Landscape Architects

As you look to improve your yard and property, you might want to make it easy on yourself and hire a landscape architect. These licensed professionals can provide homeowners with great expertise when it comes to designing the perfect plan for their space.

After formal schooling and years of experience, a good landscape architect will find work easily at places such as public parks or golf courses, working in the actual design of the area. Many others own nurseries where they sell many different types of plants and spend their days helping customers plan out their yards. Still others work full-time at clients’ homes, designing their yards and coming up with a complete plan for landscaping.

It is possible to plan out your yard on your own, but a landscape architect will have a broad base of knowledge about things like what plants would look good together in a certain bed, or how to use things like brick, pebbles, marble or travertine pavers to create a walkway. These professionals might also suggest you try something you might not have considered, such as adding a cap rock waterfall, or a dry bed of recycled glass mulch. Landscape architects should know what things will work well in your area, and will know other things, such as coral rocks should only be used in very warm climates, or else they will crack.

You may be able to get this information on your own by doing your research, but a landscape architect will simplify the process for you.

Going Green

Everyone is talking about how important it is to conserve our resources. The following 5 tips will help you manage your yard without putting a strain on the environment.

1. Organic fertilizer: You may like the results that come with fertilized plants and flowers, but synthetic fertilizer can be harmful to both the environment and people. Instead, choose a good organic fertilizer that uses things such as alfalfa meal.

2. Glass mulch: In some areas of your yard, glass mulch can add great texture and color. This glass mulch is made from pieces of recycled glass that have been tumbled until they are smooth. Glass mulch is growing in popularity because of the positive effects it has on the environment, as well as the modern look it portrays.

3. Compost: A compost pile is an easy way to recycle old food and plant matter to make a natural fertilizer. Find a location away from the traffic of your yard to add a compost pile.

4. Rain barrel: Set up rain barrels to collect and store rain water as it falls. Often, they can be placed under a rain spout to catch all that falls off of the roof. Rain water is great for watering outdoor plants.

5. Xeriscape: In some cases “going green” can actually mean giving up the green space. If plants are hard to grow in areas of your yard, rather than use a lot of water and resources to get them to grow, think of replacing them with rocks, pebbles, or glass mulch that are low maintenance.

Do It Yourself Landscape Projects

Many people today are trying to save money because of the current economy. For those that take pride in the way their yard looks, there are ways to go about maintaining a beautiful landscape without spending too much hard-earned money. One way is to do the work yourself. Countless websites and television shows give tips to complete certain projects that increase a house’s curb appeal. Investigate some of these, or check your local library for do it yourself books that will walk you through the process.

Be aware, that some projects will require more time and labor than others. Perhaps you will find it easy to enhance your area with some colored pebbles, or maybe some glass mulch will make a big difference with relatively little work. Other things, such as installing a patio with travertine pavers or making a cap rock planter, will be require you to have a carefully laid-out plan, a good eye for detail, and some knowledge about these types of materials. But after doing the research and finding the answers first, even beginners can take on and accomplish these projects.

Other things, such as designing the area and planning what plants and flowers will work best in certain areas, may be something that a professional could be consulted about, or you could ask at your local garden center. Once the plan is laid out and the work is done, more and more homeowners are now finding they can save money by maintaining their yard on their own.

Glass Mulch Becoming Popular in Landscaping

A new trend has made its way into the landscape arena, and Larry’s Cap Rock and Stone is proud to be a part of it. Recycled glass mulch is now a hit for decorating flowerbeds or gardens, and it is being featured by various designers every day.

The glass mulch is made from recycled glass shards that have been tumbled to make the edges smooth. They come in different colors, which have made them very popular among those looking for a little something extra for their landscaping.

With a little bit of planning and preparation, glass mulch can be practical for protecting plants and to cut down on dust, as well as provide a beautiful landscape. The colored mulch would be a great addition to complement simple plants and would add a bit of vibrancy among plain-colored foliage.

