Category: Tropical Style

Intended for garden cultivation, peat moss creates a potting soil which allows oxygen to attain the root system of a plant and retains water. It is inexpensive and readily available at garden centers. Covering grass seed or seedlings with peat moss will not just protect the seeds from being eliminated or taken away, but it also helps prevent the seeds from drying out and adds the soil and nutrients.

Choosing Grass Seed

The type plays a major part in how well the lawn will look so choose one which develops best in your location. For instance, some areas require cool-season grasses, like perennial ryegrass or tall fescue, but others need grasses, such as buffalo, Augustine or zoysia grass. Warm-season grasses grow best when planted in while grasses thrive when planted in late summer and early fall.

Preparing The Lawn

You must germinate the seeds, before you protect grass seedlings with peat moss. Prepare the soil by eliminating debris, stones and weeds. If you use weed killer wait prior to panting the grass seed. If you are starting fresh with a new lawn, think about renting a dirt tiller to until the 6 inches of dirt.

Planting Grass Seed

Seed is implanted by spreading the seeds within the soil that was planned. This may be accomplished by using your hand along with a seed spreader. Using your head to distribute the seeds is performed on a plot smaller than 150 feet. Anything larger and you ought to use a seed spreader. Add a fertilizer to assist the seeds float, As soon as you have the seeds spread evenly across the soil and dampen softly with a water sprayer set on mist. Employing the mist setting will stop washing away the seeds.

Including Peat Moss

Peat moss can be added immediately or after the seeds have germinated. Cover with about 1/4 inch of peat moss. Water the peat moss with a water sprayer set on mist. Water the peat moss a day before the seedlings are about half an inch tall, then cut at down the watering to every couple of days.

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Holly belongs to the genus Ilex, which comprises commonly cultivated shrubs grown for showy red berries and their dark-green, spiny leaves. All types of holly propagate from semi-hardwood or softwood cuttings taken in early summer or late spring, and most are simple to grow by even beginner gardeners. While possible, seed propagation is not recommended because of the usefulness of seeds, as well as their slow growth rate and higher instance of failure out of root rot and damping off.

How to Propagate Holly out of Cuttings

When gardening in the Bay region start propagation from cuttings in spring or summer. Wait until the first flush of growth seems in the ends of the branches prior to collecting the cuttings for propagation.

Prepare prior to collecting the cuttings rooting containers. Fill a 6-inch nursery container with a nutrient-poor moderate such as coarse sand or a mixture of perlite and half milled coir or peat moss. Pour water onto the medium until it is saturated, and let it drain while amassing the holly cutting.

Put on gloves to protect your hands. Locate an cutting in the tip of a holly branch. Find one with immature leaves in the tip and older leaves in the base. Measure 4 to 6 inches from the branch’s tip. Sever the holly cutting using pruning shears or a knife.

Scrape off all of the leaves along the base-half of the holly cutting. Use your pruning shears or knife to scrape the leaves. Carefully whittle a 1/2-inch-long part of bark from the base of the cutting, which is a procedure known as”wounding.”

Dip the defoliated end of the holly cutting into 0.8 percent IBA rooting talc until it is well coated. Gently tap on the cutting to dislocate any talc. Take care since it causes irritation in many men and women, not to inhale the talc.

Poke a planting hole and drained flashing medium. Make the pit to a depth equal to half of the period of your holly cutting. Insert the base of the cutting into the hole. Press the dirt against the stem and firm it.

Place the potted cutting in a place offering protection and sun against wind, cold temperatures and heat. Put the nursery container beneath a heating mat. Adjust the temperature on the heating mat degrees F.

Mist the holly foliage every day using a plant mister, spray bottle or a hose with a misting nozzle. moisture in the medium at all times ; however, Keep light, avoid since it will bring about the holly cutting saturating the medium.

Assess for indications of rooting after potting the holly cutting. Tug the foundation of the stem and sense for immunity to the movement, which suggests the cutting is”stuck” into the rooting medium by fresh roots. After rooting remove the cutting out of the warming mat.

Keep the holly cutting beneath sunlight for its first year. Transplant the cutting into a container once roots look in the drainage holes in the container that is rooting.

