Give Your Home a New Look with Professional Tulsa Landscape Design

Over time your landscape will need little renovations or even a complete ‘remodel’ so that it doesn’t look outdated. In fact, giving your landscape a makeover can help to make your home look more contemporary as well. So, what can you do to make sure your landscape and home look their best – even as they age?

Landscaping maintenance is key. 

If you don’t have time right now to give your landscape a complete overhaul, you can simply spruce it up a little with some detailed landscaping maintenance. Trimming overgrown trees and shrubs can do a lot to refresh a yard and prevent the entire home from looking older or even vacant. Simply planting new plants along the edge of your flowerbed, walkway, or as a container garden will add new life to your landscape and home. Putting new mulch in your garden or around trees is an easy way to spruce up your yard and make things look new. Also, adding a walkway made of pavers or a border for your garden using pavers can bring new decorative interest and dimension to your landscape.

Add an outdoor living space. 

To give your landscape a real makeover you could add a complete Tulsa outdoor environment to your landscape. These outdoor living spaces can be as extravagant or as simple as you would like. You could add a patio or deck to your backyard or go all out and build a custom outdoor kitchen, outdoor fireplace, custom pool, or all of the above.

Not only do these outdoor environments make you home and landscape look more contemporary and add incredible functionality to your space, but they can also significantly increase the value of your home and property. Often, as with any building project, it’s wise to seek the advice of a professional before you embark on such a project. Our Tulsa landscape designers and landscape architects can help create the perfect outdoor living space for your home. We can design the Tulsa outdoor environment to match the architecture and style of your home and create an outdoor space that’s not only beautiful but also practical for your lifestyle.

Use low-maintenance landscape designs. 

Many older homes may still have landscapes that were designed when the home was first built. Often, these landscape designs may not have utilized techniques that are now more readily available to conserve water or make the landscape more resistant to drought.

Low-maintenance landscaping can be used to help conserve water, time, and energy in maintain the landscape. Native plants and drought-resistant plants can be used that are more adaptable to our local environment. Plants that use similar amounts of water and need similar amounts of sunlight can also be grouped together to reduce maintenance. Some older homes may have had juniper trees planted close to them, which are very combustible. There are many plants and shrubs that are more fire-resistant. Some trees can be used around various parts of your home to shade your home or serve as a windbreak and even reduce air conditioning and heating costs.

Give your home and landscape a fresh look with a landscape design makeover!

Tulsa Landscape Design Challenges - Slopes

Slopes in your landscape can make designing your perfect outdoor living space much more of a challenge. Numerous Tulsa residents find themselves with this type of landscape design problem because so many Tulsa homes were built on the area’s beautiful hillsides. These steep hillside slopes can be rather tricky to garden, but it’s important to landscape these areas to prevent costly and possibly even calamitous erosion and drainage complications. What are some ways to landscape slopes to prevent these kinds of issues?

Make some walls.

Erosion takes place when surface runoff moves downhill taking with it loose soil. The faster the water flows down a slope, the more soil it likely will take with it. Thus, to effectively control erosion, the rate at which water flows downhill must be decreased, and yet still allow for drainage. Carefully constructed retaining walls and terraces can be very adept at preventing soil erosion and flooding. Retaining walls can be made using a variety of decorative hardscape materials such as natural stones, brick, interlocking blocks, concrete, wood, or cinder blocks. Because of their decorative appearance, retaining walls can add dimension and character to your landscape. They can be textured and aged or smooth and symmetrical, adding a decorative structure and organization to the landscape while holding back an embankment and creating level areas of land.

However, retaining walls must be properly built so they can withstand the pressure of weather, time, and other elements. These retaining walls need to also complement your property’s drainage and irrigation system to be effective. Several shorter terraces are often more effective than one or two larger segments because the more gradual the slope, the less chances there are for runoff.

Put nature to work.

Woody shrubs and trees that have a deep network of roots can help bind the various layers of soil together. Over time or through construction, these soil layers can become weak and less compact. Thus, plants with a strong root system can help keep the soil layers intact and slow water runoff. Hardy, drought-resistant plants like succulents, groundcovers, and native plants that are plentiful in Oklahoma will help reduce erosion and even help combat weeds. These plants are also usually more low-maintenance plants, providing easy maintenance for you landscape.

