garden design

Inspired Spring Gardening with Raised Beds

March 25, 2015

The benefits of raised garden beds abound, and there’s no better way to ensure a bountiful garden than with sturdy and reliable raised beds. Gardening in boxes or contained areas makes it easier to maintain better soil and prevent weeds and pests. With more control over nutrient levels, soil temperature, and seed distribution, raised beds allow you to enjoy higher yields and longer growing seasons.

Raised beds not only make for beautiful and healthy gardens, but they can also add incredible aesthetic value to landscapes. As we enter the tail-end of the winter season, we’re dreaming of lush and gorgeous spring gardens with inspiring raised beds that are design elements in themselves.

The classic raised bed is constructed with a wooden box. These are the traditional structures most people picture when hearing raised beds. Wooden raised beds can easily be designed with ledges on top to provide convenient seating for nurturing and enjoying gardens.
Great for garden designs that are outside of the box, stone walls can be used to make creative and more organic-shaped raised beds. The cool tones and natural textures of stone masonry additionally create naturally stunning contrasts in the garden.
Metal raised beds can be fabricated from troughs, stock tanks, culverts, slabs of steel or Cor-Ten. What’s so intriguing about metal raised beds is the industrial, modern, or rustic feel they can bring into garden designs. These types of beds not only create up-to-date designs but are long-lasting and weather-resistant.
Other materials that can be used for raised gardens include rock, cinderblock, and brick. But no matter what materials are employed, there are still plenty of opportunities to create a custom garden design with the shapes, positioning, and configuration of raised beds.
Beds can be configured into a grid pattern or organized to outline and surround a yard or patio. They can be terraced on a slope or laid into narrow rows like a small farm. Galvanized culvert beds or metal troughs can be arranged in a way that makes for a whimsical, shabby-chic garden or a chic, contemporary design.

Raised beds can be used to achieve any style garden, from formal designs to clean and contemporary landscapes to more casual, cottage-inspired looks. They can also be practical and functional. Picture being able to cook in an outdoor kitchen with herb gardens in nearby raised beds, or imagine being able to smell herbs as you dine and entertain al fresco.

Our team at Dargan Landscape Architects has the expertise and passion to design the garden of your dreams. Whether you’ve always wanted an edible garden or your entire landscape could use an update, our team would love to help. Contact us online or call 404.231.3889.

What is the Best Way to Incorporate Water Into My Landscape?

February 25, 2015

There’s a reason why water features have been included in gardens and dwellings for centuries. In early Pompeian, Greek and Roman times, water features were considered a necessity for pleasurable living. We know this not only because of actual remains but because of depictions on frescoed walls. Today, the most popular ways to incorporate water into your landscape are with a fountain, stream or waterfall feature.

Archaeology findings have revealed the lavish designs of ornamental fountains in early Pompeian gardens and European estates. These magnificent fountains served as both a glamorous status symbol as well as a therapeutic tool for healthier, happier lives. Today, the design possibilities with fountains are endless, and they can be customized to suit your personal aesthetic and lifestyle.

If you are going with a stand-alone fountain design, the considerations you would need to make would be related to height and position within your landscape. It can include a low retaining wall that provides seating or it can be flush with grade. When choosing materials, you can take cues from your home’s style and architecture. If you are looking for your fountain to be bursting with greenery, just remember that there should be 70 percent water surface coverage above or below. Use plants with a diversity of heights to create a beautiful frame for the fountain.

If you are looking for more of an auditory experience with your water feature, consider a waterfall that cascades into a stream and collects in a serene pond. You’ll want to work with a professional who understands how to design a waterfall that will produce the most pleasing sounds. With a series of falls, consider installing separate pumps for each waterfall for easier management and repair. One piece of equipment we recommend for your waterfall is a sump pump because it is so reliable and durable as well as incredibly versatile and rather inexpensive. These can be used to create a good, strong flow for your waterfall as well as a babbling brook in a stream.

An existing slope can be the perfect place for a waterfall. Make sure you are working with a designer who is thoughtful about making it look natural rather than man-made. Surround the waterfall with wetland plants like mosses, and add beautiful blooming plants like water lilies to ponds. You can also look into native varieties of plants such as milkweed, which will provide beautiful coloration with cascading flowers during the growing seasons.

We invite you to watch our video on water features which includes a wonderful talk from a waterfall design expert. Contact Dargan Landscape Architects to see how we can help you design and install your own custom fountain or waterfall.

What are the Best Gardening & Landscape Ideas for Empty-Nesters?

February 23, 2015

A new chapter deserves a new space that will enhance your quality of life. If you and your significant other are looking to create an outdoor room, consider a custom design that will provide more than just a treat for the eyes.

Freedom and Mobility: Whether you are downsizing or you are just looking to optimize your home and property, the right design can result in a multi-purpose outdoor space that is cleverly leveraged to take advantage of every square foot and feature.

