Water features can add a lot to an outdoor living space. Of course, a swimming pool is one water feature, but there are many others. Water features can add the bubbling of a brook, the roar of a waterfall, or the sound of animals using the water feature to take a bath. A sense of peacefulness often comes over people while watching a water feature. Adding fish and aquatic plants can create an ecosystem that attracts butterflies, bees, and birds to your yard.
Types Of Water Features
There are many types of water features you can add to your landscape. Starting from the smallest features and working our way to the larger features, here are a few ideas to think about.
Patio Pond
Water features don’t have to take up much room. Patio container ponds can fit almost anywhere you want to have the sights and sounds of water. These small container ponds have aquatic plants and a small fountain or waterfall to keep the water from getting stagnant. They can even support a fish or two.
Patio Pond
Rainwater Harvesting Feature
Are you harvesting your rainwater? You can take advantage of the available water to have a fountain that gurgles in your landscape. Because it comes from a reservoir, rainwater fountains are very waterwise. The water is filtered, goes over the water feature, goes back into the reservoir, and the cycle is repeated with little water from outside the system. You also have the benefit of rain filling the system so you don’t have to use the hose as much.
Decorative Fountains
You can have small water features without the plants and fish. Decorative fountains come in small packages within a container or over a stand of rustic rods in the landscape. They also come in big packages, such as a large column of water falling into a large basin. Either way, they are mesmerizing to watch. They also attract birds and butterflies, adding a flash of wings while they drink and play in the water. The nice thing about this type of water feature is that it can be plug and play and easy to set up.
Fire and Water
Fire and water seem such opposites. However, they can form a dramatic feature when melded together. The fire lights up the landscape near it and provides a focal point for your water feature. The flickering flame and smooth water form a very relaxing and dramatic duo. These tend to be very popular around pools.
Pondless Waterfalls
If you want a water feature that is a little more dynamic than a fountain or patio pond, a pondless waterfall can do that for you. This could be a babbling brook running down a drainage area in the landscape or beside a set of stairs. It could also be a tall waterfall crashing down a wall. Little babbling brooks are great for kids to explore and interact with nature. This is a good way to get a lower maintenance water feature that you won’t have to spend too much time on.
Landscape Pond
Landscaping ponds can be large or only slightly larger than a patio pond. The size of the pond can dictate the types of plants you can put in them. Deep ponds need floating plants, while shallow ponds can consist of anchored plants. Either way, plants soften the transition from land to water, so it is not as sharply defined as waterfall. These ponds will attract dragonflies, butterflies, birds, and local wildlife.
Koi Ponds
Depending on the size and depth of the pond, you can add colorful koi to it. The pond has to be large enough around and deep enough that it does not heat up too much in the summer or freeze solidly in the winter. Koi eat plants and insect larvae, so if you want special plants in the pond, you will have to block off areas of the pond for them. Koi are fun to feed and become quite friendly when they associate you with their food.
Lighting Your Water Feature
Water features do not exist in a vacuum. They should be lighted so that they are visible at night. This makes them a focal point as well as keeps guests from falling in a pond they didn’t notice. Small patio ponds can be lighted with submersible lights that shine up from the bottom. Larger features can be lighted from the water or the land or even from trees above.
Bringing It All Together
Water features can really improve the look and feel of your outdoor living space. However, setting them up just right and maintaining them can be a chore. Royal Creations Architectural Landscaping can help you pick the best water features for your landscape so that you will have a peaceful, relaxing space of your own. Contact Royal Creations Architectural Landscaping today and we can start the discussion of the best way to incorporate the sound of water into your outdoor space.
It has been a long, hard winter, and landscapes are greening up and coming to life this spring. Now that we are getting past the chance of overnight frost, you can use hardy annual color to brighten your outside living space in time for Mother’s Day. There are several annuals that can be planted now to bring some color to your landscape after a tough winter season. Here are five of our favorites that tend to do well in our climate during the summer season.
Begonias (Begonia x benaratensis)
Begonias
Begonias have pretty flowers May through September. It is treated as an annual here because it is sensitive to frost. The BIG SERIES is new for 2021. Begonia x benaratensis is a hybrid wax begonia. It has a compact, mounding, bushy habit with dark green to bronze leaves. The flowers are in shades of white, pink, and red. There are also bicolor plants. The BIG Series flowers earlier and tolerates heat better than other begonias. It can be grown in the sun, partial sun, and dappled sunlight. Begonias are poisonous to humans, cats, dogs, and horses, so be aware of where you place them if you are a pet owner. Hanging baskets could be a safer spot.
