The Garden Path:  Get Ready for Spring
Start Planning Your Outdoor Living Space Now 

By:  Miles Campbell
Campbell & Ferrara Outdoor Living

                            PLANNING YOUR LANDSCAPE DESIGN

Spring is just around the corner, and now is the perfect time to start thinking about transforming your backyard into an outdoor living and entertainment space.

Whether you're looking to host a summer barbecue, enjoy a cozy evening by the fire pit, or relax in a peaceful garden, many landscaping elements must work together to create the perfect outdoor oasis. Here are the landscaping elements we use:

  • Firepits
  • Outdoor lighting
  • Patios
  • Plant design
  • Retaining walls
  • Walkways
  • Drainage

At Campbell and Ferrara, planting design is crucial for our successful outdoor designs. Our landscaping company’s focus on hardscape and landscape elements allows us to bring a holistic approach to your outdoor space.

It's time to start planning and bringing your vision to life. Let us show why you should be excited about your landscape this spring.

The Importance of Planting Design in Outdoor Spaces

At Campbell and Ferrara, we employ plants as an integral part of a cohesive look. For example, our landscapers use native plants to benefit wildlife and are low maintenance, saving you time and money.

Did you know that seersucker sedge (Carex plantaginea) reduces water bills and requires little maintenance from you? We’ll also add other plants that will help you reduce water usage and lower your bills.

We’ll add milkweed (Asclepias spp.), a native host plant for monarch butterflies; this monarch magnet gently perfumes the air with a honeysuckle scent. Milkweed works well within our designs and benefits pollinators at the same time.

Our landscape designers use plants as accents, establishing a stronger connection between you and your natural surroundings. We design and then install spaces that benefit you while enhancing the local ecosystem.

Incorporating plants into your outdoor living spaces has many benefits. For example, plants in a landscape design soften and shape otherwise utilitarian architectural features, such as retaining walls and patios.

Additionally, masses of plants can soften up hard edges of hardscaping, such as angular patios and walkways. Native plant species, like Carex pensylvanica, Pennsylvania Sedge, or Phlox subulate, moss phlox, lining a walkway make the journey through the garden more relaxing and inviting.

Learn more: How to Create an Outdoor Room

We use viburnums and similar plants for low-level screening and the Little Gem magnolia for higher-level screening. We’ll incorporate coral bark Japanese maples for focal points. And for an after-dark show, we’ll pair spotlights with the Japanese maples.

Regarding hardscapes, our landscape designers use flagstone for its traditional look and newer pavers, such as porcelain and travertine, for a modern look. As a patio pavers company, our landscape designers stay up on the latest trends.

Our landscaping company uses materials that mimic marble and hardwood flooring for your outdoor kitchen design.

As patio builders, we use top-notch brands, such as Nicolock, Techo-Bloc, and Belgard that carry attractive options for patios, retaining walls, and other hardscapes that are 100% recyclable and more affordable than natural stone.

Planning for Your Outdoor Space

You want to start planning now for your spring outdoor living space. While we can’t guarantee an exact time when your next project will be finished, we’ll have a head start by consulting with you on your desires and ensuring we have all the materials ready to build.

How do our landscape designers work with you? The designer will ask questions to determine your property dreams and needs and how they’ll fit in a cohesive landscape design.

Here are questions that your landscape designer may ask you:

  1. What do you want from a landscape design?
  1. What hardscapes will bring that dream to reality? For example, do you want a patio, retaining wall, firepits, or an outdoor kitchen?
  2. Do you want to use natural materials or the newest pavers on the market, such as porcelain?
  1. What’s your style? Is it modern or traditional?
  1. What kind of feel do you want from outdoor lighting?
  1. What colors do you like?
  1. What are your favorite plants? What plants do you hate?
  1. Do you have children? What are their ages?
  1. Do you have pets? What kind?
  1. What is your budget for this project?

Our landscape designers will also discuss any yard drainage issues on your property. As your drainage contractors, Campbell and Ferrara offer many solutions to improve drainage, such as French drains, dry creek beds, and rain gardens.

 

Campbell & Ferrara
8351 Richmond Highway,
Alexandria, VA 22309
(703) 354-6724 

Campbell and Ferrara provides landscape design/build services and a retail garden center for homeowners living in Northern Virginia.

The ENDEAVOR News Magazine

Reproduction of this story and photographs, in part or in whole, requires the written permission of the ENDEAVOR NEWS MAGAZINE.  Copyright © 2011 Annandale Chamber of Commerce. All rights reserved.

(Photographs, on this page, and on this website, are the sole property of the Annandale Chamber of Commerce, and are not available for use by other publications, blogs, individuals, web or social media sites.

 

A Planned Landscape takes into account the purpose of the space.

Colorful Bedding Plants are accounted for in your landscape design.

Outdoor living space reflects your lifestyle.

Reproduction of this story and photographs, in part or in whole, requires the written permission of the The ENDEAVOR News Magazine.  Copyright © 2011 Annandale Chamber of Commerce. All rights reserved.

(Photographs, on this page, and on this website, are  not available for use by other publications, blogs, individuals, web or social media sites.)

 

 

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