Virtually maintenance free, the glass mulch will only need to occasionally be blown clear of leaves and debris to maintain it. It is probably best used in an area without things like pine needles dropping or things that might become stuck among the glass. But overall, many projects this year across the country will be turned into a work of art with glass mulch. This type of decorating can be a welcome change to plain wood mulch that is so commonly used. With so many different possibilities of different color combinations and textures, glass mulch is bound to be seen more throughout the country soon.

Recycled glass pebbles in stock for your design projects

Largest selection of recycled glass in South Florida. Recycled glass pebbles in stock for your design projects. Recycled architectural glass in a variety of colors and sizes.

Larry’s Cap Rock & Stone is going green. Our recycled glass mulch is available in 4 dazzling colors. Recycled glass is LEED certified. It is also available at the most competitive pricing in the United States. Recycled glass mulch provides a maintenance free modern landscape. Use it as an exposed aggregate or for decorative
ground cover.

The right combination of recycled glass rocks, plants, and careful planning can create a beautiful glass garden for your yard, business property, or even an indoor environment. Our proprietary production process produces recycled glass rocks that are lightly tumbled and safe to handle with bare hands. These recycled glass products also qualify for LEED credits. Larry’s Cap Rock & Stone offers architectural recycled glass at the most competitive prices in the USA.

Recycled architectural glass comes in a large variety of colors, sizes, and textures. We offer the sizes of recycled glass most suitable a variety of landscaping purposes. Recycled glass qualifies for LEED credits. LEED was created to define green building by establishing a common standard of
measurement.

7 Artsy Ways to Make Your Landscaping Stand Out Using Natural Stones

You say that your landscaping is complete? Then show me your stones! That's right, landscaping stones. The artful application of landscaping stone could enhance the natural elements that you've already employed -- namely, your plants. And the aesthetic and functional use of stone can even raise the value of your property. You tend to your trees and lawn, and you lavish your vegetable plants with attention. Why, your posies even get to rest their pretty little heads on something we dub "flower beds." With all this attention to the animate denizens of the landscape, don't forget their inanimate counterparts, which include soil and stone. Without proper soil, of course, plants will not grow well; no amount of artistry will make up for a flawed canvas. And without the skillful arrangement of stone and other hardscape components, the most artistic of landscapes would lack a frame to set it off tastefully.

For many, a boulder at a driveway entrance, with their name/address painted on it or chiseled into it, will suffice. But the possibilities are limited only by the time you wish to spend. Or by the money you are willing to pay professionals to do it for you. For some hardscape projects, you will need to combine your landscaping stone with mortar -- or perhaps use concrete, brick, or tile, instead of stone. These and other variations must be considered when taking on one of the most popular hardscape projects -- building a patio. Whether composed of concrete, stone, or some other hardscape material, patios are a wonderful way to tie the indoors with the outdoors, thereby uniting house and landscape effectively and creating outdoor living spaces. In regions plagued by drought, or for homeowners who want a low-maintenance landscape, an interesting alternative to lawns is the extended patio, which is simply an enlarged patio that takes up space where lawn grass would otherwise be planted.

The use of stone includes, but is not limited to:

• Patio floors/walls

• Paths, including garden stepping stone walkways

• Columns to support car ports

• Outbuildings made entirely of stone

• Foundations for porches and decks

• Accent pieces for water gardens and, of course, rock gardens

• Stone walls

How to build a dry creek bed river rocks

Do you have a slope on your property down which excess water flows, causing erosion on the slope and/or a landscape drainage problem below? Homeowners often get rid of such pooling by building dry creek beds. Besides the practical aspect of improving landscape drainage, dry creek beds can also be attractive. In fact, some folks with absolutely no landscape drainage problems build dry creek beds just because they like the look of them!