Plant the holly sapling from the garden in spring of the next year after soil temperatures reach 60 degrees F. Pick a sunny planting site with fertile, well-draining soil.

How to Propagate Holly Shrubs from Seed

Collect seeds out of a mature holly shrub in early fall or late summer. Collect berries and place them in a skillet. Soak the berries for 48 hours or until the berries’ flesh softens and starts to disintegrate. Crush the berries and remove the tiny seeds.

Wrap the seeds in a moistened paper towel and place it inside a plastic bag. Store the holly seeds in this style within the crisper drawer of a fridge for five weeks. It dries out remoisten the paper towel. Eliminate the seeds that are holly out of storage in spring of the year.

Prepare a container for each holly shrub you would like to spread by seed. Fill 6-inch nursery containers with a mixture of equal parts coarse sand, dirt and perlite. Sow two seeds in each container. Press the seeds onto the surface of the soil and cover them with a layer of dirt.

Water the seeds to a depth of 1 inch. Maintain moisture at a depth of 1 inch throughout the germination procedure. Allow the growing medium to dry out to watering.

Place the plants that are potted in a shaded place outdoors where they’ll be protected from strong wind, direct sun and cold temperatures, or even place them within a frame in the colder weather, more foggy areas on the west-side of San Francisco.

Watch for germination three weeks later sowing the seeds that are holly, but don’t be surprised when it takes up to sprout. Should both happen to germinate, thin the seedlings into a per container. Eliminate of the two seedlings.

Keep seed-grown holly shrubs in seasons growing prior to planting them elsewhere. Protect them from extreme temperatures and direct sun since they set a root system that is workable.

Plant them out in the backyard in springtime once soil temperatures top 60 degrees F. Pick a bright, well-draining place in the garden for planting the holly seedlings.

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To some, the leaf blower has turned arm-tiring raking into an easy autumn task, while to others the insistent drone of its engine is unwelcome. This common garden tool has has become so controversial in certain locations that communities have enacted laws regarding it. But whether you use a leaf blower or a rake, the constraints imposed on where you are able to ship the leaves would be exactly the same.

Assess the Law

Before blowing leaves to the road, check with your city clerk’s office or sound control board to discover whether leaf blowers are permitted in your area. Some towns, mainly in California, have banned the use of leaf blowers because the degree of noise they make and pollutants they emit into the air. Some communities permit electric blowers within the city limits, while others permit electric and gas blowers only at certain times of the day.

Don’t Clog Storm Drains

Blowing leaves to the road gets them out of your yard, but they finally end up someplace. For municipal streets, it is normally in the stormwater drain where they clog pipes and cause road flooding. In extreme cases, water may back up into houses. Instead of blowing leaves to the road, many cities recommend composting or recycling leaves to prevent obstructing stormwater drains.

Make a fantastic Neighbor

Two of the most common complaints regarding the use of leaf blowers are blowing the leaves on a neighbor’s yard, and utilizing deafening blowers for long periods of time. If you use a leaf blower, keep leaves in your premises and use the leaf blower for only short periods from the middle of the afternoon. It is tempting to blow leaves to streets on the afternoon of road cleaning, but some city officials ask homeowners not do this. It slows down crews. Instead they recommend bagging leaves for removal.

Make Leaf Mold

If your town doesn’t permit using a leaf blower, you don’t have to permit soggy leaves smother your grass. Instead put them to use by raking leaves to flower beds. A 4- to 6-inch layer of mulch protects plants in winter cold. Some flowers that normally don’t overwinter well can be held from the ground with heavy mulching. You may also make leaf mold. Rake leaves into a pile 3 feet wide and three or more feet tall, water thoroughly and then let the pile sit for six months to a year, watering the pile occasionally when it dries out. Some leaves break down more rapidly than others, so be patient. In the summertime, work the finished leaf mold to garden beds to permit soil to retain moisture better.

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My daughter planted Arbutus ‘Marina’ within her Mediterranean-style courtyard, since it reminds her of madrone trees in summer camp. Every time I see her tree, I believe of dividing a seventh-grade woman’s initials on a madrone back while on a Boy Scout camping trip in another time and place. Madrone (or madrona) trees, native to the Pacific Coast from Southern California to British Columbia, possess a wild beauty that appeals to the sentimental, romantic side of a number people, at least.

