Monthly Archives: May 2010

Phase One Landscapes Featured in 5280 Magazine

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The May 5280 magazine has an excellent feature area called “A Garden of One’s Own” written by Natasha Gardner. The section showcasing four gardens in the Denver-Boulder area is one you don’t want to miss.  Our garden at the renovated Lowry Steam Plant on page 85 illustrates how much fun you can have with a very small space.  The unique use of formed concrete to create the fireplace, water feature, and raised planters is industrial and contemporary.  The look called “Urban Minimalist” includes great pictures with an informative and  interesting article – check it out!

NYC’s Bryant Park Wins 2010 Landmark Award

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Phase One Landscapes congratulates New York City’s Bryant Park as they were recognized this month as the winner of the 2010 Landmark Award. The award is presented annually by the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) and the National Trust for Historic Preservation and recognizes a project’s design excellence, longevity, and contribution to the public realm.

Led by Laurie Olin, FASLA, the 1992 redesign of Bryant Park transformed the formerly derelict space into a model of urban sustainability. In addition to a large green roof, the park now offers year-round activities enjoyed by thousands of visitors each year. The park also significantly increased real estate values in the surrounding areas, demonstrating the link between urban green space and land value.

The Landmark Award recognizes a distinguished landscape architecture project completed between 15 and 50 years ago that retains its original design integrity and contributes significantly to the public realm of the community in which it is located. Previous recipients include the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, Golden Gate National Recreation Area near San Francisco, and the Charleston (S.C.) Waterfront Park.

The professional awards jury described the project as “refreshing and so beautiful. The landscape architect balanced the location, the constituency, and the materials. People love the experience.”

Click here to view a full project description and high-resolution images.

How Healthy is Your Soil?

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Healthy soil equals healthy plants. Healthy soil also means more potential for consistent growth. Because of this, green landscapers are constantly on the lookout for various ways to boost soil fertility and quality. While the fact that proper soil plays such a large role in maintaining a healthy lawn might be a new notion upon the ears of gardening enthusiasts that learned that good fertilizer is all you need, it’s a concept that’s been clear to green landscapers for quite some time now. Fortunately, cultivating healthy soil is not an incredibly tough thing to do. In fact, it’s a relatively easy way for even the most novice of gardeners to improve their gardens.

Take a look at this article form Green Living Ideas that outlines how to do so as well as provides a number to eco-friendly gardening initiatives you can try out on your own. For more information on improving your landscape design, visit Phase One Landscapes today.

Some Things to Know Before Watering Your Lawn

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Did you know that nearly 80 percent of the water user in the home during the summertime is for outdoor use? That means that even after use for bathing, cooking and consumption, more than half the water utilized is not for human use! And during the warm summer months, that water that’s used for irrigation that’s being put on the lawn in hopes of saturating it to create a lush green grassway is largely squandered as it usually evaporates quicker than the earth is able to absorb it.

To prevent unnecessary waste of this very valuable resource, check out the University of Missouri’s “Home Lawn Watering Guide”.

Photo Credit: Organically Green

The Latest Landscape Buzz: Going Native

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As many homeowners have less and less time on their hands these days, landscaping trends are moving towards more natural-looking yards with native plants and edible gardens over the traditional well-kept lawn. Plus, sustainable design is starting to take precedence over the more exorbitant backdrops of yesteryear. Lowes Commercial Service presents us with a handy list of “Innovative Green Landscape Trends for 2010” that illustrate the trend of lower maintenance and simplicity that we are sure to see in the coming years.

Contact Phase One Landscapes today to find out how we can help you create your own beautiful sustainable landscape.

Click here the entire article.

Photo Credit: Elitrope

Outdoor Fire Pits: Not Just for the Winter

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Even in the summer time — especially if you live in Colorado — the chilly evening air is sometimes unavoidable. This makes the idea socializing on your beautiful outdoor patio much less enjoyable and probably not a welcomed suggestion by many of your guests! That’s when a cozy fire pit really comes in handy. The installable fixtures or tables can not only add some glitz and glamor to outdoor space but also some warmth.

Contact Phase One Landscapes today to find out how they can incorporate a fire pit into your existing landscape or help create a new landscape to accommodate your existing one!


Where’s Your Green Thumb?

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While Phase One Landscapes takes care to implement as many “green” landscape practices as possible when designing your garden space, there are still many things that you can do on your own to keep up with our sustainable efforts on a day-to-day basis.

Most of us are already cautious about what we spray and how much we water when it comes to our lawn but About.com’s landscaping expert David Beaulieu,  says there are plenty of other additional ways to help protect our environment. So, he’s put together a list of 10 Ideas for Environment-Friendly or “Green” Living Landscaping, to help break things down. Beaulieu notes that while we look for better ways to fuel our cars and heat our homes, we shouldn’t over look what we do in our yards and gardens.

To view the entire list, click here.

A Little Mix Here, A Little Match There

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There’s an “anything goes” mentality out there these days, says About.com gardening guide Marie Iannotti in her Dec. 27, 2009 post “The Best Gardening Trends of the 2000s.”

“We’ve broken free of garden design rules and dictates on good taste and we’ve embraced personalizing our gardens,” she wrote. “We may still love English and Tuscan gardens, but we’re not trying to please anyone other than ourselves. We’re willing to take chances and have some fun with our gardens, even if it means throwing in the kitchen sink. I think this is one of the most positive gardening trends, if it can be called a trend. We’ve finally learned to trust ourselves as gardeners.”

Perhaps that’s why more gardeners are mixing edibles with ornamentals. “No more 10-x-10-ft. Victory Gardens,” said Anna Ball this past fall in a presentation to woody ornamental growers at the International Plant Propagators Society’s Eastern Region meeting in Cleveland. “Everything should be mixed up. It’s a trend we’re seeing in every country, even South Africa, Australia, and Japan.”

More cold-climate gardeners, adds Anthony Tesselaar, are embracing non-hardy tropical plants as “tenderennials” or annuals they just throw out or overwinter.

“Who cares about zones if it’s a woody ornamental in a mixed container that’s going to get thrown out at the end of the year?” said Ball. “I bought all the gardening magazines in May. With my plant mind, I was sorting featured plants by annuals and perennials. I was unable to classify some of the plants because the articles and advertisements didn’t say. People don’t care what they are. They just care what they look like.”