Creating a More Sustainable Tulsa Landscape Design

One of the ways Tulsa homeowners can go “green” is by having a more sustainable Tulsa landscape design.  There are many things we can do to use fewer natural resources and reduce waste.  

Conserve. A major principle of sustainable Tulsa landscape design is to conserve resources already in the landscape. Taking steps to conserve water is also very important.

Make sure your Tulsa irrigation system is working properly and is the right type of irrigation system for your soil. This will help  to reduce water usage. Drip irrigation can be used with soil that drains quickly. Drip irrigation generally uses 30-70% less water than an overhead irrigation system, and plants grow to maturity about twice as fast.

Another key to water conservation is to group plants according to their watering needs. Grouping plants together that need watered more often can help reduce water usage. You can also harvest rainwater with a rain barrel to help conserve water and prevent storm water runoff.

Keep your soil healthy. That is another way to conserve water.  Compacted soil often leads to water runoff.

“Compacted soil leads to problems such as restricted plant growth, erosion, runoff and flooding,” the Landscaping Network noted. “Runoff caused by compacted soils is one of the main sources of water pollution.”

Lawn aeration or removing small core patches of soil and dead grass can help to relieve compacted soil and provide enough room for oxygen and water to reach the root system. The Tulsa landscape design experts at Oklahoma Landscape can aerate your lawn and overseed it so that the soil and lawn are both healthy and sustainable.

Adding mulch to your garden or flowerbed can also do a great deal to conserve water and nutrients while making your landscape look even more attractive.

Choosing the right plants. Which plants you choose for your landscape design can have an effect on the environment. Plants, shrubs, and trees that are native to your area tend to do better and also require less water. As the Landscaping Network noted, often homeowners want to remove many of the existing plants in their landscape, but this can lead to a disruption in the natural processes in the environment. Thus, preserving existing plants and choosing to add others that are native to the local environment can conserve resources while often reducing the time and energy required for maintenance and care.

Hardscape considerations. Another aspect of sustainable Tulsa landscape design is being thoughtful when choosing hardscape materials. Of course, using recycled hardscape materials is ideal when trying to reduce waste, but you can also use more locally sourced materials as well as those that allow for better water conservation. Permeable pavers are hardscape materials that help to conserve water. These pavers allow water to pass through to the soil reducing runoff and pollution. These hardscapes are available in a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors to add a decorative effect to your patio, walkway, or driveway while allowing for sustainability.

The landscape design experts at Oklahoma Landscape can create a design plan for your outdoor space that creates a gorgeous oasis for your home while conserving the earth’s natural resources and allowing you to “find yourself outside.”

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.

Selecting Hydrangeas for Your Tulsa Garden

For good reason hydrangeas are one of the most popular landscape shrubs. These beautiful, blooming shrubs are known for producing ball-shaped clusters of small flowers nice mix of colors like pink, blue, purple, and white. Gardeners in Tulsa often love them for their rich blooms that seem to blanket a garden with color.

But with the sometimes extreme and often inconsistent Oklahoma weather, life can be difficult for hydrangeas here. They commonly need a great deal of care to survive the intense Oklahoma heat. So, which varieties of these gorgeous shrubs seem do best in Oklahoma you ask?


There is a reblooming kind hydrangea that blossoms every few weeks in the summer and fall; known as The Endless Summer hydrangea, it can endure the winter weather in Oklahoma better than other varieties and can bloom on both new and old wood. These do best in a partly-shaded area that gets morning sun and afternoon shade. These hydrangeas, like other varieties, need  rich, moist soil that drains well. While they need a lot of water, they don’t do well in soggy or constantly wet areas.

Another kind of hydrangea known as, The Annabelle hydrangea is said to be one of the hardiest with some of the longest blooms.

Examiner.com tells us, “With adequate moisture, ‘Annabelle’ laughs at the Oklahoma summertime,” “Further, because ‘Annabelle’ flowers on new growth, she is never badly hurt by late freezes.”