Rocks and boulders provide another decorative means of slowing the flow of water down a slope. Add native plants or shrubs behind these stone hardscapes and you’ll create a beautifully natural landscape. Make sure boulders are packed tightly into the soil.

Steps that stabilize.

Meandering steps can be used to help guests up what would otherwise be a difficult slope. You could make a series of steps in a winding or zigzag pattern that adds personality and charm to the hillside. Plant colorful shrubs or groundcover next to the curving stairway to create even more interest and help prevent surface runoff.

Use Water to the Full

While surface runoff can cause much erosion damage, you can work with the water by diverting it through a stream, waterfall, or other water feature along a shallow slope. Fill in the stream with rocks and you have a natural creek bed. Thus, your babbling brook can safely allow water to flow downstream and form another visual piece for your landscape.

Because of the delicate nature of slopes, soil, and their proper drainage patterns, it’s often best to seek the advice of professional landscape designers before making any major adjustments to your slope or hillside. The Tulsa landscape designers at Oklahoma Landscape will be glad to help you correct or prevent drainage and erosion issues by properly landscaping your hillside or slope.

We provide a complete range of landscape architecture, drainage, irrigation, and hardscape services to help you ‘find yourself outside’ in your beautiful and engaging landscape.

Beautify Your Tulsa Landscape With Plants That Add Color In The Fall

Fall is in the air and soon leaves will change colors and the cool fall breeze will brush through the Tulsa landscape. People love the fall season for the display of colors that can be seen across all of Oklahoma, but especially here in Green Country. For an even more colorful fall season, many homeowners plant shrubs, trees, and perennials that are known for their amazing colors in the fall.

The Virginia Sweetspire is a showcase-worthy shrub with great ornamental fall colors. Growing in either shade or sun, the Virginia Sweetspire will display little white flowers in the summer, and then its green leaves will turn to a bright red, yellow, orange, or even rich burgundy color during fall.

A tough deciduous shrub that affords an outstanding display of fall color with orange-red fall foliage is the Chokeberry. This shrub thrives in open sunlight but can tolerate partial shade as well. The Amur Maple offers nice red color during the fall and can act either as shrub or a small tree depending on how it’s managed. Also, different varieties of Sumac provide stunning displays of fall color with yellow, scarlet, orange and foliage. These Sumacs are hardy shrubs that thrive in full sun and shouldn’t be confused with their poison sumac cousin.

Naturally, Maple trees will add a nice display of color to your Tulsa landscape this fall. From the widespread Red Maple to the Japanese Maple, these trees are known for their crimson colors and elegant, unique shapes. The Autumn Purple Ash tree is another fall favorite with reddish-purple leaves that change earlier in the season than other trees. Dogwoods afford great color during any season with white and pink flowers in the spring and purplish-red leaves in the fall.

Sedums are a vibrant perennial for fall color as are Helenium, Fall Crocus, Asters and the brilliant Colchicum. These are all wonderful perennials that bloom in the fall and can bring a boost of color to your garden late in the season. For a little contrast, the Russian Sage is a perennial that has a collection of purple-blue flowers from mid-summer to fall.

Beautify your Tulsa landscape this fall with some of these brilliant late season trees and shrubs.

For more ideas on how to add a splash of amazing color to your fall landscape, contact the Tulsa landscape design specialists at Oklahoma Landscape. We can create a unique color palate for your Tulsa home and garden and create brilliant interest in your landscape throughout the year.

How To Use Plants For Edging In Great Tulsa Landscape Design

In landscape design we often find nature combined with artistic expression. Using a variety of plant colors and textures makes a landscape look like a living piece of art and generates the peaceful ambiance where friends and family can have fun and relax.

One aspect of Tulsa landscape design is creating definition to a space with edging. Many different plants and materials can be used to edge a landscape or separate one space from another. Sometimes hardscapes such as brick, stones, or pavers are used as edging around a flower bed or along a pathway. But there are a number of plants that work great for landscape edging.

