What is Houzz?
Houzz is a website and online community designed to put meaningful resources in the hands of homeowners ready to make change.
It started as a side project by a couple frustrated with their remodeling efforts. They couldn’t find the tool they needed to make communicating their ideas easy. They used their frustrations to build the solution they needed. Now, the Houzz community numbers more than 40 million people worldwide.
Frontier Landscaping is a proud member of the Houzz Pro community. Now it’s easier than ever to collaborate. With Houzz, it’s a breeze to explain exactly what you have in mind. Planning your dream landscape has never been more convenient–or fun!
Inspiration On The Go
On the Houzz website or mobile app, you have access to photos, articles, and product recommendations. You can browse specific portfolios, or by general category. It’s designed for convenience: the site displays perfectly whether you’re on your phone, tablet, or web browser.
Look at real-world examples and ideas for your side yard, patio, fire pit, or outdoor lighting. You can ask questions or initiate a discussion about what you see. Pin down exactly what you like with regards to style and materials.
“Ideabooks” are photo albums filled with ideas. Browse them for inspiration. Save photos you like to your own Ideabooks as you go. Additionally, if you see something that you have a question about, you can ask and get answers, right in Houzz.
Collaborating Is Easier Than Ever
After you’ve decided on the look, feel, and products that you want to bring into your home, you can share them them directly with us on Houzz. We can give feedback and build on your ideas while literally being on the same page.
Best of all, this gives your project a head start. Instead of spending our first few meetings trying to figure out what you want, we already have a good idea of what you’re looking for.
How To Use Houzz
- Write a review. Reviews are the best way to help others connect with the qualified professionals they need. Do your fellow homeowners a favor. Let them know what it’s like to work with us.
- Start browsing! Save photos you like to your own albums. When you’re ready to meet, you can share your ideas with us directly.
Whether you’re updating or building, Houzz is an excellent place to get inspiration for what you’d like to do–and then get connected to your local pros to get it done. Join the community! We are looking forward to collaborating with you. Start Now
LED lighting continues its rise as a top trend for homeowners looking to get the most out of their landscape design. While low-voltage lighting is a traditional favorite, LEDs offer their own distinct range of benefits. It’s hard to resist the serious energy efficiency, ease of control, and nearly limitless design possibilities available to reflect your style.
Whether it’s bringing the view from your windows to life, or creating an outdoor room that’s welcoming and comfortable, LED lighting is a versatile and sustainable choice to fulfill your vision.
Light with Purpose: Set The Mood
First of all, what atmosphere do you want to create around your home after dark? With the right lights, you’ll trade flat, dull views for textured visual interest that increases your sense of enjoyable living space.
“Most people don’t realize this, but the backyard is a whole new room that they haven’t explored fully,” says HGTV outdoor lighting designer Michael Sestak. “You have the option to go beyond that light bulb at the doorway.”
Romance: Inviting Natural Charm
Use lighting to create a romantic view from your windows after sundown. Gently illuminated paths and layered accent lighting around plants and rockery creates a sweet invitation to savor your yard in the evenings.
If you’re a fan of a naturally-styled landscape, use delicate lighting to play across water features. In addition, the right shade of light bulb will echo the blue tones of moonlight. Consider soft uplights into your trees to showcase their shapes and textures.
Serenity: Relax and Enjoy
If you’re busy working during daylight hours, maximize your sense of rest and comfort around the places you enjoy when you’re at home. Tasteful accent lighting in shrubs and plantings around your deck, fire pit, or hot tub creates a relaxing atmosphere to enjoy a glass of wine and good company at the end of the day.
With the wide variety of LED lighting fixtures now available, it’s easy to carry over your design choices from inside your home to your outdoor space as well. This keeps a sense of natural flow to all of the living and entertaining areas you share with your guests.
“The right lighting can take any outdoor space from invisible to inviting,” explains Kate Campbell of HGTV’s “Decked Out” series. “Adding dimmable LED lighting to railing and stairs not only adds atmosphere but also enhances safety and security – and extends the time you can spend enjoying your outdoor living space.”
Excitement: Flaunt What You’ve Got
Gardening enthusiasts, use dynamic lighting to showcase your favorite trees, shrubs and flowerbeds. Additionally, don’t be afraid to exchange perfect symmetry for more irregular placement of your lights. This gives an organic feel that naturally complements each layer of your garden. With the right lights, you’ll lead the gaze of your viewers without overpowering your beautiful plants.
Do you have dramatic trees? Emphasize their structure and foliage with uplights, which enhances their scale and creates beautiful shadows.