Arbutus‘Marina’ is a evergreen hybrid of unknown origin, closely related to the native madrone. They share the household good looks: twisted, glossy reddish trunks with peeling bark, perky small blossoms, even fairly fruit. But unlike the famously temperamental native madrone, which appears to expire at the thought of either garden-style watering or in the sight of a terrace,’Marina’ fits well into garden situations as well as conditions.

San Marcos Growers

Botanical name: Arbutus ‘Marina’
USDA zones: 7 to 9 (find your zone)
Water requirement: Lighting
Light requirement: Total sun
Mature dimensions: 25 feet tall and wide, but can grow to 50 ft
Special consideration: Drainage has to be very good, or else root diseases may develop.

Distinguishing attributes. Dainty clusters of pink blossoms dangle among leathery green leaves, mostly in spring and autumn. Even tiny branches display the bark and glossy reddish new bark.

Eye-catching fruit that seems spring to fall looks like that of the closely associated strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo). It’s edible if you’re a fan of mealy, tasteless fruit. Why bother?

The best way to use it. Make’Marina’ a stunning centerpiece of your terrace, although it can make a mild mess with falling leaves, blossoms, bark and fruit. It’s more in the home in a wilder, dry part of a garden. Ensure it is a focal point rising up out of a planting of blended California natives like manzanita, rhamnus and ceanothus. Keep lawns and frequent watering away. (Notice that in this picture, the yard isn’t permitted near the back.) Pruning away the lower branches has coached this tree to develop a rounded top.

Boxleaf Design, Inc..

Multitrunk’Marina’, with lesser branches left in position, has found a happy (dryish) home here with succulents and gravel mulch.

Growing hints. Before planting, ensure the soil drainage is pretty good to excellent. Incorporate ground bark or other organic matter in the planting hole.

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By this period in a Texas summer, we are in the middle of 100-plus degree days, rain is irregular, and the atmosphere is heavy. Should you really feel like slipping under these conditions, your garden probably feels exactly the same. But we Texans (zones 8a, 8b, 9a) are a tough audience, and so are our gardens. Take a little extra attention, along with your summer garden may stay lush, green and fit throughout the growing season.

jenny_hardgrave

Plant heat-loving flowers: there are lots of vibrant flowers that will take our Texas heat and laugh it off. To add a refreshing color to your summer garden, plant zinnias, ageratum, Blue daze, periwinkle, wax begonia, portulaca, purslane and torenia. Make sure you plant them in locations where they are going to get the appropriate quantity of sun or shade, and water them well after planting to get them established.

Gaulhofer Windows

Watch out for garden bugs: Summer is celebration season for many garden pests and diseases like spider mites, leaf rollers, aphids, chinch bugs, fleas, ticks, chiggers, grubs, scale, powdery mildew and webworms. Some ornamental crops, like roses, are particularly susceptible to aphids and powdery mildew, so keep ahead of these problems before they take their toll in your garden.

To manage pests, start with the least invasive methods possible — handpicking them or hitting them with a hard spray of water. If they are not causing too much harm, you might opt to make them, but if they start ravaging your berries or ruining your lawn, be sure you identify the pest or disease you are dealing with before you treat with any chemicals. The local county extension office or trustworthy nursery will have the ability to help you determine the problem and choose a suitable treatment.

J. Peterson Garden Design

Plant vegetables and fruits: Strategy for your harvest garden by planting pumpkins and sweet potatoes from early to mid July, and planting corn, eggplant and peppers from mid to late July. If you are sowing seeds, be sure to check the back of the seed packet for advice regarding the number of times it takes for this particular plant to reach adulthood and start producing produce. Basil, oregano and thyme are bulletproof herbaceous plants to plant from 4-inch nursery transplants. Try a few more unusual varieties such as spicy globe basil, cinnamon basil, Thai basil, lemon thyme, coconut thyme, pink lemonade thyme, hot and hot lavender, and Greek oregano.

