area.

Atlanta landscape architects — Source: Pedersen Associates via Houzz

Atlanta GA landscape architects — Source: Cornerstone Architects via Houzz

Extend or link the perimeter
If you like the idea of having a fireplace or fire pit further away from your home, we recommend placing it on the extended perimeter of your patio or backyard border. This can be a wonderful way to use the perimeter to link one area of your yard to another.

Charleston landscape architects — Source: Mary Price via Houzz

landscape architects in Atlanta — Source: Simpson Design Group Architects via Houzz

A remote focal feature
Because outdoor fire pits tend to be late night congregation areas, many homeowners choose to keep the space removed from the main house. This helps buffer indoor occupants from late-night conversation and laughter. It also protects those around the fire from the glow of exterior house lights, creating a sense of privacy and a better view of the stars.

Cashiers landscape architects — Dargan Landscape Architects

Western NC landscape architects — Dargan Landscape Architects
Photo Featured in Lifelong Landscape Design

Adding a fireplace or fire pit to your outdoor landscape will provide enjoyable evenings for a lifetime and will also enhance the resale value of your home. If you’re ready to discuss adding a fireplace to your hardscape or a fire pit in your landscape master plan, contact Dargan Landscape Architects.

Outdoor Sanctuaries

April 25, 2014

As spring continues to bloom, it’s hard not to spend your day outdoors. In an outdoor sanctuary, you’ll find the best of both worlds — wonderful fresh air and natural beauty, along with the intimacy of the great indoors. In Mary Palmer’s book Timeless Landscape Design, she shares some features of the best in class for this category to help you get the most out of your outdoor sanctuaries, whether you’re looking to add a terraced perimeter, courtyard, walled garden or all of the above.

Terraced Perimeters
A terraced perimeter is a paved outdoor area that behaves as an extension of the nearest room(s). They make the adjoining rooms feel and appear larger and can add space and seating that may be lacking otherwise. Consider adding a series of these areas to create a linked perimeter that wraps around your home. By simply bordering your home with a terraced perimeter, you’ll create a 24/7, multipurpose space for relaxing, eating and entertaining.

Buckhead landscape architects — Dargan Landscape Architects
Photo Featured in Timeless Landscape Design

Courtyards
Courtyards are paved outdoor sanctuaries in which two out of four enclosing walls are shared with the home itself. The size, wall height and wall material used in courtyards vary depending on building codes and personal preference. It’s best to choose a style that will appear seamless with your home’s existing style instead of making a separate design statement.

Charleston SC landscape architects — Dargan Landscape Architects
Photo Featured in Timeless Landscape Design

For privacy, walls enclosing courtyards are typically six to eight feet tall. Growing vines and creeping plants along your walls can soften their solid appearance. To achieve this effect, try adding a custom treillage to your wall, or support lattices that guide the direction of your plant’s growth. Water elements are perfect for drowning out unwanted noise, creating ambiance and providing a lovely focal point. Remember that every decision and selection appears magnified in smaller spaces, so your area should be carefully planned and executed.

Walled Gardens
Walled gardens cover a wide variety of functions and are less room-like than courtyards. They enclose everything from swimming pools to formal gardens to lawns. They also operate as separate entities, not necessarily adjoined to any other rooms or walls of the home. You can even situate a small courtyard within a walled garden to create more dimension.

Charleston landscape design — Dargan Landscape Architects
Photo Featured in Timeless Landscape Design

Are you inspired by these lush garden ideas? Contact Dargan Landscape Architects, and let us help you turn your home’s outdoor sanctuary dreams into a reality.

P.S. – Don’t forget to join us at The Garden Show of Buckhead this weekend! Hugh and Mary Palmer will unveil their miniature landscapes at the event, which takes place at The Buckhead Theatre Friday through Sunday. Be sure to stop by on Saturday from 4 to 5 pm for Mary Palmer’s Big Birthday!

Adding a Terrace to Your Landscape’s Perimeter Spaces

April 23, 2014

Terraces are one of the most important aspects of your landscape’s perimeter spaces, especially for those who live in smaller suburban homes and townhouses, where they may comprise the majority — if not the entirety — of your landscape plan. A terrace, or patio, is any paved surface that joins the house, regardless of its size. A well-designed terrace will be congruent with the existing architecture and will also create a seamless transition to the subsequent landscape, providing homeowners with more ways to use their outdoor living space to the fullest.

If you’re considering the addition of a terrace for your landscape, consider the following tips from Mary Palmer’s book, Timeless Landscape Design:

Size: The first thing you’ll want to consider is how large or small your terrace should be.

Small. A small terrace is ideal for an intimate bistro table for two. In cases where outdoor space is limited, a 6’x6′ space will suffice. For a sightly larger dining area, you may want to allow for a 12’x12′ area.

Buckhead GA landscape architects — Dargan Landscape Architects
Photo Featured in Timeless Landscape Design

Medium. If you entertain often and enjoy dining alfresco, we recommend at least a medium-sized terrace, measuring 12’x18′. This will accommodate two 60-inch round tables, which can each comfortably seat six to eight people with room to move.

Large. If you commonly host large gatherings, a large terrace should measure at least 24’x36′ and accommodate three 60-inch tables.

Larger terraces are often required in backyards with a pool to provide enough patio space for entering/exiting the pool and lounging. Without ample space, the pool may become littered with landscape debris.

Shapes. A terrace’s shape is usually determined by its function. If the terrace will have a grill, that should be accounted for to prevent impeding traffic flow. Pools and water features affect the shape, as does the size of the house — the larger the house, the larger the terrace for proportion’s sake. Ground-level terraces are often designed with a round or bowed shape to create a graceful aesthetic that flows into nature.

Materials. The two most traditional terrace materials are brick and stone. The largest surface area is called the “field.” If you choose a different material for the edge, this area is referred to as “edging” or “banding.” The materials and colors you choose are completely dependent on your existing architecture and landscape features. Monochromatic palettes are optimal for a soothing ambiance. Contrasting colors and patterns will also liven things up.

Sea Island GA landscape architects — Dargan Landscape Architects
Photo Featured in Timeless Landscape Design

For more information on terraces and perimeter spaces, purchase a copy of Timeless Landscape Design, or contact Dargan Landscape Architects for professional assistance with your next master plan or tuneup project.

Landscape Design Tips

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