Difficulty: Average

Time Required: 4 hours/10 feet

Here's How:

1. First plan the course that the dry creek bed will take down the slope. Mark the 2 edges of that course with landscaper's paint. A meandering course looks more natural than a straight course. How high up the slope should you start? In some cases, there's little choice. For instance, if a landscape drainage pipe that's already in place is dumping all that excess water onto your property, your decision is clear-cut: begin the dry creek bed by grading the land right under that pipe....

2. But in cases where you have more leeway (especially for dry creek beds that are purely decorative), attempt to disguise the "headwaters" of the dry creek bed by making it bend out from behind a large boulder or some plant material. When the source of a stream is mysterious, viewers have to use their imagination. And what we construct with our hands is rarely as pleasing as what we construct with our minds!

3. We've talked about how high up the slope to start. But what about where to finish down below? Some homeowners redirect excess water toward the street. But it's best to contemplate a worst-case scenario when dealing with public property, because that means dealing with the government -- which can be a real stickler when it comes to issues like redirecting excess water. So check with your local public works department first. If their response is positive, get something in writing that says so....

4. What if you're not allowed to redirect the water to the street? Unless you already have a landscape drainage system in place (allowing you to route the runoff into that system), you have 2 main options. You could channel the water to a location on your land (but make sure it's your land, not a neighbor's!) where it's less troublesome and where, if the soil is sandy enough, it can percolate harmlessly down into the ground. A second option is to build a pond and funnel the water into it.

5. So much for the course of a dry creek bed. What about its depth and width? These dimensions don't have to conform to any rule exactly. Look at dry creek beds in nature: they're obviously not all of the same depth and width. But there's a general rule you can follow: dry creek beds tend to be wider than they are deep, which is good news for you -- less digging! A 2:1 ratio is about right, meaning you could make the dry creek bed 3' wide x 1.5' deep, for example.

6. With the planning done, now it's time for the first real work in the project: the digging. It's easy to build dry creek beds for landscape drainage, provided that the soil you'll be excavating isn't strewn with roots and rocks. Those with difficult soil to excavate can take solace in the fact that excavating the dry creek bed will be the toughest part of the project!

7. Take the soil that you're excavating and mound it up along the sides of your dry creek bed, as you go. This will reduce the amount of digging that you have to do, since you'll be lowering the base and raising the sides in one motion. Tamp down this excavated soil with a tamping tool.

8. After the trench for the dry creek bed has been excavated, lay down landscape fabric along its whole length. You want the fabric to cover the mounds of earth on both sides, as well as the trench. Hold the fabric in place using fabric pins or garden staples. Now for the part of the project that will be visible to viewer's: the rock....

9. For projects intended to improve landscape drainage, all rocks need to be mortared into place to form a solid channel that will carry water away (for ornamental dry creek beds, this is optional -- and probably undesirable). Apply mortar only to short sections of the fabric at a time, since mortar dries quickly. Use at least 2" of mortar. Lay the rocks in the mortar, then repeat the process with the next short section. It's easier to work from the top of the slope, down.

10. You can use rock of various shapes and sizes, but many homeowners prefer to select more round rocks ("river rocks") than flat ones. Round rocks conjure up an image of the water that has been gushing over them, knocking them about and causing them to become round over time.

11. Place small river rocks in the center of the trench; the water will flow over these.

12. Place your larger rocks on the sides of the dry creek bed, where they'll help channel the water and where they'll have the most visual impact. Save any boulders for the biggest bends in your stream's course and to disguise the "headwaters" of the dry creek bed (as discussed in Step 2 above).

Tips:

After you build dry creek beds, you can dress them up a bit. Plants will soften the edges, for instance. If you're more ambitious, you can install a landscape bridge over the dry creek bed and plant tall ornamental grasses to serve as "bookends" at both entrances to the landscape bridge. Adorn the landscape bridge with hanging container gardens to create a knockout focal point for your yard.

What You Need:

• Landscaper's paint

• Landscape fabric

• Fabric pins or garden staples

• River rocks and boulders

• Mortar

• Wheelbarrow for mixing the mortar

• Tamping tool

• Shovel