Landscaping in Houston By Jeff Halper At Isnare.com Ezine Articles

Houston residents can expect a wide range of landscaping options when it comes to beautifying their properties. Houston’s near-tropical climate provides an ideal growing environment for a plethora of seasonal and perennials that can make any yard vibrant and colorful. Construction options are equally varied due to the wide diversity of lot sizes and home architecture styles found throughout the many different parts of Houston. Landscaping professionals from Exterior Design develop custom landscape designs specific to the size of the lot, the type and age of the home, and the many specific elements that make each neighborhood in Houston a challenging and exciting place for landscaping design.

West University, Southside Place, Southampton, and Rice Village and Bellaire

These areas are definitively urban neighborhoods characterized older homes and strict codes. Most of the lots in these areas are smaller than lots in other parts of the city. Houses are consequently much closer together and require innovative designs to differentiate them from surrounding properties.

The method we use to accomplish this is to make homes and spaces look much larger than they are by using smaller hedges and smaller leaves. This creates the illusion that the house is much taller than it is. This is often all it takes to make a single house stand out among all the others along the street. The apparent size of backyards can also be magnified appear larger by planting hedgerows or alleys of trees along the property line. These linear plantings help screen off a property from the surrounding visual distractions of neighboring homes and yards.

A similarly older, but very different part of the city is the Tanglewood area.

Homes in this wealthy Houston neighborhood were built in the 50s-70s on large-scale lots. Space is not an issue here, so there are all sorts of opportunities for outdoor design in this region of Houston. Landscaping designs can range from a series of flower beds and alleys of yew trees to creative motorcourt and flower bed designs. In most respects, our clients in Tanglewood ask us to make the most of their large lots by creating a park-like look and feel to the premise. It is common for us to proportionally section the lot into different sub-themes characterized by perennials, seasonal, outdoor structures and walkways, and a blend of trees and hedges.

In the Memorial area of Houston, landscaping takes on a very definite feeling of countryside.

With all the large oak and pine trees that line Memorial drive, it is easy to forget sometimes that you are driving through an urban environment. People living in this part of Houston prefer landscaping that emphasizes outdoor living as an experience equal to that of indoor living.

Outdoor structures and swimming pools that are designed to host gatherings of family and friends are very popular in this area. Shade-resilient gardens underneath towering trees are very popular in these neighborhoods, as are custom and modern garden designs.

River Oaks is the most exclusive and wealthy neighborhood in Houston and it is also one of the oldest.

People began building homes in River Oaks in the early 1900s. Since then, it has withstood the expansion of the city without losing its status as the most exclusive and prestigious neighborhood in Houston. Landscaping in this area is characterized by very formal designs that reflect the Old World architecture that distinguishes River Oaks living. French gardens and Italian gardens are immensely popular among residents, as our custom fountains, unique patios and walkways, and highly custom swimming pool construction. Property borders are routinely defined with linear gardens and hedgerows, and lawns and flower beds are painstakingly manicured to maintain a formal, aesthetic presentation.

Working in this part of Houston requires professional landscaping expertise due to the many layers of landscaping history. Digging in any River Oaks yard can sometimes feel like an archeological dig. Structures uncovered are often intertwined with tree roots, so removing old pipes and buried cables should only be done by a professional with tree-friendly know-how and tools.

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