Houston Garden By Jeff Halper At Isnare.com Ezine Articles

The Houston climate makes it one of the best places to plant a garden in the United States. Houston experiences a warm climate much of the year, and even though it is exceptionally hot in the summer months, the humidity latent in the atmosphere serves plant life very well. Because of the richness of the soil, the moisture content of the atmosphere, and the relative infrequency of hard freezes in the winter, virtually any type of plant species can thrive here. Tropical flowering plants, a variety of shrubs, perennials of all colors, and a rainbow of seasonal flowers can all be grown successfully in this part of the world.

With such a diversity of plant life available, Houston gardens can follow both traditional and non-traditional forms depending on the needs of the client. Our philosophy is to always respect the architecture with a design that mirrors structural keynotes and adds an organic sensibility to the façade of the house. As such, we prefer to view a garden in the context of the surrounding residence and particular neighborhood. We have all seen hundreds of amateur gardens throughout the city that are basically flower beds clustered at the bases of trees. While there is nothing inherently wrong with this approach, it lacks the ability to significantly differentiate one residence from the other.

On the other hand, the Houston gardens we design are developed under the auspices of a landscaping master plan. The goal is never to simply fill an empty space with flowers or shrubbery. In fact, a few of the more exotic garden we offer clients, such as Zen gardens, rely upon a skillful blend of empty space, vegetation, and ornamentation to communicate a subtle but powerful impression to the emotions. Yardmen and do-it-yourself gardening manuals miss this nine times out of ten. Their focus is on choosing pretty plants to fill space with color and greenery. Professional gardening, on the other hand, relies upon either an established, traditional design or a derivative of that design that has been individualized to a particular residence and its unique needs for vegetation and aesthetics.

A good example of this can be seen in the many case studies you can read in the portfolio section of our website. In these case histories, you will notice that residents in different Houston neighborhoods tend to favor specific designs over others. In River Oaks, for example, we plant a great many Italian gardens and French gardens because the lots are so large, and the architecture tends to range from formal to deliberate emulations of Old World forms. On the other end of the spectrum, much smaller lots are found between the Museum District east through Bellaire. Houses are consequently much closer together, either being smaller in build, or building up instead of outward to conserve space in the yard. Gardens in these areas of Houston have to be very distinctive in form and color, but lie very close to the ground in order to avoid competing with the stature of the home and blocking a view of the landscape. Knot gardens and modern gardens work very well in these neighborhoods, adding dimension and form, along with symmetry, without overpowering other landscaping elements.

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