Better Homes and Gardens highlighted a good amount of flowers and plants that are perfect for edging. Here are a few of their picks for best garden borders:

Known as “nearly the perfect plants” by Better Homes and Gardens, sedums look great from the day they sprout with different varieties hosting pink, red, orange, and white flowers. Varieties such as Matrona, they noted, create a cool edge with taller plants behind them. These plants are also very drought-tolerant and need little care.

Japanese forestgrass is a terrific fit for the shade, it thrives in it and creates “compact mounds of gracefully arching foliage” that makes a nice accent along borders. Lady’s Mantle is great for “softening the edge of a shaded path or creating a groundcover” with its groups of chartreuse flowers and scalloped leaves.

Alyssum, they revealed, is a nice annual edging plant. With its compact design and dense spray of tiny pink, white, or lavender flowers, the alyssum makes quite a colorful bouquet of edging for your flower bed.

The thrift plant, “Covering itself with adorable bobbing pink flowers,”  makes a delightful edging plant or groundcover. This perennial has grassy foliage combined with little clusters of colorful flowers.

Some herbs like English lavender, sage, and thyme also make great edging plants. Other edible plants for edges and borders include strawberries and rhubarb.

 The Tulsa landscape design professionals at Oklahoma Landscape can help you design the perfect garden for your home. We can help you choose the edging plants that are right for your pathway or border to create a crisp, polished look for your Tulsa landscape.

Unlock Your Landcape's Full Potential With Tulsa Outdoor Lighting Design

Want to enjoy your backyard past just daylight hours? Carefully positioned landscape lighting for your Tulsa outdoor environment can create an enchanting area to entertain or relax in, well into the evening hours. Here are some Tulsa landscape lighting considerations to get you started.

To begin, decide what you want your outdoor lighting accomplish. That might sound simple…just create more light for at night, right? Well, to have an effective Tulsa outdoor lighting arrangement, you’ll want to consider different spaces of your backyard and what lighting effects are needed for them or what features of your landscape you want to enhance.

For instance, do you want pathway lighting perhaps to help your guests safely navigate to the backyard? Or do you want to showcase a focal point in your landscape like a fountain, pond, or statue? Does your deck or patio need accent lighting to outline the area? What tone or mood do you want your lighting to create for your whole outdoor living space?

Each of these different facets of your landscape can be borne with different types of lighting or different lighting arrangements. Key points like a statue or fountain may need a spotlight. Pathway lighting will of course call for several smaller lights arranged in a row.

Accent lighting needs to be situated so that it highlights but doesn’t overshadow the outdoor living space. This requires a balance of light between the landscape, different hardscape features, and the home itself. Pathway lighting can easily be overdone and begin to look like a runway, so lighting placement is essential.

Tulsa landscape lighting also needs to work well with natural or man-made changes that could occur to the landscape over the course of time like growth of foliage, hardscape additions, and seasonal changes. Outdoor lighting can look very different and out-of-place when these things start to happen if changes were not accounted for in the initial lighting design.

Low voltage lighting can be used to shape pathways, and it's safe, cost-effective, and environmentally-friendly.

For more outdoor lighting design tips, call the Tulsa landscape lighting specialists at Oklahoma Landscape. Our outdoor lighting experts can help you get the right tone and style for your particular landscape and home architecture, creating a custom outdoor lighting system that will help you ‘find yourself outside’ and fully enjoy your outdoor living space both during the day and at night.

We came across some very nice, well-balanced lighting designs as can be seen in these photos from our fellow lighting designers. The first photo is from London-based designers My Landscapes. The second photo is via Portland, Oregon designers: Beautiful Bones and Purple Stones.

Tulsa Landscape Ideas - Adding Edible Plants

Do you desire a beautiful landscape to complement our home? Elegant landscape design creates a peaceful place where we can enjoy summer evenings with family, unwind on the weekends,or hospitality entertain friends. But more homeowners are choosing, not just beautiful landscapes, but delicious, edible landscapes elements as well.