J. Peterson Garden Design

Protect yourself from the heat: If you are planning to work outside in the garden, remember to protect yourself in the heat and sun. Drink a lot of water, apply sunscreen, wear gloves and don a wide-brimmed coat to shield your face and neck. Shades are also valuable in protecting your eyes from the Texas sun that is powerful.

J. Peterson Garden Design

Entire a garden project: Build an arbor for your garden entryway, build a trellis to showcase a climbing rose, lay a pathway to create walking through the garden easier or create some decorative plant markers. Have one long-term and many short-term jobs going to keep your energy and interest level high in July — your garden will thank you in the end of the season.

Jeffrey Gordon Smith Landscape Architecture

Plan your fall garden: It is not too early to get a head start in your fall garden. Plot it out on graph paper, produce plant lists, remove perennial weeds prior to tilling the new bed, and include compost or fertilizer to enhance your soil. Step beyond the anticipated and mix your edible plants such as vegetables and herbs, along with your decorative crops and flowers.

Milieu Design

Practice great lawn maintenance: Mow your lawn in the suggested height for your grass type which you have, and never remove more than a third of the total height of your lawn in one mowing. Be sure your lawn mower blade is sharp so as to make clean cuts, and also keep your mower in good working condition throughout the season when it is used the maximum.

Water less frequently but more deeply to encourage deep grass roots; they will be convenient throughout our generally dry summers. Always stick to any water constraints or watering instructions for your area, but think about adding a rain detector to your automatic irrigation system. It is going to automatically turn your system off if you have had rain so your lawn is not overwatered.

Between Naps on the Porch

Feed the birds: And while you’re at it, home them and them, also. Add birdbaths to your garden, and make sure they are kept clean and full of clean water. Bird seed can be saved in feeders, and birdhouses are great places for birds to nest and raise their own young. If you have pets such as cats and dogs, keep an eye on them when they are outside in the yard to safeguard your garden birds’ security.

See more Southwest garden manuals

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Gardening by the sea isn’t for sissies. Even the best day at the beachfront will bring noticeable breezes and salt spray. When the weather is stormy, there’s the added dimension of strong winds, even stronger salt spray and pelting storms. To add to this, at least right on the sea’s edge, the soil itself is likely sandy, salty or both.

Regardless of the difficult conditions, coastal gardens are by and large serene and beautiful — areas where you can relax and enjoy what nature brings. As a gardener, then you simply need to generate some adjustments to work with what nature will throw at you. This may mean picking a rugosa rose upwards of a hybrid or utilizing ice plants as a ground cover rather than Kentucky bluegrass. Your crops will most probably be low and sprinkled rather than tall and densely packed; your trees’ trunks may be somewhat twisted rather than ramrod straight.

Of course, you needn’t reside at the seaside to have a backyard that is reminiscent of the coast. By following the general guidelines for aquatic plantings and picking plants that will mimic the look of a sea garden and thrive in your climate zone, then you may make your own little seaside heaven, even in Kansas. These ideas will get you started.

Elemental Design Group

Choose Your Style

A coastal cottage garden is a natural alternative in Nantucket, along the Gulf Coast, in Santa Cruz or on Puget Sound. Look for hardier perennials in traditional cottage garden colors, like pinks, purples and blues, and bulk them together to get a magical effect, especially against the weathered grey often found on a coastal cottage. Gravel paths work equally well with cottage and coastal designs, and also the lack of a conventional lawn is completely appropriate for the setting.

Randy Thueme Design Inc. – Landscape Architecture

Modern or modern garden designs also work nicely with coastal style. The clean lines and slick method of plantings pair well with the frequently sparse vegetation to be found at the beach. Here the colors of the house and concrete mix with the dunes beyond just as the purposely planted trees coincide with the colors of the native specimens.

Jeffrey Gordon Smith Landscape Architecture

Another choice is to design a natural landscape which will mix in with the surrounding space. This works tremendously well when your property overlooks an open space or the ocean itself. The advantage of the property, for instance, blurs to the distance outside.