Salvia (Salvia officinalis)
sage
Salvia is in the mint family and has very fragrant leaves with spikes of densely packed flowers in blue, purple, pink, red, white, and yellow. It attracts bees, hummingbirds, and butterflies. Salvia is low maintenance and loves the sun. They require well-drained soil, so work well in raised beds. Sage is also a type of Salvia that grows into a nice bush about 4-5 feet tall. The blue flowers smell good, too. If you remove spent flower stalks it will cause the plant to bloom longer. Sage is drought-resistant.
Impatiens (Impatiens hawkeri)
Impatiens
Impatiens are originally from Tanzania and Mozambique. They are planted as annuals here because they can’t tolerate the cold of our winters. Impatiens are short plants. Most of them top out around 18 inches. Impatiens grow best with morning sun and afternoon shade. They will tolerate full shade but won’t flower as well. They will not tolerate full sun. Impatiens bloom May through September. The leaves are dark green to bronze to variegated. The flowers come in many colors: white, pink, orange, red, violet, and purple. Impatiens are easily available in cell packs from most nurseries.
Sunpatiens
Sunpatiens
Sunpatiens are impatiens that have been hybridized into a plant that will thrive in full sun to part shade. It also tolerates hot and humid weather that would kill regular impatiens. These plants want evenly moist, well-drained soil, so do well in containers and in raised beds. They are very low maintenance. Sunpatiens plants come in three size categories: compact, spreading, and vigorous. The compact and the spreading both do well in containers. The vigorous need to be planted in a flower bed as they spread out and grow fast and would outgrow a hanging basket quickly.
Sweet Potato Vine (Ipomoea batatas)
Sweet Potato Vine
Ornamental sweet potato vine is the same species as the sweet potato tuber. The ornamental one has just been bred for its leaves, not its tuber. This vine thrives in the full sun but will tolerate part shade. These vines are grown for their leaves, which vary depending on the hybrid. They range from almost black to chartreuse green or variegated. Depending on the cultivar, sweet potato vines can be anywhere from 5-10 feet long so make sure you plant it somewhere that it doesn’t overrun the plants in its path. This plant can be toxic to dogs and cats, so beware.
Growing Annuals In Containers
You can plant any of these plants in containers, ranging from hanging baskets to large showy pots. Most containers look best with several different kinds of plants in them. Gardeners talk about plants as thrillers, fillers, or spillers. You need all three in a mixed container. Thrillers are the spotlight plant that pulls people’s eyes toward them. Fillers are the background plants that fill out a container. Spillers are plants with a trailing habit that flow over the edge of the container. Usually, there is only one thriller and one or two spillers in the container, and fillers make up the rest of the plants.
Plants in containers need to be watered more frequently. They also heat up faster. Be sure you fill your container with plants that have the same water and fertilizer needs, or some of them will die. It is also a good idea to get a container large enough to hold a good amount of soil. The more soil in the container the longer it will take to dry out. We also recommend using packing peanuts or gravel in the bottom of the containers to improve drainage.
Planting hardy annual cover is work. If you don’t have the time or don’t know what to get and where to put it, Royal Creations Architectural Landscaping can help. We can plant the annual flowers for you. We can also help you decide what to get and where it would be the most effective in your landscape. We will even maintain the plants and pull them out when they are spent in the fall. Contact Royal Creations Architectural Landscaping now to schedule your consultation and have your landscape brightened up this season.
When you contact Royal Creations Architectural Landscaping to help you with your landscape, we have a landscaping design process we go through on the way to the perfect landscape for you. Each step is important to ensure a quality design and professional approach.
Landscape Design Field Sketch done on-site in first visit
Program. The program is a list of wants and needs for the project. We will start with a consultation where ask questions until we understand exactly what your wants and needs are for your landscape. Don’t worry about being unrealistic. Let us know the goal of your landscaping, what you want are trying to accomplish. This gives us a place to start, and we can have an open and honest conversation about budgets, timelines, and priorities. To begin the process, we use this scheduling link where you can share photos and a brief description of your project to get the process started and book your consultation. https://royalcreationslandscapingconsultation.as.me/schedule.php
Site Analysis. We will walk around your property so that we can understand the opportunities it presents. Of course, we will also make note of the constraints we find. We will take measurements and photos so we can begin to plan where everything goes. We will gather satellite and aerial photographs as needed. We will also be taking note items such as topographic, climatic, land use, vegetation, and access studies to make sure we know everything we need to know to construct your landscape properly.