With the trend toward organic gardening, homeowners are seeing the many benefits of Tulsa landscape design that includes edible plants, which are as pretty as they are tasty. Edible landscaping is not just about planting a garden in your backyard, but more about including a variety of edible trees, plants, and shrubs throughout your landscape to provide cost-effective, healthy food right at home.

In fact, Better Homes and Gardens (BHG) wrote an article online about how to include edible plants in your landscaping. Here are some of the tips they gave:

A pretty plant that fits well in the flower bed or along the border is Rhubarb, especially when paired with purple-leaved Ajuga or a similar low-growing groundcover. Strawberries are another good groundcover or edging plant for a flowerbed or even planted on a sunny slope as a groundcover.

Miniature and dwarf fruit trees are available that grow about 4 or 5 feet tall and even grow well in pots. These are great for use in smaller yards. Raspberries, the article noted, do great in light to medium shade, making them easy to grow at home.Currant bushes and blueberry make great decorative (and delicious) shrubs.

Instead of traditional vines to grow over an arbor or trellis, the article suggested grapevines or short vining-type vegetables like cucumbers, zucchini, and melons. Gorgeous grapevines will grow well over an arbor, plus you can use the leaves for decoration on platters or to top cheeses and salads, BHG said.

Vegetables often do well in containers, the article mentioned. Lettuces come in a different colors, making them ideal for window boxes and along edges of flower beds. Hot peppers also add rich color variety to the landscape, especially when paired with marigolds and vinca. Swiss chard is another vegetable that comes in a “rainbow of colors” that can be paired with other vibrant flowers to create a beautiful Tulsa landscape design.

For more great edible gardening tips, check out the Edible Landscaping article on BHG. If you’d like help to incorporate more edible plants into your landscape, call the Tulsa gardening and landscape design/build experts at Oklahoma Landscape.

Details of the Jenks Outdoor Classroom Shared By Tulsa Landscaping Company

In one of our earlier blog posts, we discussed how a “living classroom” is being created for Jenks Public Schools by Tulsa landscaping company Oklahoma Landscape.

More than a simple garden, this Tulsa landscape design will be an interactive outdoor space with a variety of features including rain barrels, butterfly gardens, Chimney Swift towers, granite trails, composts bins, a water feature, and more. Called the “Flycatcher Trail,” this outdoor classroom will help students learn how to manage a garden, plant vegetables, manage a landscape, and more. 

As a Tulsa landscaping company, we know how inspiring working with nature can be, so this project will help students increase their creativity and discover the sense of pride that comes from caring for gardens. 

What are some of the many details of the Jenks landscaping project?

The entrance of the classroom will have rain barrels for capturing run-off storm water and compost bins for creating organic-rich compost to use for vegetables and plantings.

Granite trails will be made using decomposed granite. This abundant, permeable material makes a pleasant, natural trail. The decomposed granite adds color and compacts very well while not breaking down like mulch. 

Chimney Swifts, which are a bird species that often nests and roosts in chimneys, are often identified by their gray silhouette, tiny body, and curving wings, but they also have a distinctive style of flight and a chattering call, one author noted. They can quickly maneuver over rooftops and rivers to catch insects. Chimney Swifts spend most of their time in the air. When they do land, they can’t perch. They cling to vertical walls such as those in chimneys and those in hollow trees or caves. So, with the decline of chimney use in North America, also came a drop in the Chimney Swift population. 

They were abundant in North America, but by the late 1980s, the amount of swifts migrating to North American from the Amazon River Basin had declined. A growing number of people across North America are now building nesting towers and are leading Chimney Swift conservation projects in their own communities. Bird conservationists have a step-by-step guide to making more habitats for the beneficial, insect-eating Chimney Swift.  This living classroom will not only give Chimney Swifts a habitat, but will also give students a great opportunity to study these amazing birds. 

Other features of the classroom will include a water feature, a butterfly garden, and split rail fencing. The butterfly garden is a specific space that utilizes butterfly-attracting plants, which yield flowers the butterflies are attracted to. These types of plants, like the butterfly bush, will attract a wide assortment of butterflies to the garden that the teachers and students can use to view and study. The split rail fencing is a cedar post and rail project that will give a rustic, open, and natural appeal to the space. 