Power: Forever First Impressions
Effective lighting strategies for your front yard sends curb appeal soaring with a few simple tweaks. Don’t settle for basic porch and walkway lighting. Set off an interesting front door or stonework with fixtures that showcase the uniqueness of your home. This creates powerful first impressions at walk-up (or drive-by). A small yard looks even larger when you bring lighting closer to the curb. Work the perimeters of your space for maximum impact.
Frontier LED Lighting Installation Services
In conclusion, outdoor LED lighting is a great fit for homeowners who want more from their landscape. It’s an environmentally-friendly solution that saves a lot of money over the long haul. Frontier offers low-voltage and LED lighting installation for new homes as well as retro-fitting existing landscapes. Contact us for a free consultation! We’d love to help you create the perfect setting around your home. Give us a call at (360) 574-8979, or send us an email: [email protected].
Additional Information
Flagstone is a time-honored classic when hardscaping for long-term beauty and character around a home. Its durability, natural beauty, and ease of care are well-documented. Running a close second for hardscape design projects are pavers, which share many of the benefits of flagstone plus a few more. Long-lasting and beautiful, they are also environmentally friendly and can be used to achieve formal or relaxed settings in your yard and garden.
Flagstone Features: Function and Beauty
Flagstone is well-suited for patios, walkways, and stepping stones with its natural non-slip surface. It’s easy to clean for everyday use and ages well–looking more distinguished and beautiful as time goes on.
Diverse shapes and striking, earth-toned colors convey a strong sense of natural beauty. An ordinary path or set of steps can become an eye-catching highlight and conversation piece when the rich reds, browns, yellows, blues, and grays are set against your landscape.
Hardscape Design
While flagstone is often used for a patio, fire pit or outdoor dining room, large slabs can make a dramatic statement when used as steps or pathways. Incorporating plants and water features softens the look and provides rich texture in complementary colors.
For a playful and more informal look, turf or hardy ground covers can be planted between the stones. Take this inviting approach one pleasing step further by using an aromatic ground cover like creeping thyme, mint, or chamomile.
The Rising Popularity of Pavers
Flagstone alone is not the only option for eco-friendly hardscaping. Resourceful design will often incorporate the use of complementary materials such as bricks or pavers. Pavers come in a wide variety of shapes, sizes, and colors that allow for a lot of creativity in patios, walkways, and even driveways. The snug fit between paving stones keeps surfaces weed-free, another bonus.
Benefits of Dry-Laid Construction for Flagstone and Pavers
At Frontier Landscaping, we install dry-laid flagstone and pavers, using a thick layer of compacted rock leveled with sand as the base for construction.
This method is more cost-effective than a mortared concrete installation, but the benefits don’t end there. Dry-laid construction generates significant environmental benefits as well: the permeable sand-and-rock base allows water to drain and filter through the layers of soil below, reducing runoff and limiting erosion.
Feeling Inspired? Resources for Additional Reading:
Hardscape Design with Paving Stones
Mutual Materials (Pavers and Local Showroom)
Frontier’s installation experts are well versed in laying flagstone, pavers, and other hardscape materials to deliver a beautifully finished product that will stand the test of time and add value to your home.
Email [email protected] or give us a call: (360) 574-8979
Hardscape design is one of the most exciting topics a homeowner can dive into. What is it, exactly?
In a nutshell, hardscape design encompasses the placement of non-living elements of a landscape: walkways, patios, fences, lighting, retaining walls, arbors, rocks etc.
Effective hardscape design adds function, greater enjoyment, and value to your home. For over 28 years we’ve been in the business of solving unique landscape problems. We know how to provide creative solutions to transform your outdoor spaces, and can guide you in renovating the ordinary into the perfect. Check out these recent samples of projects that have been fun to work on:
Hardscape Design for a ‘Home Away from Home’
These avid travelers presented us with an interesting challenge. Could we ‘naturalize’ a look around their comfortably-sized RV, which they keep securely parked in front of their home?
A direct approach, blending hardscape design with horticultural elements, was the answer.
- Low-profile lighting, a custom concrete pad, and fencing provide needed structure and privacy.
- Attractive groupings of native plantings is laid out in harmony. As the plants grow up and mature, they’ll provide additional screening, softening the RV surround with a naturalized feel.
Hardscape Design Trifecta: Yard, Garden, Patio
These homeowners won big with a hardscape design that accomplished three things at once:
- A raised garden bed made of retaining wall blocks is sturdy, accessible, and ideal for supplying their kitchen with fresh herbs and edibles.
- The gravel surround and dry creek bed act as natural dividers for the different uses in the new yard, and also reduce thirsty lawn space without sacrificing it completely.
- A handsome paver patio allows this family to extend the hospitality of their home.
Hardscape Design on a Dime: Gravel Paths and Pathways
Inexpensive and multi-purpose, gravel paths pair nicely with a variety of border elements, and their texture can be quite pretty when set against a lush lawn or garden.