Jeffrey Gordon Smith Landscape Architecture

Use the Components

Constant wind affects tree growth, as noticed from the twisted trunks of the Monterey cypress. When picking on trees for your space, look for specimens which may take these ailments. A local nursery can help you find the best choices for your own location.

Lankford Associates Landscape Architects

The loose, sandy soil of the beachfront allows for great drainage, but in addition, it means that nutrients are rapidly lost. In nature, this may mean crops which are commonly spaced rather than densely packed. But a spare look doesn’t need to imply monotone, especially when you’re in charge of the space. In this garden, purple ice plants lining the road to the sea’s edge lead your eye to the sitting area and encourage you to explore. The entire space looks like the natural bluffs outside, with just a bit more control and planning than nature generally provides.

Gardens by Gabriel, Inc..

However, if spare is not really your style, you still have choices. This coastal planting bed is full of colour, both from the perennials along with the grasses. Additionally, it is full of plants. The overall look is a mix of cottage and traditional, a wonderful mix for a home garden and certainly up to handling coastal weather.

Debora carl landscape design

Meadowlike grasses rather than a close-clipped lawn are another choice if you want a more contemporary look. The gentle waves mimic the look of the sea on your own yard. As a bonus, you get the sense of a lawn with minimal lawn maintenance.

Debora carl landscape design

In warmer climates try using succulents to fill out the distance. They are often adapted to saltier lands, and they are rugged enough to deal with the winds along with the spray.

Noel Cross+Architects

Make sure that your Hardscape Fits In

A wooden boardwalk is a natural option for a natural or cottage coastal backyard. In a just-planted backyard, it is going to function as a foil to the plants…

Randy Thueme Design Inc. – Landscape Architecture

… and as the wood weathers, its gentle grey tones combine with the sea outside.

Lankford Associates Landscape Architects

Gravel, whether used as a route or a patio, helps tie in a backyard with all the landscape around it. This entry patio appears right in your home, as would a patio of decomposed granite; a formal brick patio would look strange.

Lankford Associates Landscape Architects

Add the Finishing Touches

An Adirondack chair is the classic beach accessory, at home on either coast. Weathered gray is the conventional look, but it is also possible to locate them in vivid colors and easy-care plastics.

Jeffrey Gordon Smith Landscape Architecture

A bench set at the middle of a sea of shrubs and grasses is the best getaway for relaxing. Again, the weathered grey look blends in with all the soft colors around it.

The Garden Route Company

Subtle is good, but bold is not out of place. Though these colors are often thought of as tropical, the orange of the cushions will not reflect the shade on the Golden Gate Bridge in the distance — and really is a bright spot in a foggy Northern California location.

Randy Thueme Design Inc. – Landscape Architecture

Do not Forget Comfort

Ocean breezes may be strong, and the warmth could be cool, especially at night or when it is foggy. A windbreak along with a fire pit are two enhancements you’ll use frequently.

Jeffrey Gordon Smith Landscape Architecture

There is no doubt that there are fire components within this garden. These fire features are a good way to enjoy the fires while still keeping them under control and keeping the area warm into the night.

Lenkin Design Inc: Landscape and Garden Design

Whether you’re by the sea or in the Midwest, an enclosed patio like this one catches the ocean vibe. It begins with the wood deck, a classic beachfront attribute, then includes all the other necessary elements. The walls block the end, the plantings are shore motivated, and the colors can not be overcome.

Samuel H. Williamson Associates

Throw in Some Extras

In case you’re by the shore, an outdoor shower is a welcome inclusion. The paving makes it easy to maintain the area under it sand and clean free, and you’ll certainly track less sand to the house.

Rethink Design Studio

Better still, a washer and drier near where you enter the house can easily corral moist clothes. Adding a little changing area would make this area more effective for transitioning from shore to inside.

LKID

Of course, if you have this view, this pool and also this ocean, it may be time to overlook landscaping and just relax.

More:
5 Bright, Cheerful Coastal Garden Flowers
8 Ornamental Grasses for Coastal Gardens

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A contemporary or contemporary landscape is characterized by its emphasis on powerful structural and graphic elements, clean lines and unusual materials. It’s bold, often plain, with powerful visual lines running with the hardscape playing a far more significant role than the plantings. It also appeals to contemporary sensibilities by blending the indoors with the external world.

