Monthly Archives: July 2011

Improve Your Yard with an Outdoor Fireplace!

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It’s that time of year again! That time when outdoor entertaining becomes the norm and we take advantage of every waking opportunity to hang out on the patio. But here in Denver, Colorado, summer nights can be a tad nippy and an evening of entertaining on the back beck can become downright chilly after a little while. That’s why we suggest accenting your yard with an outdoor fireplace!

Not only will it increase the value of your home but it will also warm your guests up on those cooler nights. It can provide warmth, but it also provides a gentle light that helps brighten your yard without the severe intensity of an incandescent light.

Do you want to incorporate an outdoor fireplace in your own backyard? Contact Phase One Landscapes at (303) 750-6060 for help.

Add Character to Your Architectural Landscape Using a Garden Sign

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Creating a landscape that is beautiful and personal for each client is our main focus here at Phase One Landscapes. We believe that unique landscapes should be fashioned around the individual who enjoys the garden most. One way we’ve found to add character to your architectural landscape is to use a garden sign.

garden signs

Garden signs add personality to any landscape.

Expression can be done in many ways in the garden. Your specific choice of furniture, design, and plants are just a few. Garden signs are another way to show off your personal style. They are a fun approach to bringing charm into a sophisticated landscape. Garden signs may also be used to show the significance of an area or to emphasize the garden with humor or insight.

For landscapes full of interesting plants, a garden sign that gives information about those plants may be helpful. For avid gardeners, there are many signs that express the joys of gardening.

Whatever your choice, garden signs bring personal flair to any style of landscaping. Contact Phase One Landscaping for help designing your dream landscape today.

Photo courtesy of Design and Time

Let Inspiring Planters Dress Up Your Patio

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While a lively variety of assorted plants and flowers in your landscape can certainly spice up its look, sometimes it takes a little bit more than that to truly give a landscape some real flavor. Phase One Landscape always suggests homogeneously blending elements that are both organic and inanimate when trying to create a new look—especially here in Denver where there is such a wide variety of species to choose from. For example, adding a Korean grass pond and koi fish are great natural elements to introduce into a yard that also has many stone fountains and LED walkway lights. Even if it’s a man-made pond, harmony can still be achieved.

The same type of blending can take place with planters. Vibrant planters of varying shapes and colors coupled with soft, natural flora are a great way to craft a balanced background of natural and inorganic at the same time.

Take a look at a few other plants tips we came across from Freshome on dressing up your patio with inspiring planters:

  • Let your patio furniture inspire your planters
  • Coordinate with the architecture of your home
  • Innovative ideas for planters
  • Understated doesn’t have to be boring

Contact Phase One Landscapes today to learn more about how we can create the perfectly balanced landscape for you.

Photo Credit: Freshome

Do You Know About Phase One Landscapes’ Care Guide?

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As your premier Denver landscape design architects, Phase One Landscapes understands the importance on maintaining a healthy, hydrated landscape during the sweltering months of summer. That’s why when we design a landscape layout for you, we specifically create one that is sustainable and capable of withstanding even the harshest of high-temperature conditions.  After all, you want your investment to last and so do we, plain and simple. So, we decided to create a Care Guide to offer useful and concrete Denver landscaping that will help your landscaping endure and prosper. With just a little bit of basic ongoing but well-planned maintenance, your lawn will continue to remain lush and healthy year-round.

Take a look at the Care and Maintenance page of our website for a comprehensive list of tips on everything from sod irrigation to perennial groundcover care. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be exploring topics in the care guide in more depth. In the meantime, contact Phase One Landscapes today for answers to your landscape care questions or to learn more about how we can help design the landscape of your dreams!

ASLA Grants Fellowship to 40 Outstanding Members

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As active members in Denver’s architectural landscape circuit, Phase One Landscapes was excited to learn that last week, the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) honored 40 of the association’s most exceptional members by elevating them to the ASLA Council of Fellows. According to the ASLA, the fellowship is among the highest honors the ASLA bestows on members and individuals based on their works, leadership and management, knowledge and service.

From the ASLA:

The designation of Fellow is conferred on individuals in recognition of exceptional accomplishments over a sustained period of time. Individuals considered for this distinction must be members of ASLA in good standing for at least 10 years and must be recommended to the Council of Fellows by the Executive Committee of their local chapter, the Executive Committee of ASLA or the Executive Committee of the Council of Fellows.

The 2011 class of new Fellows is slated to be recognized at the 2011 ASLA Annual Meeting & EXPO from October 30–November 2 in San Diego, CA.

