Tag: middleburg landscape design

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Does great landscape design make us happier?

Ever since starting my landscape design firm I’ve had an opportunity to meet with a lot of people, look at a lot of yards, and have a lot of conversations about how they want to get more enjoyment from their landscapes. There are recurring themes, no matter where my clients are (geographically or economically): they often want a space that they can live in and share with others.

happy family

It was with interest that I learned of a study of the positivity of the English language. Using computer analyses the researchers scored over 10,000 commonly used English words and assessed the perceived positivity of the words. In other words, what are the happiest words in the English language?

If you scroll down through the article, you can click on the link to Table S1 to download a list of the 50 most positive words. Here are some words I wanted to highlight:

  • laughter was #1
  • love was #3
  • celebration was #20
  • music was #23
  • weekend was #26
  • friendship was #34
  • holidays was #36
  • sunshine was #43
  • beautiful was #44
  • paradise was #49

Some of these words, or permutations of these words, come up in my client consultations. Many of these, even if they’re not actually spoken, are a part of how we envision spending time in a space. Celebrating, laughing with loved ones and friends, listening to music in the sunshine in our beautiful backyard paradise… according to how I’m interpreting this study, a beautiful backyard can lead to happy times!

It may sound sappy but what I love about what I do is we’re actually helping people live their dreams. Whether or not your favorite word made the list, I’d like to help you and your family create a space that will make you happy every time you see it. Call me or drop me an email and let’s get started.

 

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Travertine Paver Patio Installers in Virginia – What to Know

When I was designing landscapes in Arizona, one option we had available to us was travertine marble tile. These were actual tiles – typically 12″x12″ and less than a half inch think – so they had to be laid in a mortar bed on a concrete slab. Shortly after landing in Virginia in 2005, I started seeing travertine pavers make an appearance.

These are really cool because they’re an inch thick and are laid just like a concrete paver. You build up with a base layer of compacted gravel (21A or crusher run), then use a one inch layer of sand as your bedding layer. Once the pavers are in place they’re compacted and polymeric sand is swept into the joints. That’s it. It’s a beautiful finished product that has the ability to flex and move like a traditional concrete paver patio in Virginia. From the test data I’ve seen online, travertine pavers have a compressive strength similar to concrete pavers and can even be used for driveways!

The biggest challenge I’ve found with designing travertine paver patios in Virginia is making the materials make sense. Travertine in California or Arizona doesn’t look out of place. It can look a little foreign here, though. I recently designed a fireplace, seat wall, and travertine paver patio as part of a winery landscape design project. I used a plum-colored flagstone to tie in with the warm tones of the travertine and the rich reddish colors in the fireplace stone, and I’m quite pleased with how it turned out. All those color theory classes have finally paid off.

I’m starting my next travertine paver patio project this week, and I may have one more in the pipeline as part of a swimming pool project. The travertine pavers are a great product that (unlike concrete pavers and flagstone) aren’t in every other backyard. Making it work requires someone who can integrate this new material in the landscape design while blending all the colors harmoniously. In other words, you need a landscape designer. Contact me to set up a consultation if you’re looking to build a travertine paver patio in Virginia, Maryland, or DC and I’ll be happy to talk with you about it!

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Understanding Flagstone: Sawcut, Thermaled, and Chiseled Edges

You’ve decided to use flagstone in the landscape. Good call! You may not be done making decisions, however. If the stone will be used in an application where you see the edge of the piece (step treads, wall caps, etc) you’ll have to think about the finished look.

Thickness

The first thing to consider is the thickness of the stone. The typical stone we use for a wet-lay patio can vary in thickness, from a hair under an inch to over two inches. When building steps or a cap, you want to see a consistent thickness of stone all the way across.

Something else to consider is that often a thicker stone will look better. That 1″ thick flagstone can look wimpy. A 2″ piece has a lot more heft to it. In some cases you may want to go even thicker, but just be aware that now you’re looking at significant additional costs.

The Edge – Sawcut Flagstone

The most common edge “treatment” isn’t really even a treatment. The rectangular slabs of flagstone are cut with a giant saw, and you can often see the marks from the blade on the stone. It’s fine, but it’s certainly not an aesthetically exciting finish.