Annabelles generally bloom from early June through September in Oklahoma. These beautiful landscape shrubs bloom to a bright white before they turn to light green again. The Annabelle is seen to be more drought-tolerant than others and has great disease resistance.
The Oakleaf hydrangeas is also said to be an easier hydrangea to cultivate. Instead of the ball-shaped or “mophead” flower type, the Oakleaf has a unique cone-shaped clusters of white flowers and oak-like leaves that turn a beautiful reddish-purple in the fall.

Because all of these hydrangeas require moist, rich soil, Englishgardens.com recommended adding fertilizer to them during summer while they’re growing. And the vast majority, if not all hydrangeas, will do better planted in the shade or partial-shade, out of the hot afternoon sun.

For more assistance in landscaping your garden, please contact the Tulsa landscape design specialists at Oklahoma Landscape. We can design and build a landscape with the perfect flowers and shrubs for your home’s architecture and that will thrive in the Oklahoma climate.

How to Give Your Tulsa Home Curb Appeal for Potential Buyers

Dick Gaylord, who has sold real estate for 27 years, told HGTV “If people drive by your home and are not impressed, they’re not going to walk inside,” in an article about “Which Home Improvements Pay Off?”

So you’re putting your house on the market…just need put a “For Sale” sign out front, right? We could only wish it were that easy, first you do well to make sure your home has good curb appeal. Why? Because, without exaggeration, first impressions can make or break your sell.

So when you’re making sure you property has curb appeal, keep these pointers in mind…

Landscaping. A healthy and well-maintained landscape is not only appealing to buyers in its own right, but also indicates to buyers how you’ve taken care of the actual home as well. So, it might be said regular Tulsa lawn maintenance is one of the most important keys of curb appeal.

The Chapel Valley Landscaping Company of Maryland noted, “Residential landscape maintenance can add as much as 14% to the resale of the home and speed up the selling process by as much as six weeks when it is time to sell,”. Landscaping can also help to keep up the property value of the entire neighbourhood, the article said.

What can you do? Regular lawn care includes not only mowing but also managing weed control and overgrowth, trimming of trees and shrubs, as well as irrigation. In addition to keeping your landscape well-manicured, you add more plants to your yard. A simple way to add curb appeal is to add mulch to your flower bed, and plant colorful new plants of various sizes in your landscape to create interest and as a way to gracefully lead buyers to your front door.

Hardscapes. An inviting walkway and driveway is major to curb appeal. Make sure your walkway and driveway are in nice condition or replace an old walkway with pavers to create a elegant path to your home. Driveways can also be stained or stamped to create more appeal and interest. The Tulsa landscaping contractors at Oklahoma Landscape can take care of all your hardscaping needs.

Outdoor Lighting. While most potential buyers will see your home during the day, it’s possible some may not. And at night, it will look much more inviting with even basic landscape lighting. Even during the day,  outdoor light fixtures and landscape lighting elements add character and charm to the home, as well as a feeling of security.

Little Touches. There are other minor enhancements you can do to dress up your home. Repainting or refinishing your front door (maybe in a bright color like yellow, or red, green) can give your whole house a fresh look and create a focal point. Replace worn hardware, trim, and fixtures. Adding decorative hardware or even a trellis to your garage door is also a pretty decorative feature. Also, adding decorative house numbers can be a nice, inexpensive touch.

For help with your regular Tulsa lawn maintenance or if you want to renovate your landscape to add greater curb appeal, call the Tulsa landscaping contractors at Oklahoma Landscape.

For more information on ways to add curb appeal, look at http://www.diyncrafts.com/5415/home/150-remarkable-projects-ideas-improve-your-homes-curb-appeal/5.

Tulsa Landscapers Offer Beautiful Backyard Makeover Ideas

Deck and patio. If you’re looking to add liveable space to your home consider a custom deck or patio. A multi-level deck brings not only more room but also much style to the outdoor environment. A patio created with stone pavers gives a unique and fresh touch to your patio area, and comes in a variety of shapes, colors, sizes, and textures. Often these become the foundation of your entire outdoor living space and can provide ample room for cooking and dining, or relaxing.

Is your backyard looking a little uneventful or even depressing? Would you like to get more out of your landscape? Here are a few ideas on changing your landscape into the perfect Tulsa outdoor living area. And remember, at Oklahoma Landscape the Tulsa landscape contractors can take your backyard from barren to breath-taking!