2 Great Summer Plants for Colorado Landscapes

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What better time than the summer to go out and get a little dirty while enhancing your landscape? This is the time of year that you spend the most time outside enjoying your landscape, so why not put your green thumb to work. Not only will the results be aesthetically pleasing, you will also come to find that gardening can be incredibly relaxing and cathartic. To look back and see your handy work, your effort, your sweat in a fully bloomed fernbush is gratifying, to say the least.

Being that it is summer, the amount of sunlight that plants receive is at an all time high. No worries though–Phase One Landscapes has got two great suggestions for Colorado-area plants that will flourish in the summer heat and have your landscape be the talk of the neighborhood. Prepare to have your backyard mistaken for a floral oasis!

Take a look:

1. Fernbush -  This plant requires very little water and minimal maintenance. It and produces bunches of small white flowers during the late spring and on through the early summer months.

2. Yarrow – a group of Rocky Mountain perennials that require sparse watering once established. Throughout the summer, flowers will begin to blossom at the tips of the tall stalks of the plant.

If you’d the type that would rather leave it to the professionals, contact Phase One Landscapes today and let us help with your landscaping needs this year!


Attract Hummingbirds with These 3 Native Colorado Plants!

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Hummingbirds have the ability to add joy and life to any garden. If you are having trouble attracting these beautiful birds to your garden, here are a few plants that might be able to help.

The first is the snapdragon. Hummingbirds are attracted to the color red. They are also attracted to tubular flowers. The snapdragon provides the best of both worlds and hopefully will bring some hummingbirds your way.

A hummingbird flying.

Hummingbirds love searching for nectar in garden plants.

The second is the scarlet gilia. Like the snapdragon, this plant is red and tubular. Hummingbirds are attracted to tubular plants because their anatomy helps them find nectar deep within a flower. Also, the scarlet gilia is a deep red which is color that hummingbirds are most attracted to.

The third flower that can help attract hummingbirds is the honeysuckle. Their sweet nectar and tubular form are a big attraction.

You don’t have to go crazy with red, tubular plants in your garden. However, adding a few will definitely help attract the hummingbirds. For more information on landscaping contact Phase One Landscaping.

Grow a Year-round Herbal Garden

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Phase One Landscapes knows that the concept of landscaping and gardening can be used to create many things – a garden can be built to add structure and design to your home, it can add aesthetic appeal to your property, it can create an oasis of relaxation and peace and, if you’re lucky, it can bountifully provide you with edible goodies! After all, who doesn’t want to be able to pick a fresh rosemary sprig from their very own herb garden?

Gaillardia, Sage, Maiden Grass, and shrubs comprise this low-water sidewalk planting area.

But what if you just don’t have the space to spare for an outdoor herb plot? Don’t worry — you’re still in luck as one of the growing gardening trends around this time of year is to plant an indoor herb garden. The process allows you to escape uncontrollable variables that tend to ravage outdoor gardens such as animals, insects, and harsh weather conditions. Herb gardens not only provide you with year round fresh herbs for cooking, but also provide charming décor for your home. The time dedication to an indoor garden is also minimal, requiring no more effort than any other houseplant.

For more landscaping and gardening tips, don’t forget to check out Phase One Landscape’s Care Guide!

Xeriscaping continued: 7 Simple ways to conserve water

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As we mentioned in our last post, the blistering months of summer can be brutal on any landscape, especially if you live here in the arid Denver Colorado area. The elements of this season — like scorching heat from the sun and lack of rainfall — can drain your lawn and surrounding landscapes of some much-needed moisture. While your first instinct may be to run the sprinklers ad nauseam, Phase One Landscapes would like to encourage homeowners to take a closer look at the practice of “xeriscaping”— a 7-step water-conserving lawn irrigation strategy.  According to the folks at the U.S. Department of Energy, this system employs the technique of designing a landscape that not only conserves energy but also water.

Here’s a brief overview of the steps involved:

1.      Planning and design

2.      Selecting and zoning plants appropriately

3.      Limiting turf areas

4.      Imhttp://phaseonelandscapesinc.design-sherpa.com/wp-admin/post-new.phpproving the soil

5.      Irrigating efficiently

6.      Using mulches

7.      Maintaining the landscape

The DOE notes that Xeriscaping is mostly used in arid regions, but its principles can be used in any region to help conserve water. Check back with Phase One Landscapes regularly for more energy saving landscaping tips!

Photo Credit: Hitchmen Outdoors