Though such a garden may seem like a complete break with centuries of landscape layout, when you look closely, you’ll find that the same basic elements are still there. They are just reimagined. You will still have your patio, but it will be concrete rather than flagstone. The pergola overhead may be built of steel rather than wood, and industrial watering troughs rather than terra-cotta pots may serve as planters. Your waterfall may drop from the roof rather than meander through the backyard, and what lawn you’ve will no longer be the focal point of this garden.

Surprisingly adaptable. Modern or contemporary landscapes came into their own alongside contemporary and contemporary architecture from the mid-1900s. If your home’s style is bold and powerful, a conventional garden just will not do. But the style and its applications have evolved. It’s surprisingly adaptable, working well with Asian, Southwestern, natural and , with some alterations, cottage designs.

Low-maintenance and relaxing. Folks have also discovered how well a contemporary landscape fits into a contemporary way of life. Using its simplicity and clean lines, the contemporary garden can become a relaxing and relaxing escape. Since there is more of an emphasis on hardscaping, contemporary landscapes are normally more low maintenance. An added bonus in many regions of the nation is a contemporary landscape also will be much more drought tolerant.

More Lay of the Landscape: Conventional Garden Design | Natural Garden Design

Grounded – Richard Risner RLA, ASLA

Everything about this landscape illustrates the best of contemporary design. Taking each element separately, you will find plain concrete measures (that double as seating), a patch of lawn, a raised eating area and plain fencing; in other words, nothing that might appear distinctive. Nevertheless, the sheer general volume of those measures, the intriguing cutout from the expanse of grass and, first and foremost, the unexpected silver balls, give the whole area a look that is clean, simple and strongly graphic.

Arterra Landscape Architects

Geometric shapes as well as concrete and gravel are hallmarks of contemporary design. These pavers, with their alternating spans, create interesting movement inside the distance while still resulting in the fire pit focal point in the end of the lawn. Grasses soften the appearance without overpowering the distance or appearing too frilly. Dark furniture with a contemporary look is unobtrusive enough to practically recede into the fence line.

Huettl Landscape Architecture

Filled with annuals, perennials and roses, this could be a conventional garden in a normal backyard. Filling the same area with symmetrical rows of grasses and shrubs creates a completely different appearance.

Although hardscaping may play a major role, plant selection remains a significant factor in a contemporary or contemporary landscape. Ideally, the majority should possess a architectural personality (believe phormium or blue fescue) with foliage in shades of green or gray. Though colorful flowers and plants may be utilized within this fashion of landscaping, they are best when treated as accent pieces.

Squares and rectangles are generally used geometric shapes in a contemporary landscape, but an occasional circle may work wonders in softening a darkened lawn. Setting circles inside the rectangular tiers and adding a very long, thin planter will help to play up the comparison of shapes here.

Texas Construction Company

A contemporary landscape functions well with an assortment of architectural styles, such as a ranch home. Here the glossy lines reflect the traces of the home and create a tranquil — and also easy-care — distance for relaxing or parties. Contemporary landscaping is often thought of as being showy or dramatic, but it may also be rather subtle.

Ana Williamson Architect

The elements of a regular Southwestern garden might be custom made for a contemporary landscape. The plantings are sparse, typical of an area where rainfall is scarce. The hardscaping materials mimic the colours of the home, allowing the landscaping to feel like it is an extension of the home rather than a distinct space. The only shrub, with its sculptural form, is the sole statement bit required for this entry.

Arterra Landscape Architects

Though most contemporary landscapes have been paired with a contemporary or ranch-style house layout, you don’t need to stick with that. These ornamental grasses work amazingly well at the rear of a conventional San Francisco home and are a nice break from the anticipated cottage or British garden. The muted colours reflect those located in the town’s often foggy all-natural landscape and generate a year-round peaceful retreat.

Jeffrey Gordon Smith Landscape Architecture

A contemporary hardscape, with its simple lines and very low profile, also works well when paired with the natural landscape. Here, the garden itself features a very low profile, allowing the hillside foliage and the opinion are the stars of this series.