This outdoor classroom will certainly give students a chance to take a closer look at nature and study all the splendor it holds. While the weather may have slightly delayed the project’s progress, Tulsa landscaping company Oklahoma Landscape - with the help of many other sub-contractors and suppliers who have also donated time, labor, and materials - will continue to plan and build this unique and exciting living classroom.  

Tulsa Landscape Design Ideas for Beautiful Spring Makeovers

Is your Tulsa landscape needing a little makeover? Even if winter left your landscape looking a little dreary, you can get your lawn looking amazing by summer. A few makeover tips can give your Tulsa landscape and your home itself a brand new look.

To revitalize and renew your lawn, a good Tulsa lawn fertilization and weed control program will give your grass the nutrients it needs to flourish. This Tulsa weed control program provides turf with the foundation needed to create a beautiful lawn and ultimately an attractive landscape. Along with these Tulsa weed control programs, mulch is an ideal, simple addition for gardens to give the area a more polished look while also helping to control weeds. 

Other homeowners may choose to remove the majority of their lawn in favor of a more low-maintenance Tulsa landscape design. These landscapes employ native plants and more hardscaping in order to use less water and thus need less maintenance. 

Building a pathway to your home’s entrance with stained concrete pads or stone pavers creates an inviting visual line to your home. Pavers come in a wide array of colors, styles, and textures to easily and quickly add sophistication and character to your front-yard. 

Lining this pathway with a garden of colorful, native plants, shrubs, and trees will enhance your entire landscape. In fact, you could almost fill your front landscape area with colorful foliage and plants – varying their size, color, and shape to create a lively mosaic that will welcome your guests.

Building an ornamental fence from wood panels or lattice that doesn’t necessarily block out all of the view but rather visually divides your landscape can create privacy and structure for your front-yard. This can also be accomplished with decorative walls or retaining walls of varying levels that will ornately create sections for your Tulsa landscape design. 

Adding a small decorative water feature such as a fountain can also help to transform your landscape.

These are just a few of the numerous ways to spruce up your front-yard this spring. Talk to the Tulsa landscape design specialists at Oklahoma Landscape to see how they can help renovate your landscape.

'Living Classroom' Coming to Jenks Public Schools - Landscape Design by Oklahoma Landscape

A unique project is currently in progress for Jenks Public Schools. A “living classroom” including Chimney Swift towers, butterfly gardens, rain barrels, and other landscaping features is being built near the Freshman Academy in Jenks, Okla. This interactive outdoor living space will serve as a fascinating way for students to learn about nature.  

The school and 9^th grade biology/ornithology teacher Todd Humphrey approached Tulsa landscaping company Oklahoma Landscape in Spring 2013 with the idea for a living classroom. Our licensed landscape architect Paul Strickland then got to work creating 3D concept models of how the finished classroom would look. 

As a Tulsa-area landscaping company, we can see the sweeping benefits a project like this could have. In thinking about the project, we felt this was a very unique school concept that could spread across the Tulsa area into other school systems, allowing kids the opportunity to learn more about landscaping, plants, caring for gardens, etc. 

“We are excited to see this continue to grow each week,” Oklahoma Landscape President Aaron Wiltshire said. “Ultimately, this will be an incredible and unique space.” 

We’re also excited that many of the Jenks families we’ve done landscaping for have children who attend Jenks Schools, so they’ll get to enjoy this natural space.  And the site for the project is actually just a mile or so from the Oklahoma Landscape office, so it really feels like it’s in our own “backyard.”

When the “Flycatcher Trail” classroom is completed, students will be able to plant vegetables, perennials, feed birds, and study insects. Students will also be responsible for the ongoing maintenance of the gardens, trails, and water feature. 

“This project can help students in many ways. It can teach them how to do things outside. We all know how electronics can dominate the time of our youth. This project helps kids to get their hands dirty, into the soil, so to speak. It helps them take pride in caring and nurturing plants and gardens,” Aaron Wiltshire said. “There’s a lot of pride that comes from nurturing living things and benefiting from the beauty that is created.” 