3D Models help to visualize projects
Conceptual Design. This is where things begin to come together. We start with a base map that we can create to scale or use a survey plan (provided by you or the surveyor) to make sure we put things where they need to go and avoid putting them where they do not belong. We will look at the existing vegetation, review the terrain, the buildings, and evaluate the current uses for the buildings. We deal with environmental factors such as sun, wind, site orientation, shade, water flows, and watering needs, noise, soil, and other factors that will determine where we can plant and what we can plant. We will also start laying out the spatial arrangements, circulation routes, bed layout, and plant massing. At the end of this process, we will provide you with a field sketch that is to scale for your property. This plan will include preliminary details of the planting design, drainage concept, hardscapes, water features, and fire elements.
Design Development. Here, we work with you to select materials and make sure we have all the little details down as well as the big ones. We refine the conceptual plan developed in the preceding stage to make sure it meets your needs and wants. We also make sure there are no problems with topographic features, access, services (water, electricity), drainage, or budget that might derail things. We will develop detailed images of what your landscape will look like in a variety of mediums, such as hand sketches, color renderings, or computer-generated 3D models. On collaborative projects our trades partners such as engineers, carpenters, plumbers, electricians will start to render their parts of the project, too. At the end of this stage, we develop a budget listing each item and the associated costs for that item. We call it a “menu style”. This way you can see how each part of the project breaks down and where the value is. This also allows us to continue to work together to prioritize and phase the project if needed.
Construction Documentation. This stage takes the design that was developed in the preceding stage and breaks it down, so it is a document listing the steps for getting your landscape in. Things must be built in a specific order to build the landscape you want. This documentation also meets the standards necessary to obtain all the permits required for the construction. We consult with other trades who are installing items in the landscape to make sure things get done in the correct order and come together smoothly.
Construction Documents for Permitting New Paver Deck & Pool
Specifications. We make sure that each of the products we will use is used consistent with the manufacturer’s specified tolerances. We do not want to build a wall that is too weak to safely hold the outdoor television or speakers that will blow out when the volume is turned up.
We always go through these processes. However, how long that takes varies depending on the complexity of the job. With small residential landscapes, we may roll the first three or four steps into one visit. This is why each property is given a field sketch that is to scale before we leave our first visit. And we clearly define the next steps weather it is design development and details, or budgeting we will set deadlines and appointments to reconvene and share more information.
The process is slower with a complex outdoor landscape. We have to design the project in more detail and coordinate more moving parts. Rest assured we are moving forward at all do speed, and we will continue to set benchmarks for each step along the way.
Royal Creations Architecture Landscaping will be happy to develop a landscape that meets your needs and wants. Please contact us today to start our process. Remember the goal is to end up with a beautiful outdoor living space that your family can enjoy and spend time together outdoors.
Great outdoor living spaces should be enjoyed by the whole family. During the last year many of you have started using your outdoor living spaces more often. You may have run out of fun ideas for spending time outside. Here are some suggestions for fun family activities to try.
Cornhole
This is a game where two people alternate tossing corn bags into a hole in the board across from where they are standing. Cornhole has its own standards and tournaments. I will summarize the rules but for the minutia check out the rules on the American Cornhole Association website.
Take two cornhole boards and place them 27 feet apart on a level surface
Stand no closer than the front edge of your board when you toss
Toss the corn bag into the hole
Alternate tosses between the competitors
Each player must pitch all four bags to close an inning
Players then swap boards and score themselves
A bag in the hole is 3 points
A bag on top of the board gets 1 point
The first player or team that receives 21 points by the bottom of a given inning wins
You can buy cornhole boards from the American Cornhole Association or from someone near you. Another option is a family project to make the boards and the corn bags. You will have to go to the American Cornhole Association website for the exact dimensions of everything. You can paint the boards any way you want after sanding the tops very smooth.
