Tag Archive for: Residential Landscape

5 Best Ways to Enjoy Ecological Landscapes

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So you’re thinking about replacing your turfgrass or other conventional landscape with native plants and features that provide ecological function.

Gray Hairstreak butterflies flicker between bluebonnets. Limestone boulders harvested from the crust of quarries just 30 miles north of Austin create shape, character, and retention. Rain gardens grow Webberville sedge and Big Muhly at warp speed and help recharge underground aquifers.

But you’re also thinking, “what should I do out here?” There’s nothing to mow, you can’t exactly picture a backyard barbeque or kids’ football game, and you know that your hearty native plants don’t need much from you except a little water on a modest schedule.

So what do you do in the kind of landscape Maas Verde creates? Maas Verde’s got a few ideas.

Have a Backyard Barbeque

The idea may seem strange at first, and I know we already panned it — but bear with me. A native planted landscape can create a grounding but curative impression at any gathering.

First, consider adding seating areas and walkways among your natural landscape features. Maas Verde can consult on grading and impervious cover requirements to create the right plan and aesthetic.

A wide, flat outdoor seating area with shadeLandscape installed by Maas Verde, designed by @colab.workshop; (photo/Adam Barbe)

Add a little outdoor lighting and you’ll be all set for safety and cool vibes after dark.

Elements like decomposed granite paths can make a property more walkable for anyone who’s less mobile or visually impaired.

round gravel seating area among garden beds and grass walkwayBroad, flat surfaces with wide walkways can help access. Add a ramp or remove cut stone borders for an even easier experience; (photo/Maas Verde)

And don’t worry about the kids. They’ll have a great time exploring boulders, gardens, and plants — and most native species will like it back. Agitation and even trampling are natural for prairie grasses, shrubs, and perennials.

Set up a Wildlife Camera

By now, it’s a familiar Texas two-step. Step one: start monitoring wildlife in a native landscape. Step two: become a citizen scientist.

To see why, check out Texas Backyard Wildlife. To start monitoring, use a Nest cam. Any more specialty equipment is up to you.

Wildlife is awesome. Enough said.

Create a Shady Grove for Happy Hour

Think about your current landscape. Maybe there’s a naturally shady spot where you can hang out on a summer evening. Maybe it faces west, so you can catch Austin’s signature blazing winter sunsets; maybe it’s secluded for better concentration or intimacy.

a stone patio and walkway amid a rain gardenA 1,980-gallon rain catchment system also functions as a shady outdoor seating area; (photo/Marc Opperman)

If you don’t have one of these, you probably want one. Have you noticed almost every restaurant in Central Texas has a patio?

There’s a reason for that, and the good news is, it’s not hard to create one (at least a small one) in any landscape. A simple pergola or even a well-placed new tree can provide shade and shelter without adding hot, reflective surfaces.

From there, choose your seating and surfaces. For a finishing touch, climbing plants like evergreen wisteria (millettia reticulata) or coral vine (antigonon leptopus) can add flair and flavor to any happy hour.

 

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Enjoy it with Your Pets

A dog with a loving home and its own backyard is a happy dog — so imagine what a great dog mom or dad you’d be if you gave them even more nature to enjoy!

A monoculture landscape only offers a fragment of the fun a pet can receive from a biodiverse, sustainable landscape. Spaces with more natural elements help trigger a wider range of senses for better mental stimulation.

And just like us, pets can get bored and irritable if they’re cooped up. Bring nature to them, get outside together, and let them live their best lives.

 

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Get a Native Habitat Certification

This one’s for the hardcores! With this National Wildlife Federation or Texas Parks & Wildlife certification, you’ll stand out as a native landscape steward — not only fostering but also promoting the well-being of Texas wildlife.

a sign proving one landscape is a native habitat(Photo/Maas Verde)

“The program promotes the creation and conservation of wildlife habitats through community-wide collaboration and public education and helps bridge existing city initiatives that encourage a well-balanced and healthy urban environment for people and wildlife,” the City of Austin says.