As a landscaping company, we know the benefits that come from working with nature and the creativity that can be awakened in the process, and we hope this project will continue to foster that sense of creativity in our children…and it could even inspire a future Tulsa landscape designer. 

“Some of our youth will become aspiring designers, architects, etc., and there are little opportunities we can make available to help put something in front of them that may guide them one way or the other,” Aaron Wiltshire added. 

What are some of the features this distinctive classroom will have? 

Entry structure with rain barrels and a pergola pass-through.

Water feature with streams and a stone bridge.

Compost bins

Butterfly garden

Upright Chimney Swift towers

Native landscape plants and trees

Fully automatic sprinkler system

Cedar split rail fencing

Extensive decomposed granite trails

While Oklahoma Landscape is spearheading the project, there are many others who have donated time, labor, and materials to make this happen. We felt like we could pull off this huge undertaking because of our reliable team of professionals and with the valuable help of our trusted sub-contractors and suppliers. 

“Tulsa and the surrounding towns have made Oklahoma Landscape what it is today, and this project is a great opportunity for us to give back to the community we all share!” Aaron Wiltshire noted. 

The Flycatcher Trail, located in a lot east of the 9^th grade center, is estimated to be completed in March or early April. Stay tuned for more information on how the work is progressing and the various features of the living classroom…

Small Spaces Can Still Have Big Tulsa Outdoor Living Ideas

Tulsa outdoor living spaces do not need to be large to be interesting, practical, and filled with amazing beauty. Notice these tips for creating functional Tulsa outdoor environments in even not-so-big landscapes. 

Plan, Plan, Plan

Tulsa homeowners may want to dive in and renovate their outdoor space quickly, but careful planning is worth the wait. 

How would you most like to use your Tulsa outdoor living space? Do you do a lot of entertaining or cooking out? Would you use the space mainly to relax, read, and get away from the world? Would like to have a spa or a decorative water feature? How you plan to use your landscape will shape what features comprise the space, and with thoughtful design you can add more features. Know what your focal or main decorative points will be, and then you can design other things around those features.

 

It’s important to have things planned out so that every portion of the space is utilized to get the most function from the area. Although you may have less ground space, you can create more vertical space for gardens and additional storage. 

Our Tulsa landscape designers can assist you with planning and designing the most practical design for your outdoor space. 

Create Specific Outdoor Living ‘Rooms’

Make the most of your small outdoor space by creating different outdoor living areas in the same space by artfully dividing the space depending on its intended use. 

For instance, you may have a dining area on a small patio and cover it with an arbor or small pergola that will separate the space visually. Create a ‘living room’ area with an L-shaped sectional sofa made of indoor-outdoor materials, an area rug and even a coffee table that will divide the space. A fire pit can also be a focal point for a seating area and can form a comfy atmosphere for entertaining. 

You can use raised flowerbeds as edging, foliage such as vines or bamboo to separate and add privacy, or use different pavers and hardscape materials to differentiate the spaces. Although you want these areas to be visually divided, you will also want them to connect or seamlessly flow from one to another so that it does have the feel of one complete outdoor environment. Walkways or stone paths can help accomplish this. 

Enlarge the Space with Texture and Color

Color makes the world seem brighter and livelier. Texture can add dimension and personality to a space. Adding these to your outdoor living space will create more depth and interest in your yard. Colorful container gardens filled with plants of varying textures are very practical. 

Pavers and other hardscape materials come in an array of colors, sizes, shapes, and textures. These can often add more charm and are easier to replace or repair than concrete. 

Bright, coordinated colors and attention-grabbing fabrics for rugs, throw pillows, and seating areas can make the space more inviting. Using reclaimed, distressed, or antique pieces can tastefully be used in your outdoor space to add character and sometimes even a pop of color. 

With a little planning and creativity, any size outdoor space can be the setting for a gorgeous Tulsa outdoor environment. As your premier Tulsa landscaping company, Oklahoma Landscape can help you design the most practical and most engaging outdoor living space.