Outdoor fire pits and fireplaces. Nearly any Tulsa landscape can be enhanced by an outdoor fireplace or fire pit for those chilly spring and fall Oklahoma nights. An outdoor fireplace turns your backyard into a private haven for your family. With comfortable built-in seating around the fireplace, you can entertain friends gathered around the fire talking or enjoy a night underneath the stars with your loved ones. If you want to esthetically highlight the outdoor fireplace, add a pergola to cover it and you’ll have an visually amazing outdoor space.

Outdoor kitchens. Not just simply an outdoor grill, these sophisticated Tulsa outdoor kitchens can  come complete with pizza ovens, stainless steel appliances, sinks, granite countertops,wine coolers, mini refrigerators, and more. Tulsa homeowners are building complete outdoor kitchens in their backyard. You can have the ultimate outdoor dinner party with a complete outdoor kitchen.

Landscape lighting. If you want a stylish Tulsa outdoor living space you’re going to need well-designed landscape lighting to go with the décor and purpose of the outdoor space. It can be subtly used to guide guests to the backyard or as a way to accent your deck or patio, landscape lighting can help beautify your outdoor environment while creating more functionality, safety, and security.

Custom pool. With an increasing array of  accessories and features that can be built-in to a custom pool, there’s seems to be no end to the possibilities for a luxurious backyard. Entertain guests or have a relaxing day in your own custom swimming pool or spa, or both. The Tulsa landscape contractors Oklahoma Landscape can design and build a one-of-a-kind pool as a beautiful counterpart your home and your lifestyle.

So, if these ideas have you thinking about creating an amazing outdoor environment. Let the Tulsa landscaping company Oklahoma Landscape take your outdoor living space dreams and turn them a reality.

Bring Color and Life to Your Tulsa Landscape This Winter With Dogwoods and Hollies

Have you wondered if there’s any way to liven up your Tulsa landscape design during winter? Actually, there are ways to bring color and life to your outdoor environment in Tulsa even when the weather is less than perfect.

Many plants have colorful and interesting bark and shapes that stand out amid the dreary winter weather. Dogwoods have yellow, red, and green stems that can bring a jolt of color to your landscape throughout the winter. Redosier and Yellow-twig Dogwood have a nice, showy bark that are good for Oklahoma landscapes.

Harry Lauder’s Walkingstick has unusual branches that make an interesting landscape piece for the winter. Other plants with interesting branches perfect for a snowy winterland include Euonymus and Japanese Kerria.

Shrubs that produce berries can add a lot color to the landscape during the winter while they also attract birds to watch from the comfort of your Tulsa home. Berry shrubs include a wide array of holly plants like American Holly, Blue Holly, and Yaupon Holly, as well as other shrubs like the red chokeberry with its vivid red fruit that stands out beautifully against the contrast of evergreens. Evergreen plants of course provide nice background foliage for winter.

Flowering plants that look great during the Oklahoma winters include Camellias that have white and pink blooms, as well as Forsythia, Witch Hazel, and Jasmine.

But if you want a quicker way to dress up your landscape this winter, planting miniature conifers in container gardens in different areas of your outdoor space as well as other potted plants like poinsettias can quickly spice up your landscape. Carefully-planned landscape lighting can also brighten up the winter months and creates an inviting atmosphere to guests.

Oklahoma Landscape’s horticulturists and Tulsa landscape designers can help you choose the best plants and shrubs to help brighten up your Tulsa landscape and keep it healthy all winter.

Functional Landscape Design in Tulsa - Transforming your Backyard into a Work of Art

Landscape designers in Tulsa transform traditional backyards in cohesive outdoor living spaces. What does that mean and why is it needed? Landscape designers create a theme for properties using plants and hardscapes to tell a story or set a tone for the landscape. This landscape theme makes the landscape more functional, more practical for everyday use.

