The Essential Role of Tulsa Landscape Lighting Design

Often, when people think of an outdoor living space, they only think of the landscaping or hardscape features of the outdoor space. But there’s another important aspect of landscape design – outdoor lighting. 

Landscape lighting is an important part of your Tulsa landscape design. Landscape lighting serves many vital functions in your landscape, especially when homeowners often just get to enjoy their homes at night or on the weekends. If you don’t have outdoor accent lighting, then you’re not getting the full benefits from your outdoor living space. 

Outdoor lighting offers safety. One of the most important advantages of having Tulsa landscape lighting is the added safety and security it provides.  With properly placed outdoor lighting, guests can walk safely down a stone pathway or garden stairs. Visitors can also be safely guided to your front door or down your driveway with the right landscape lighting. If your children get home late after practice, outdoor lighting can also help to keep your children safe as they enter the home. 

Burglars are often also deterred by a well-lit home and landscape. It’s important to keep areas by doors and shrubs well-lit so as to prevent thieves from having a convenient hiding place. Landscape lighting can also help prevent your home from looking unoccupied and thus more of a target for burglars. 

Landscape lighting showcases the beauty of your outdoor environment. Outdoor lighting can help to accent certain important aspects of your home or outdoor living space. It really can transform the look and feel of your landscape and make it come alive even more. 

“Soft lighting in a dark outdoor environment is nothing short of magic. It provides a warm, inviting ambiance that beckons us outdoors,” The Landscaping Network noted. “It creates mood, romance, and drama. It adds interest and intrigue to any settling.” 

No wonder then that, as The Landscape Network added, nightscaping is “one of the hottest trends in outdoor home improvement today.” 

But as they went on to mention, landscape lighting can be a challenge for homeowners to install by themselves. Knowing where to place the lighting and what landscape elements to highlight can be tricky. Professional Tulsa landscape lighting installers like those at Oklahoma Landscape use specific methods and techniques to achieve the right look and feel for outdoor lighting. The style of the landscape lighting should really complement the architecture and personality of your home. 

Balanced lighting can really enhance your pool, outdoor kitchen, or other landscaping or hardscape features, but this landscape lighting also needs to take into account changes that could happen to your landscape over time or throughout the various seasons. 

Outdoor lighting allows you to get full use out of your outdoor environment. Tulsa landscape lighting is key to getting the most benefit from your outdoor living space. Especially when the days get shorter, landscape lighting can help you to still be able to entertain family and friends outside comfortably. Outdoor accent lightingalso creates the perfect atmosphere for entertaining, bringing a lively feel to your outdoor living space. 

There are so many great reasons to have landscape lighting designed and installed in your outdoor environment. From increasing safety and security to allowing your landscape to really come alive at night, custom outdoor lighting is a must for your Tulsa home and landscape. Talk to our Tulsa landscape lighting specialists today about the custom designs they can create for your home. 

(First photo by Stephen Calsbeek)

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.

Entertaining in Your Tulsa Outdoor Environment - Tips for Memorial Day Weekend

Entertaining in your Tulsa outdoor environment this Memorial Day weekend? As the unofficial start of the summer season, many will be starting the grill and relaxing outside with family and friends as they celebrate the holiday. Check out these tips to aid in entertaining in style.

Check to see if your pool is ready! As the start of summer, many will be opening their pool for the first time this season. Make sure your pool is safe, clean, and properly maintained so that everyone can have a enjoyable time in the water. Check out our blog article on pool maintenance and cleaning for tips on how to get it ready for guests.

You bring it, we grill it. Outdoor kitchens. A Tulsa outdoor kitchen makes cooking and entertaining easy and fun. Instead of providing all the hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken or fish, tell guests that if they bring it, you’ll grill it! You’ll have a greater variety of foods at your picnic, and you won’t have to figure out what everyone likes, or worry as much about guests’ dietary restrictions (some could even bring veggies to grill). They’ll have brought what they like and can eat. Then, you just have to provide the sides and drinks.

Easy snacks. A built-in mini fridge is one of the numerous features of an outdoor kitchen that make it perfect for entertaining. With the days starting to warm up in Tulsa, keeping cool beverages close will be essential. The refrigerator in your outdoor kitchen will be ideal for keeping poolside drinks cool as well as fresh fruit and veggies crisp.