Bocce Ball
You will need a set of eight large balls and a smaller target ball called the pallina. Each set of four balls has a different pattern or color from the other set of four balls so you can distinguish them by team. You can play on any surface provided there are no obstructions on the court in any direction. Variations in grade or terrain features are considered okay. Competition courts are 91 feet long and 13 feet long. Backyard courts can be any size. A good size is 60 feet by 12 feet. The foul line is 10 feet from each end line and the center court is 30 feet from the end line.
Each team has one, two, or four people and four balls
A coin toss picks the first team up
They can choose either their team’s color or pattern or to toss the pallina
Balls are thrown, rolled, or bounced underhanded
One team rolls or tosses the pallina into play
The toss must cross the center line and stay on the court to count
If it fails to stay on the court, the other team gets to toss it
The team that tosses the pallina gets the first throw of the balls
The goal is to get as close to the pallina as possible
The ball must stay on the court
After the first ball is thrown, the other team throws their ball to get their first ball toward the pallina
Their first ball must stay on court
If a team fails to get their first ball on court, they must continue to try until they get it or run out of balls
Each team gets one throw and then the other team throws
Once both teams have gotten their first ball, the team with the ball closest to the pallina is the “in” team
The other team is the “out” team
The “in” team steps aside and lets the “out” team throw until they get to be the “in” team or run out of balls
This continues until all balls are thrown
That concludes a “frame” and points are awarded
The teams switch sides and do it again
The person throwing the ball must stay behind the foul line for their team
Balls that land off the court are dead until the next frame
If the pallina is thrown or hit out of bounds, the frame ends with no points awarded
One point is awarded to the team for each ball closer to the pallina than the other team’s closest ball
Only one team scores per frame
First team to reach 16 points wins
It is a good idea to read the complete rules at Backyardbocce.com for the subtle nuances that we may not have inadvertently left out.
Scavenger Hunt
This is a fun activity for any age. Basically, you give each team a list of things to find in the outdoor space and the team that finds the most items in the time limit wins. Try this at a local park for more space to spread out.
Teams can be any number from one to about five.
Designate a time limit from an hour for a relatively easy list for younger kids to a longer time for a tough list for adults.
Include some easy-to-find items even if the participants are adults to build confidence.
Once an item is located, it should be photographed for proof it has been found.
Make sure you do not award the prize until you have verified each item was found by looking at the photographs.
Decide if the winning team gets a prize that all members can share or individual prizes for each member of the team, or simply bragging rights.
Make Some Food
After all that running around, your family is going to be hungry. Let each person cook their own hot dog around the firepit. Then for dessert, make some smore’s. Most people know how to make this desert –graham crackers, chocolate, and marshmallows grilled on a stick. There are some “fancy” ways to make smore’s that are a bit different.
Use another candy bar in place of the plain chocolate bar. It is easier to cut the candy bar into individual pieces if you freeze it then slice it cold.
You can add fruit to the sandwich, especially sliced strawberries or berries.
Add caramel sauce or chocolate sauce to the smore’s
Replace the graham cracker with a cookie or flat ice cream cone wafers
Use Nutella instead of chocolate
You can make Elvis S’mores – graham cracker with peanut butter, banana, bacon, and marshmallow
Put candied bacon on top of the marshmallow for a salty-tangy taste
Host a Sports Watching Party
If you have an outdoor television, you can host outside sports watching parties. The Royals will look great on a large television this spring. Every seat will be a good seat at your house. With an outdoor audio system, the game will sound great, too.
Set Your Outdoor Living Space Up for Success
Royal Creations Architectural Landscaping can install a large screen television and outdoor audio system so you can enjoy your outdoor living space while you enjoy the game. Our trained Blue Crew knows how to install and tune the audio system for the television as well as listening to music outdoors. We can design a customized system to fit your outdoor living space and enhance your outdoor experience.
Need your outdoor living space fluffed up before a big event? We can come out and make sure everything is as close to perfect as is humanly possible. We typically come out the day before the event, so it still looks stunning at showtime.
Don’t have an outdoor living space? We can design one with your landscape and wishes in mind. Once we have worked through the design, our Blue Crew will install it for you, and can even maintain it if you like.
Contact Royal Creations Architectural Landscaping today to help you get your landscape and outdoor living space just the way you want it so your family can get the most out of your outdoor experience.
Just as this is the season to spring clean your house, it is the season to spring clean your garden. There are some tasks that should be done every spring to increase the chances of your grasses, perennials, trees, and shrubs doing well for the growing season. After you clean up your garden, it will be time to plant spring annuals. Here is a list of tasks to do to set your landscape up for success.