Within this setting, the bounds between nature and garden are distinct, but you might also gradually blur the line between the formal and natural spaces. By way of example, use native plants in formal rows to line the edge of your area, then gradually loosen the rows so they start to blend into the free-growing area beyond. Another thought would be to use a water feature for a bridge between the two spaces.

Carolyn Wesling

Elements of a conventional landscape — a paver path, big planters as well as an arbor resulting in a seating area — get a contemporary take within this design. The pavers are set at a geometric grid rather than a wandering path, which provides a patiolike feeling for this narrow area. Other nontraditional features include the heavy, blocklike adobe-colored boxes across the walk that give a contemporary nod to conventional terra-cotta pots, and the pillars of the same substance that tie the timber arbor they are supporting into the remainder of the space.

Huettl Landscape Architecture

Hardscapes play a important part in contemporary design. Here, mixing and matching materials — concrete, gravel and decking — functions. While each substance defines a particular area, whether it’s the backyard bed, entry pathway or area, maintaining each area the same relative dimensions and about the same horizontal plane signifies no single substance overpowers the others.

Huettl Landscape Architecture

Water is a frequent part in a contemporary landscape, but don’t anticipate a rock-filled waterfall or a naturalistic backyard pool. Instead, you will discover something like this installation, where water drops in one stream from the edge of a tall, narrow metal planter into a concrete bowl below. Adding water into planters, whether they are filled with plants or not, is a simple way to add a contemporary touch to any backyard area.

Watch more fountains like this one

Or do a contemporary version of a waterwheel. A water feature sitting in the end of a deck feels like a natural expansion of this space. The play of light onto the moving water gives a nice contrast to the timber, and also the sound of water invites one to linger.

Randy Thueme Design Inc. – Landscape Architecture

Contemporary landscapes in particular lend themselves to odd fencing. In cases like this, the fencing is more than odd; it is the highlight of this distance. Adding the uplighting just draws even more attention to the oversize basketweave design. Note the subtle stripes at the paving, another intriguing feature in what is basically an unadorned patio.

Busybee Design

Developing a contemporary seating space otudoors is amazingly simple as well as comfortable and inviting. A softly coloured but not overly sweetly light rug anchors the space, the dark wood of the deck and furniture is contemporary in atmosphere, and bright red accents replicate the brick of the building beyond.

If you crave a contemporary touch, even at a conventional garden, a patio or deck may be the perfect place to experimentation. It’s usually different from the remainder of the backyard, so a different style isn’t as jarring.

Colors Of Green Landscape Architecture

A front lawn gets a contemporary twist: The concrete patio and edgings divide the space into entryway, play area, and sitting spots, and note the warm color and horizontal structure of their gates, the more simplified plantings, the glowing orange cushions and the contemporary table. The submerged feel of this space, reinforced by the wall with plantings above it, makes the whole space look protected yet open. There’s room to relax and play, all in security.

Blasen Landscape Architecture

Even vegetable gardens may go contemporary. These elevated beds and gravel paths could be straight out of a conventional French potager, but the very simple steel pergola and table underneath give this space a contemporary appearance.

More:
Keep Your Garden at Lines
Give Your Landscape Rhythm

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Seeing George Clooney at a critically acclaimed role in The Descendants was undoubtedly one of the film’s main attractions. But layout enthusiasts hightailed to the theater also to observe how the movie’s setting (Honolulu and Hanalei Bay) along with the ancestral house’s importance was interpreted in the creation and set design.

The five layout and décor elements below helped me get a deeper comprehension of the load of property and heritage shouldered by Matt King (George Clooney) at The Descendants. In reality, the pictures below made place decorator Matt Calahan’s brilliance all the more clear. He sourced materials and furnishings from all around Hawaii to make homes that had background, which made the viewer feel like the collections were dwelt in not from the figures onscreen but all those that came before.

Oscar Sunday: 7 p.m. Eastern, 4 p.m. Pacific, Feb. 26, 2012

Sutton Suzuki Architects

1. Old Plantation Style

The style gets its name in the pineapple and sugarcane plantations which supplied the layout for Chinese, Japanese and Filipino laborer homesteads. Hawaiian kitchen and bath designer Cindy Tervola states, “The qualities of the old plantation style are walls made up of beadboard paneling, hardwood flooring, high ceilings adorned with lovers, and large doors opening into a lanai. And most rooms have direct outdoor access.”