Landscape lighting is a necessity. Although the days are getting longer, your get-together will probably linger until after dark, so having landscape lighting in your Tulsa outdoor environment is a must. You could have custom landscape lighting designed for your poolside area or front walkway and landscape, or colorful balloon lanterns in maybe a red, white, and blue pattern.

Help guests stay cool. If you don’t have an outdoor structure such as a covered deck or patio to relax under, remember to provide a shade and fans for your guests to sit under. Pergolas are a great landscape design element that provides some shade while also permitting light through and adding an sophisticated flare to your outdoor living space.

Add some memorable décor. While there is often a patriotic theme with Memorial Day events, you can also subtly include Americana features into your party theme.

“Pick any theme and just incorporate some American pride elements,” the Nest recommends. “A California picnic? Think avocado and sprouts on a flag tablecloth. Or even a Hawaiian luau – just incorporate island native President Obama’s favorite nuts like pistachios and almonds into the menu.”

Activities. While some may enjoy playing sports or just relaxing by the pool, you could have some diverse interactive activities to spice up the day – like a fun photobooth where guests can take home playful photos of themselves to remember the day.

Have a fun and safe Memorial Day weekend as you enjoy your Tulsa outdoor living space!

Landscape Lighting in Tulsa - Bring New Light to Your Outdoor Environment

There are many reasons to add Tulsa landscape lighting to your outdoor environment. From the practical to the aesthetic, outdoor lighting offers a surplus of benefits. What are just a few ways that landscape lighting can help brighten and renew your Tulsa landscape?

Actually, when adding Tulsa outdoor lighting, most, if not all, of the practical advantages can also provide aesthetic benefits as well – if the landscape lighting is created in the right way. Thoughtful and carefully-planned landscape lighting is one key to great lighting. Careful lighting design is balanced and takes into account the effect and tone you want for your entire night outdoor landscape. To be balanced, you’ll want not only to light the exterior of your home, but also extend the visual depth with landscape lighting in trees and shrubs stretching out for a distance in front of your home.

On the other hand, less is sometimes more with outdoor lighting in Tulsa. While pathway lighting can offer both aesthetic and practical benefits, this lighting needs to softly guide visitors along a path and not look like a kind of runway. These gentle pathway lights can also be placed to brighten attention-grabbing and colorful plants along the path, thus adding a little more interest and color to your landscape that otherwise would be lost at night. Using environmentally-friendly and safe low voltage lighting is a great way to light these paths.

With the days getting warmer and longer, many Tulsa homeowners will be spending more time outside enjoying their outdoor environment on the weekends. However, what about during the week? Even though you may not get home until close to dark, there’s no reason you still can’t enjoy your outdoor space. Landscape lighting, including deck, patio, and hardscape lighting, can transform your outdoor environment, creating a brand new nighttime world. Accent and moon lighting can provide soft glow you need to comfortably enjoy your outdoor space.

With accent lighting, you can also illuminate interesting features in your landscape such as a statue or water feature, creating a focal point for your outdoor space.

There’s so many different things that can be done with Tulsa landscape lighting. While creating more function in your outdoor space, lighting can be done in such an artistic way that neighbors have to look twice as they pass by your home and landscape.

Our Tulsa landscape lighting design experts can create a lighting design that will be as functional as it is beautiful so that you can ‘find yourself outside’ any time of the day or night.

Summer Staycations - Made Custom By the Premier Tulsa Landscaping Company

Even before spring gets here, Tulsa homeowners are now planning for summer – planning their summer vacations, home improvement projects, and even “staycations.” Why take a staycation? And what can Tulsa’s Oklahoma Landscape do to give you the ideal summer staycation spot?

Staycations became widespread when the economy took a downturn, but even with the country’s economy on the rise, many have seen the benefits of a staycation. Not only is there the reprieve from packing and traveling through busy airports, but there are also the obvious economic advantages. Many have decided to invest the money they would have spent on a luxury vacation into creating an indulgent retreat right at their home. As an investment, these home-based retreats add significant property value and curb appeal to the Tulsa home. 

But what kind of retreat is possible? Just about anything you could want. That’s where the Tulsa landscaping company Oklahoma Landscape comes in. We can create the one-of-a-kind vacation retreat you’ve always dreamed of, and all in your own backyard. We also provide numerous other hardscaping, landscaping, irrigation, drainage, lawn care, drainage, and landscape lighting services.