Remove Winter Debris
Remove leaves from your garden beds. You should also remove any straw, hay, or mulch you used to cover and insulate your plants. A buildup of these materials will make it hard for seedlings and perennials to reach the surface through the cover before they starve. They also provide a haven for pests to overwinter in. Now that it is spring, you want to show them the door. Similarly, you will need to either remove any leaves on the turf grass and compost them or run over them with the lawnmower to shred them and leave them to fertilize your lawn.
Prune Trees and Shrubs
It is time to prune trees and shrubs that have flowers on new wood. Prune out damaged and dead branches on all trees and shrubs. Be careful, though, as some branches may look dead after the bad winter storm but will put on new growth if you allow them to. If you are in doubt about a branch, very lightly scratch the bark off at the end of the branch. If you see a layer of green, the branch is still alive. Do not prune more than 1/3rd of the tree or shrub or you will injure it by over pruning. Do not compost trimmings from trees and shrubs as they might have diseases or pests that will contaminate your compost pile. Bag the trimmings and throw them in the trash. If they are too large to bag, cut into smaller pieces.
Cut Back Perennials
Just as you prune trees and shrubs, you need to cut back perennials. Perennials need to have diseased, dead, and damaged parts of the plant cut off so that they do not become infested with diseases and fungi. Remove leaves, shoots, and stems from the very bottom of the plant. Cut perennials to a few inches above the soil level if they bloom on new wood. If they bloom on old wood, wait until just after they have their flowers to cut them back. Bag the trimmings and throw them out.
Spring Ornamental Grasses Care
Ornamental grasses will benefit from being cut back in the spring. Cool season grasses need to be cut back early in the spring, when the snow and ice melt. Leave 1/3rd of the plant or you can damage the grass and it will always have problems. Warm season grasses need to be cut back to the ground, or no more than a few inches tall in mid to late spring. Before you begin trimming a grass, put on some heavy leather gloves as grass blades can be very sharp and will cut you badly. You can compost healthy grass clippings. Throw away sick or pest-ridden ones.
Every few years, ornamental grasses benefit from being divided in early spring. This involves digging up the plant by the roots and cutting it into smaller pieces. Make sure each piece has a section of roots. You then leave part of the plant there and plant the other pieces other places in your landscape or give them away. This reinvigorates the parent plant and gives you more grass plants for free.
Mulching Protects Your Plants
As one of your last steps, mulch all your garden beds, your trees, and your shrubs. Mulch soaks up water and releases it slowly to keep your plant hydrated between waterings. It also keeps the soil cooler in hot temperatures and keeps it warmer in cold weather. Finally, it helps keep weed seeds from growing in your garden.
Mulch should be three inches deep when you first put it down. Every year after that, add an inch of mulch to the top of the old mulch. Mulch breaks down during the year and loses about an inch in height each year. As the mulch breaks down, it fertilizes the plants around it. Do not mulch where you have planted seeds until they have sprouted. When they are over an inch tall, put down an inch of mulch. As they continue to grow, increase the amount of mulch until you have three inches of mulch in total. Do not let mulch touch the bark of trees and shrubs or they can rot. Leave a space around the trees and shrubs to prevent that. Leave at least a 4-inch space between the top of your mulch and the bottom of your siding. Some pests, especially termites, use the mulch as a bridge to reach your house and chew on it.
After Spring Cleaning
After the Clean-Up
After your garden is cleaned up, there are a few last tasks to do. Apply a slow-release fertilizer before mulching such at 13-13-13 or osmocote to provide essential nutrients for your plants. Spring is also a good time to apply a pre-emergent on top of the mulch to help prevent weeds. Make sure not to spread pre-emergents where you have planted seeds, or want to, or it will kill them. Both the fertilizers and pre-emergents work best when watered in after applying. Once it gets closer to Mother’s Day the threat of freeze usually passes and you can begin planting annual flowers such as begonias or petunias to add those pops of color to your garden.
Getting Help with Spring Cleaning in Your Landscape
Some people really like spring cleaning in their landscape. Others do not have the time or inclination to do so. Royal Creations Architectural Landscaping can do your spring cleaning for you and get everything ready to shine. If you enjoy the result, but not the process, of doing these spring tasks, contact Royal Creations today and we can set you up on our Garden Care Subscription plan so you can spend more time with your family and less time with weekend chores.