How? It’s easy; just apply. Most sustainable landscape designs are only one or two tweaks away from eligibility. The certification process is straightforward.

Featured image: Maas Verde added a landscape to this deck and outdoor kitchen installed by Eischen’s General Contracting, LLC; (photo/Maas Verde)

Side Yard Overhaul with Deck, Fence, and Seating

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Priorities: – Functional Seating – Aesthetics Match – Access For Elderly Parents
Challenges: – Heavy Shade – Compromised Deck 
Solutions: – Steel Fixtures – Shade-Tolerant Natives – Stone Walkways

This project was featured on the 2023 Austin Outdoor Living Tour

Our client approached us with a compact side yard, in need of a comfortable outdoor living area that also complemented their recently-built home. A multi-trunked live oak shaded the small space, which had minimal other plantings and a builder-grade wood deck. The overarching priority was to ease access for the client’s aging parents. 

Consultation resulted in a comprehensive landscape design that centered around enlarging the deck and adding a raised seating area executed in welded steel. The construction plan integrated carpentry for the deck expansion with custom metalwork. The landscape design surrounded the structure with steel planting boxes and trellises, while the construction team added Lueders stone pathways to connect the dots. This project seamlessly blended landscape design, construction, and carpentry to create a cohesive outdoor living space.

Right off the bat, our crew ran into trouble: extensive wood rot under the deck. Determining the structure lacked the quality and staying power we wanted to see, rebuilding it from scratch became the only option. New concrete footings, posts, joists, and decking all went in. 

The crew then installed fencing along new lines that would create more enclosed space — and open the design for the client’s pets with a hog panel-wired doggie window. A new gate completed the access plan. 

Maas Verde selected tough, shade-tolerant native plants like Webberville sedge (Carex perdentata), inland sea oats (Chasmanthium latifolium), yaupon holly (Ilex vomitoria), and turkscap (Malvaviscus arboreus) to foot the live oaks. Coral honeysuckle vines were interlaced into the trellises to soften the edges and create habitat for pollinators like honeybees and hummingbirds. To help the plants get used to their new home, Maas Verde added a simple drip irrigation system. 

Pet-Friendly Back Yard, Lighting, and Native Beds

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Priorities: – Prolific Front Yard Beds – Dog Run in Back Yard – Shaded Outdoor Seating
Challenges: – Tricky Sunlight Conditions – Damaged Landscape
Solutions: – Light-Matched Planting – Custom Steel Edging – Resilient Surfaces

Two critical concerns for our client guided this residential project. The first was a marginal frontyard garden bed that refused to flourish — either the side in deep shade or the one in constant sunlight.

The second (and more important) was a high-energy family dog named Fargo. Or, more accurately, what Fargo had done to the back yard.

Over the years, the shepherd mix ran a deep trench into his favorite stretch of the property and had reduced a lot of his humans’ landscaping efforts to dust. The challenge was to create a stable solution that could still accommodate the vigorous pet.

In front, a new bed with robust, custom-welded 3/16” steel edging would need to trace the profile of the house and hold plants better suited to their sun exposure.

A final objective: Create a backyard seating space in the shade of a big pecan tree.

Maas Verde pulled up the existing front yard edging, designed new pattern, and sank the new material.

front yard garden beds

For Fargo’s run, we chose a bocce court filled a heavy layer of 5/8″ granite gravel. A standup limestone patio and commercial-grade low-voltage lighting framed the back yard seating area.

a stone patio

We placed native plants stragetically in the front yard beds. Turks cap (M. arboreus), sea oats (C. latifolium), and beauty berry (C. americana) went into the shady side and flame acanthus (A. quadrifidus), multiple salvia variants, and Gregg’s mistflower (C. greggii), in the sun.

As a finishing touch, Maas Verde revitalized a rear trellis where a maladapted star jasmine had died in the 2021 winter storm. Star jasmine is a non-native species that doesn’t tolerate cold weather especially well, and can be water-consumptive.

a gravel dog run

Instead, Maas Verde installed coral honeysuckle — a native climber that attracts pollinators with its beautiful red fluted flowers.