Nature: Consider a design that will encourage you to spend more time with nature on a daily basis. Include a table and chair for dining al fresco or a comfortable sitting area for reading the newspaper while you drink your morning coffee or tea. Bring your landscape to life and create ways to interact with nature by incorporating a bird feeder and plants that attract butterflies.

Therapeutic: You’ll enjoy incredible benefits with a landscape design that allows you to slow down, quiet your mind and find peace and tranquility. Tending to a garden, touching plants or simply just being outside can promote a healthier lifestyle as it reduces stress and reignites the senses.

Social: Designing an outdoor room that lends itself to social gatherings can also significantly enhance your quality of life. In addition to dining areas, consider other ways to encourage social engagement such as outdoor games or a fire pit or fireplace with plenty of extra seating.

Active Use: Get yourself moving outdoors with a personalized design. Whether you like to practice meditation or tai chi, or you would rather go for an invigorating swim in a lap pool, consider a home spa unit or fitness space to provide a way to enjoy a different level of activity or exercise at home.

Passive Use: You don’t have to work up a sweat. Simply creating an outdoor space for enjoying downtime and quiet “me time” for reflecting and clearing the mind can do wonders for your health and happiness.

Contact Dargan Landscape Architects to learn how we can help you achieve a custom multi-purpose landscape design.

How Can I Create a Healthy & Sustainable Garden?

February 20, 2015

Establishing a garden that is healthy for both you and mother nature requires careful consideration of the complex and intricate web of life. Here at Dargan Landscape Architects, we follow six tenets of sustainability in order to achieve lifelong landscape designs that are holistically sound.

Tenet #1: Leave Nature Alone

Mature trees can be gravely affected by construction, losing their vitality and dying over a period of four or five years. Because this process is so slow, many don’t realize just how fragile trees are. Simple practices like laying down six inches of mulch and defining traffic pathways can save the lives of trees.

Tenet #2: Restore the Balance of Nature

Everything we do and build has an impact on the environment. Even the smallest of acts can have a massive ripple effect that negatively effects an ecosystem. Creating healthy soil layers with organic components for gardens and planting baby trees can help to prevent erosion, preserve habitats, and rebuild damaged ecosystems.

Tenet #3: Sculpt Your Niche Using Sustainable Building Materials

When designing and constructing a landscape, the materials you use can be just as harmful to the environment as construction. Natural gravel driveway is a green alternative to asphalt, which has a high carbon footprint. As opposed to concrete, previous paving options prevent stormwater runoff.

Tenet #4: Harvest & Conserve Water

Think of your property as its own watershed, which can be harvested to meet all of your water needs. Cisterns and temporary storage systems such as rain barrels, rain gardens, underground tanks, pumps, and irrigation systems can all be employed to gather your own water.

Tenet #5: Let Nature Rest

Harsh, bright lights glaring night after night can slowly damage vegetation. Make an effort to use minimal low lighting. This will not only be better for your garden but will create a nice, warm, glowing ambiance.

Tenet #6: Keep Up the Good Work

The work doesn’t end once the garden is built. Keep up with mowing, chopping, composting, mulching and spreading. Learn about organic pest control practices. Create a calendar and set up a system for disciplined nurturing.

At Dargan Landscape Architects, we’re eager to assist our clients with their landscape designs and dreams. For further assistance and information, contact us today.

What’s the Best Way to Create an Outdoor Social Setting?

February 16, 2015

Outdoor rooms rank among the top requests with homeowners and homebuyers. And it’s no wonder because there are so many purposes and benefits that can be enjoyed with outdoor living spaces.

Maybe you want an outdoor venue for entertaining guests and throwing fabulous parties or an intimate space for dining al fresco with close family and friends. Maybe you envision an outdoor space that enhances the look and feel of your home while providing a safe and convenient place for your children to play outside. Perhaps you just want a space that will encourage you to spend more time in nature and find better ways to entertain. With the right landscaping, you can achieve a gorgeous outdoor room that brings beauty, style, health and pleasure to your home.

Ensuring your home has a space for gathering outdoors can bring wonderful health benefits to your household. After all, social interaction is healthy for all individuals at any stage of life as it promotes healthy physical and mental development.

Outdoor social settings are usually designed within the perimeter of the home, which means around seventy to a hundred feet from the house. These spaces are most popularly used for social activities and entertainment but can also be strategically designed to serve as multipurpose spaces. For example, a dining terrace can be decorated with vegetables planted in pots, all of which could be adjacent to a small outdoor spa. With the help of a professional, your outdoor room can be carefully planned to take advantage of every spatial opportunity.

Outdoor rooms for socializing can include decks, terraces, pavilions, loggias or lawns. They can include grills, wet bars or even entire outdoor kitchens. They can be more subtle such as a bench niche in a shaded area under a large tree or an outdoor fireplace or firepit to allow you to use your outdoor space year-round.

We’d love to help spark some ideas for your very own outdoor room for social gatherings. Feel free to browse through our photos for inspiration or contact us at Dargan Landscape Architects to begin discussing a potential project.

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