The Edge – Thermaled Flagstone

One of the most common edge treatments (and one that I think looks great) is thermal-treated. This is accomplished by taking a piece of sawcut flagstone, wetting down the edge, and heating it with a torch. Done correctly the water turns to steam and pops off small pieces of the stone, resulting in a smoothly textured and very consistent surface. Done incorrectly, the piece overheats and splits. This is why most stone yards offer to provide thermaled stone.

The Edge – Chiseled Flagstone

Another way of treating the edges of flagstone is to give them a chiseled appearance. It’s another technique that’s simple to describe and more difficult to do: the mason uses a chisel to remove small, evenly sized pieces of material from the edge of the stone until it has a very cool, consistent rock-faced look across the edge. Some companies do this on site, but most get the stone from the stoneyard like this.

When designing with stone there are so many variables to consider. While it seems inconsequential at first, the right edge treatment can make the difference between a good result and a great result. If you’re looking for help achieving that great result, contact me for a design consultation!

 

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Landscape Inspiration: Brick Details

I grew up in New England which means that the most commonly used landscape material was stone. Oh, did we have stone! I maintained a love affair with stone throughout my career, played with some other materials, and moved here. As a landscape designer in Northern Virginia I was quickly exposed to brick, brick, and more brick. Let’s be honest, a lot of homes around here have, at the very least, a brick facade. All too often I mention the possibility of using brick in the hardscape and get eye rolling and bored sighs in return. The thing is, brick is amazingly versatile, and when designed and built well… amazing. This is why I like to look to old buildings for inspiration when designing with brick. Those old masons could bring it!

Brick mixes with stone in these great arches. The newer one (background) is probably precast concrete, but it’s still a great look.

“Brick columns are boring.” No way! They needn’t be. They can be awesome like this. Look at what a difference those stone “panels” make.

Chimneys and columns are where brick can really shine. The idea of stepping the bricks in and out adds a lot of interest and detail to chimneys,columns, and walls.

This wall amazes me. It was hard to get a great shot of it, but the brick is laid so so so perfectly as the wall wraps down that it almost looks organic. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, squint your eyes as you look at the wall. Doesn’t it have the fluidity of movement that you would expect from adobe, or even a tree root? Too cool!

“Brick walls are just too visually ‘heavy’.” Not necessarily!

Now, I have yet to build a brick water feature – but after seeing this I want to.

I think the hangup comes from people hearing brick and thinking of nothing but rectangular solids (that there was geometry talk!) in boring patterns. I haven’t even gotten into all the odd shapes and sizes available, but this should show a sample of why brick rings my bell.

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Wildlife and Water Features

One of the benefits of having a water feature is that it will become the cool watering hole for the neighborhood critters. I’m working with a landscape design client in northern Fauquier County to rejuvenate the existing decades-old landscape, and one of the assets I have to work with is a small water feature adjacent to the back patio.

As you can see, it’s really overgrown (but look at that Hakonechloa. Look at it!!!) but the local fauna still love it.

This cute little fella was hanging out and enjoying the warm sunshine. Yes, you will likely get the occasional snake around your pond. There’s water, abundant food, and big flat rocks on which to sun themselves. It’s ok, they’re no more interested in you than you are in them.

This little guy was chilling with a few of his friends. If you have a shallow, relatively still section of water you’ll create a great hangout for birds to bathe, and I’ve seen deer and foxes coming right up to backyard ponds. As we build out and slap houses on more and more habitat, we’re doing a good thing by creating little pockets like this for wildlife.

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Why Is This Retaining Wall Failing?

I walk by this wall whenever I walk to the post office in downtown Culpeper. Walls like this are pretty common in older neighborhoods like mine. Leaning and generally unhappy walls are, sadly, pretty common as well. So what gives? Why do these walls look like they’re ready to flop over on the sidewalk?