Instead of allowing plants and grass to grow haphazardly, landscape designers in Tulsa such as Oklahoma Landscape can use the natural elements of a property to enhance not only the landscape but also the home itself, increasing property value and curb appeal. Plants, trees, and shrubs are set in strategic places to lower energy costs, provide shade, reduce irrigation needs, and prevent erosion. The variety of plants and foliage in the landscape and their color can provide serenity and relaxation for a home or business owner. Color therapy can be used in a landscape to evoke certain emotions and enhance the outdoor experience. Gardens can provide the needed relief after a stressful workday to balance emotions and promote well-being. Landscape designers are adept at creating these luxury gardens that invigorate the senses.

Landscape design combines an effective use of plants, or softscapes, with hardscapes or the inanimate features of a landscape such as those made of stone, concrete, wood, or brick. Used in the right combination, these elements provide visual structure, dimension, and character to a landscape, while also adding to the theme or tone of the property. A functional outdoor kitchen in Tulsa with granite countertops provides an ideal entertaining spot for a landscape. An elegant outdoor fireplace offers a romantic focal point to the landscape design. Oklahoma Landscape’s design architects use realistic 3D modeling to show how the finished project will look before landscape development or construction even begins.

And, of course, fundamental to landscape design is good design, planning, and implementation. Tulsa landscape designers know that to create a landscape that is not only visually engaging but also practical to the homeowner’s lifestyle, landscapers must analyze the needs of the homeowner and the landscape itself, and then carefully plan a landscape arrangement to fit those needs. This carefully thought-out design allows for the optimal use of the property and most pleasing visual appearance, creating the most serene environment.

Good landscape design is everything for your Tulsa property. It makes your home or business and their adjoining property a cohesive design element in the community, creating a living work of art for your Tulsa neighborhood. The needs of you as a property owner are of prime importance. If a landscape design is not practical to the home or business owner, then it won’t be used to the full. But if the landscape design creates a compelling theme for your home or business, then you’ll be sure to ‘find yourself outside.’

Trees and Shrubs in your Tulsa Landscape - The Ideal Time for Planting

Have you been wondering when the ideal time is to plant trees and shrubs in Tulsa? Actually, fall is a great time to plant these gorgeous landscape additions. Shrubs and trees can really bring a great deal of structure and character to your Tulsa landscape design. Planted in a row, they can help add privacy to your outdoor living space and home and reduce noise. And, of course, they can provide shade during those hot summer months. They can also be used to reduce energy costs inside your Tulsa home by implementing smart tree placement, as well as other green technologies such as green roofs and walls.

"If placed strategically, trees can reduce summertime cooling energy needs by 7-47 percent and wintertime heating needs by 2-8 percent,” the American Society of Landscape Architects reported.

Planting shrubs and trees in the fall, as the weather is getting cooler, will allow the plant's root systems to grow and develop before winter sets in and before the next summer's heat. Although the air temperature is getting cooler, the soil is still warm enough to help encourage root growth. Sometimes less watering is needed with wetter and cooler fall weather. With a stronger root system established, shrubs and trees will be better able to deal the drought and heat of summer.  However, be careful to not plant too late in the season when the ground is freezing because this, of course, could be damaging to the tree.

Fall is also a good time to plant trees because this is usually when they go into dormancy. When they are dormant, handling and moving them is easier on the tree. Choosing trees in the fall will help you see the different color possibilities for your landscape in the fall when the leaves change.

When choosing shrubs and trees to plant in your landscape, look for species native to your area. Native trees and shrubs will be more resistant to drought and disease and will require less maintenance. Because these plants are already adjusted to the climate, they will also usually need less water.

Before planting, research the tree or shrub’s growing height when it’s mature so you know how far away to plant it from other structures, plants, and trees. Remember to plant the tree far enough away from houses, power lines, and other structures so that the mature foliage or roots do not interfere with any of these buildings or utilities. Planting them too close to these areas could pose a fire hazard.

Before you dig, check with your local utility companies to see if there are any underground utility lines in your yard. Trees, themselves, should also not be planted too close together so that they do not have to compete for sunlight or their root systems do not crowd each other.

Trees and shrubs not only increase the beauty of your landscape, but can also increase your property’s value and curb appeal. The horticulturists and landscape designers at Tulsa’s Oklahoma Landscape can help you choose and plant the best trees and shrubs for your landscape as well as develop a custom care program for your landscape.