Tervola adds, “Architects attempted to overthrow the homes to take full benefit of the tradewinds. They made for big windows, doors and homes which were constructed off the ground to circulate air under to cool the inside.”

This particular plantation house, color aside, reminds me of this scene in The Descendants in which the King clan meets concerning the future of their estate. Rooting the Kings into a farm and ancestral house was pivotal in the film, as it cleared the way for knowing how their lineage traced back all of the way to Hawaiian royalty and missionary settlers on the island.

M Squared Design – Architecture

Wide-hipped roofs with large overhanging eaves and a non traditional wood framework typically characterize a plantation home.

Tervola Designs

2. The Lanai

The outside roofed terrace, or lanai, is the heart center of the Hawaiian home. “It’s where household members and guests can recline on the pune’e [sofa or daybed]. Much of the family’s dining and enjoyable tasks are had in the lanai given the year-round tropical climate,” states Tervola.

K2 Design Group, Inc..

All-weather wicker furniture which could resist the wet and dry seasons is a favorite choice for tropical and farm cabin lanais. This collection from Crate and Barrel’s Ventura lineup is UV resistant and has a rustproof aluminum frame and cushions that resist fading and mildew.

Fox Searchlight

The melodrama surrounding Alex King (played by Shailene Woodley) is often performed on the lanai of her parents’ house and the rented beach house of her mother’s lover. The lanai creates a setting which allows for an intimate and fair exchange — fitting for Alex, as she’s the one who enlightens her father about her mother’s infidelity, which helps spark her dad’s journey toward truth.

Willman Interiors / Gina Willman, ASID

3. Lauhala Weave

Hawaiians use every portion of the hala tree, the origin of their woven lauhala mats, hats, furniture and roofing materials. The lauhala weave ceiling found in this picture is warm, ecofriendly, sound-absorbing and sustainable; it is employed in multimillion-dollar farm houses and small cottages equally.

Willman Interiors / Gina Willman, ASID

The lauhala ceiling with mahogany trim and framed kuba fabric seen here generates a contemporary-meets-traditional Hawaiian farm house makeup. Tervola states, “Island-style layout comprises old pieces with the brand new, mixing materials for a more contemporary look in more of the luxury homes”

Fox Searchlight

I remember watching the lauhala weave in The Descendants when Hugh (Beau Bridges’ character) was introduced. (Hugh is one of the cousins that are eligible, a group which The New York Times aptly describes here as “a gaggle of pale loafers in loud shirts and sandals” who happen to have a valuable parcel of property in Kauai.) From the island restaurant scene, the lauhala-weave walls function as the backdrop to a dialogue between Matt King and Hugh that enlightens the moviegoer to the King clan’s financially-driven interests.

F. Schumacher & Co..

Hot House Flowers, Spark

4. The Hibiscus and Tropical Floral Prints

One of the film stills for The Descendants puts the hibiscus flower front and center as a beachside George Clooney contemplates the future of his family’s Kauai estate. It was no accident that the hibiscus landed so prominently — as it is Hawaii’s state flower, the producers picked it to help root the film to the property.

Olga Adler

Whether King’s aloha shirts, the chair cushions at his in-laws’ house or the art and structures around his own residence, patterns with florals (birds of heaven, plumerias) along with the omnipresent palm tree are widely used in almost every interior framework in The Descendants; they are popular in the tropical clime of Hawaii.

Terrie Hall

5. Ancestral Photos

Prior to deciding the destiny of his family, King stands before a wall filled with his ancestors’ photos, showing a mixture of Caucasian missionaries and settlers with their native Hawaiian spouses as well as the haole (foreigner) kin who make up King’s extended family. Possibly the visual reminder of the ancestors makes King remember a significant thing about heritage and inheritance: You should always try to do the ideal thing, which oftentimes isn’t the most lucrative thing.

More:
Island Living
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Design Around the World: Hawaii

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