With Tulsa outdoor environment staycations, we can design and build an outdoor kitchen complete with state-of-the-art outdoor appliances like refrigerators, grills, pizza ovens, burners, sinks, and more. You can have bar seating attached, creating the perfect entertaining spot, along with extra cabinet and storage areas so you have all your prep and cooking utensils right at hand. Many have a stylish dining area nearby to bring the whole outdoor living space together. 

Custom outdoor fireplaces and fire pits offer an excellent way to stay warm during the chilly spring or fall nights while providing a cozy spot for chatting with friends. Combined with all-weather outdoor sofas, coffee tables, and chairs, these outdoor living areas give Tulsa homeowners all the comforts of the home outside. 

Relaxing swimming pools and in-ground spas customized to your home and family needs add the finishing touch to any outdoor environment. Paver patios create the ideal foundation for these stylish outdoor living spaces. 

We also offer custom Tulsa hardscaping to build retaining walls, decks, walkways, bridges, and patios that are not only practical but add the design details that make your outdoor living space come together. 

Landscaping is at the center of what we do. We strive to bring out all the beauty that nature provides and create living works of art that Tulsa homeowners can enjoy for years to come. The basis of great landscaping includes keeping your lawn healthy, vibrant, and lush. That’s why Oklahoma Landscape offers a custom 6-step lawn fertilization and weed control program to make sure your lawn has the nutrients it needs to be ready for summer. These Tulsa fertilization and weed control programs are beginning now as the grass prepares for spring growth. Overseeding and aeration are also important aspects of turf care. 

Oklahoma Landscape also offers commercial and residential Tulsa lawn maintenance to relieve business and homeowners of the worry and hassle of regular lawn care. 

From designing luxury outdoor living spaces to creating custom irrigation and drainage solutions and everything in between, we can deliver all the Tulsa landscape design and build services you need to create the perfect home and the perfect summer staycation spot.

Landscaping Helps Boost Tulsa Home's Curb Appeal in Real Estate Market

Are you looking for cost-effective ways to make your Tulsa home more appealing to buyers? Landscaping can actually be very effective in adding curb appeal to your Tulsa home. 

Real estate agents commonly advise against making major home improvements purely to try to sell your home, whereas professional Tulsa landscaping and regular lawn maintenance can provide a reasonable means of maintaining curb appeal while emphasizing your home’s true potential. Just as real estate agents may often recommend “home staging” inside the home to help buyers picture themselves living there, professional landscaping helps to bring the home to life with carefully placed trees, plants, and shrubs. 

As you know, a home buyer’s first impression of a house is important to closing the sale. What “greets” potential buyers as they first see your Tulsa property? Even a beautiful house won’t shine as bright with poor landscaping. If the home doesn’t have the lawn care it needs, it can undermine the beauty of the house itself. 

If they see a well-cared-for lawn and landscape though, will they conclude that the home itself is also well-maintained? A well-manicured lawn and landscaping that engages the buyer the minute they see the property can make the home stand out as even more elegant. 

Having a professional lawn maintenance program for your Tulsa home gives you a hassle-free way of keeping your home’s curb appeal at its highest level with regular mowing, edging, trimming, weed control, and other services. Lawn fertilization and weed control can keep your soil healthier, helping your lawn to stay vibrant for buyers. These cost-effective maintenance services can go a long way to adding curb appeal for your home. 

Landscaping should enrich the style of your home, so having a cohesive landscape design plan is important. Tulsa landscape design architects can create a design theme for your landscape to enhance your home, adding dimension and character. 

If you’re not planning to sell your home for a few years, you may want to invest in an outdoor living space like a porch, patio, or deck. These outdoor environments - or more elaborate spaces with outdoor kitchens and outdoor fireplaces - can significantly increase the value of your home and property. Then, you can enjoy entertaining in these outdoor living spaces now and increase the market value of your home for when you decide to sell in the future. 

Outdoor landscape lighting can also increase the curb appeal of a property by adding more security, safety, and elegance. A well-thought-out landscape lighting plan can add significant interest to your home. Buyers can be escorted to your home’s entrance by carefully planned pathway lighting. All of these little details create the warm feel and tone buyers relate to when searching for their next home.

Landscaping and curb appeal definitely go hand-in-hand. Professional Tulsa landscape design can add the finishing touches needed to sell your home because first impressions are often lasting impressions.