There are several possible explanations. The first is insufficient footer, or failure to tie the wall in with the footer. When building a masonry retaining wall in Virginia you generally want to dig down 24″ below grade, so you’re below the frost line. You then pour a beefy footer (thickness varies depending on application), often with rebar coming up from the footer to tie the wall to the footer. Our home was built in 1906 and renovated in the 1950s, and I can tell you with certainty that there was not a lot of digging to frost depth being done way back then.

Another possibility is insufficient drainage behind the wall. Water is a wall’s worst enemy. Hydrostatic pressure is a major cause of wall failure. The way we avoid a buildup of pressure is by using a “drainage chimney” of clean gravel behind the wall, along with periodic weep holes.

What makes this wall great for illustrative purposes is the fact that the wall likely started to fail because of hydrostatic pressure (water buildup behind the wall). This pushed the top of the wall forward, creating a gap between the wall and the slab. What’s right above the slab? Downspouts! So not only do we have a gap, we’re pouring gallons upon gallons of water behind the wall with every storm. Awesome.

So how would I fix this wall? I think we’re beyond the point of fixing something like this, and it needs to come out. Improper construction is hard to correct, and when it gets this bad – there’s no Band-Aid big enough.

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6 Screening Plants That Aren’t Leyland Cypress

UPDATE! There’s a new post up on planting for privacy – be sure you check it out!

My name is Dave Marciniak and I hate Leyland Cypress. It’s unattractive before it fills out, it’s no prize once it does fill out, it gets way too big (30′ wide and 50-60’+ tall) for the suburban lots on which they’re planted, and bagworms consider them a tasty snack.

I’ll admit that Leylands are, in part, an easy target for my ire because they’re often used in a really boring manner. I get that you have an unattractive view you’re trying to screen, but lining up as many of a single plant as you can plop in the ground is just boring. Emerald Green Arborvitae is another plant used this way.

See? One more reason not to browse the web on your phone while driving – you might have just fallen asleep and wrecked your car, thanks to this photo.

It’s the same problem at any scale. Our friends over at a local winery wanted to put up an evergreen screen along an edge of their property that they may end up sharing with some new neighbors. Can’t say that I blame them. Who would want to give up a view like this?

Anyhow, a local nursery recommended throwing a row of White Pines across the property line. Yawn. You’re a nursery, do better! So I developed this plan for them:

Let’s look at each plant I used here:

1- Cryptomeria japonica ‘Yoshino’: I’ve talked about this one before, as it’s a favorite. With an eventual height of 30-40 feet and a spread of 12-20 feet, it’s a well-behaved tree that will hide a multitude of sins in the neighbor’s yard. It’s a quick grower, too.

Photo credit: Middlesex Conservation District

2- Black Pine: A tougher pine than the common builder’s favorite, white pine, the black pine will easily grow to 20-30 feet or more, with a similar spread.

Photo credit: gardensandplants.com

3- Deodar Cedar: Bluish-green foliage and a height of around 50 feet make this tree an interesting specimen to mix into an evergreen screen.

Photo credit: Morton Arboretum

4- American Arborvitae: this is a great choice for narrow locations too. Overall height ends up around 25-40 feet, with a spread of 10-15 feet.

5- Kwanzan Cherry: Now wait, you say, this isn’t an evergreen! And that’s true. Part of eliminating a problem view is blocking it; but another component is misdirection. When these trees get covered in their gorgeous pink blooms in springtime, no one’s going to be looking at what’s beyond.

Photo credit: Bemis Farms Nursery

6- Maple: We actually used a Commemoration Sugar Maple, which gets a great blaze orange color in the fall. At 50 feet tall and 40 feet wide, this will be another great foreground tree throughout most of the year. These and the cherries allowed us to create a layered planting, which makes it look more like a farm windbreak and less like a suburban “hide the neighbors” screen.

The bottom line is that just because you have something you want to hide from view doesn’t mean that the best way to do it is with a single, straight soldier row of the same boring plant. Play with texture, play with color, and use some tricks that not only block the view but give the eye a reason to look somewhere else.

Unsure of where to start? Give me a call or email to set up a consultation, and I’ll help you get started.

Green Giant Arborvitae are another great alternative to Leyland trash trees!