Pictured below: Gravel dressed with bricks and pavers combine for a decorative approach in lawn and gardenscapes, while a simple partnership with 6×6 pressure-treated timbers provides instant, well-drained access to service areas alongside a home.
Feeling inspired? Our expert team is ready to help. Let us transform your outdoor space with a creative hardscape design that adds function, increases enjoyment, and adds value to your home. Let’s Get Started!
Spring brings sunnier days and the promise of warm growing weather before too much longer. As you envision enjoying a bounty of flowers and home-grown veggies, consider the ways a thoughtfully-designed retaining wall can materially increase your decorative and functional garden space.
Retaining walls remain one of our top residential installation projects due to their versatility in function and style. Besides the traditional benefits of terracing (for homeowners dealing with a steep gradient in the yard), a handsome retaining wall can be a simple key to bringing fresh inspiration to an ordinary landscape.
Manicured Look
An interesting bed filled with colorful flowers adds visual appeal and an upscale feel to your yard. Plantings can be tailored to attract hummingbirds, butterflies, or used as a cutting or vegetable garden. Bulbs, shrubs and trees can also be combined to offer striking arrangements with evergreen interest year round.
Enhanced Outdoor Living
Bring fragrant, eye-catching blossoms closer to eye- and nose-level around outdoor seating areas so you can readily savor their scent and beauty throughout the season.
Improved Yard Definition
Retaining walls function as natural dividers to separate your edible garden from recreational yard space in a natural way. Keep herbs, fruits and veggies growing close to the kitchen, while leaving the yard available for summer play.
Convenient Raised Beds
Retaining wall blocks make ideal raised bed frames and can be installed as a convenient quick-start for an easily maintained garden. An added benefit: blocks act as heat sinks. The soil within will warm sooner each spring and also keep warm longer in the fall than a traditional garden.
A recent installation in Vancouver, WA.
An unstructured lawn space was transformed through the addition of an inviting outdoor living area linked to a gardening area featuring a raised bed made of blocks. The patio, pathway, dry creek bed, and gravel surround are interspersed with hardy native plants for a natural feel.
Retaining Wall Design for Small Spaces
Frontier collaborated as part of the WALP* team delivering expert treatment for a postage-stamp sized “yard” in this display during the Clark County PUD Home Show on April 21st-24th. Retaining walls are relevant in a range of sizes and shapes, from small accent beds like this example to large-scale ornamental features in a yard or patio area.
Get a Bid
Frontier Landscaping builds all types of retaining walls, working with you to determine the right materials and composition to achieve the look you want and functionality you need.
Give us a call. We’d love to work with you and bring more enjoyment and usability to your yard and garden this season.
*We’re proud to be members in good standing of the Washington Association of Landscape Professionals: committed to professionalism, integrity, and continuing education in our industry.
Windy areas can pose problems that keep you from having an enjoyable yard or commercial landscape. Even slight breezes are inconvenient in picnic areas.
If you’re plagued by whipping winds, you can create effective windbreaks that protect specific outdoor living spaces to make them far more comfortable. There are three ways to create a windbreak or screen.
Fences and walls are highly effective at deflecting wind away from small, often-used outdoor living spaces. They can be costly, though, particularly if you opt for transparent materials that allow light to pass through. Not surprisingly, they also need to be well reinforced.
Short, dense shrub hedges around living spaces, allowing users to sit in the protected area while gazing over the top of the barrier at the view. Though it lacks a view, 10-foot tall shrubs are the answer for greater wind reduction.
Shrub hedges take time to mature and reach their full effectiveness. If you choose hedges that naturally reach the desired height, you can allow them to grow into their natural shape. With other choices, size and shape may be controlled by regular pruning or shearing.
Landscape designers are moving toward a more diverse combination of different shrubs for protective diversity. Not only does this add interest; it also protects the hedge should certain varieties by struck by a pest or disease.
‘Windrows’ – a single row of identical trees planted close together – have long been used by farmers to protect fields, orchards and home sites. It can work just as well for your landscape. As trees mature, in some cases to 30 feet depending on variety, they can significantly change the micro climate. There is no other way to create a similarly sized wind barrier.
Windrow trees tend to be tall and narrow with dense foliage for maximum wind blockage. Many evergreens make good windrows.
The downside to using trees for wind control is that they take time to mature. The early years may have little to no reduction in wind. Planting larger, older trees is not viable because they will not have time to develop a sufficient root system to anchor them against gale force winds.
Fortunately, your office building or home needn’t be whipped by gusts of wind, or many other common landscape challenges for that matter. Frontier Landscaping’s services include remedies for just about any landscape challenge you’re facing.
