Light up the night. If you like your landscape in the sun, you’re going to love it at night with a bit of low-voltage lighting. Accent lighting adds value to your property, interest to your landscape and safety for your home. Homeowners are shining a light to ornamental trees, architectural features and pathways, particularly at turns and elevation changes. Some are choosing a moonlight effect with lights in the canopy of large shade trees. They’re discovering the dramatic impact of low-voltage lighting is as much about shadows as the features illuminated. This low-cost improvement can immediately transform a landscape.
Beautiful by day, this pond is stunning when lit up at night.
Water features are growing in popularity.
Just add water. Today’s landscapes are not complete without a water feature. A well designed water feature will attract birds, reduce pesky insects and improve air quality. They’re relaxing, too. Water features do not need to be large or complex to complete a well designed landscape. They just need to be properly positioned and well constructed to provide years of enjoyment.
Meet the original green industry. Green is in. Who better than the original green industry can help customers become more eco-friendly? Virtually everything a homeowner does to their landscape produces a positive green impact. Some of the more common ways to be green in the landscape are to harvest rain water and use it to water plants, select plant materials that are drought tolerant, plant trees to capture carbon dioxide emissions and install turf to cut down on air conditioning costs.
Low maintenance in high demand. People are busy. They want a beautiful landscape that’s easy to maintain. A well designed plan that properly selects and places plant material will go a long way toward reducing the amount of time you need to maintain your landscape. Other strategies include replacing wooden decks with paver patios, suppressing weeds with dense plantings, weed barrier or mulch and using products specifically designed to reduce maintenance such as polymeric sand in paver patios.
Create outdoor living space. In the new era of frugality, many homeowners realize that adding an outdoor "room" is the most cost-effective way to add space. Indoor room additions will cost at least $75 per square foot. An outdoor living area, on the other hand, will start at around $15 a square foot. Some of the features homeowners are choosing include paver patios with built-in grills and seating, pergolas for shade and protection, burn pits or fireplaces and landscaping for added beauty and privacy.
These trends are here to stay. Many homeowners are thinking carefully about how best to invest their hard-earned money. A well planned landscape can bring a return on investment, not just in dollars but enjoyment for years to come.
A patio adds a large, beautiful "room" to your house.
Serving our central Ohio customers since 1988. P.O. Box 528, Galloway, OH 43119
