As landscaping professionals, you know that landscaping doesn’t have to be just a collection of flowers, trees, and bushes. By definition, landscaping is anything that changes the look of the land which means that there are a lot of things that can be done, especially if you have a great rendering as a part of your plan. Great landscaping improves the exterior of any home or commercial building, but can of course be practical, too. Provide your clients with more than just flowers and bushes. Let’s take a look at some innovative construction projects for landscaping.
1. Lighting Installations
Highlight the landscaping, exterior of structures, or go big with decorative lighting shows, lighting installations can dramatically change the look of your landscape and the exterior of your building.
Up and down lighting can be used to highlight the home and landscape features. Accent lights like string fairy lights hung in pergolas provide mild brightness at night and contribute to the vibe. You can even add accent lighting like light poles. If you are looking to go really big for aesthetic purposes, decorative lighting shows are an excellent construction project choice. These can often be changed to match the holidays and seasons as well. Realistic renderings can show what these things would look like for your clients.
2. Chicken Coops and Garden Sheds
Chicken coops and garden sheds are practical construction projects that will add functionality to your client’s landscaping. These can be made out of any materials your client prefers, but using wood with cedar shakes for the roof is a popular choice because it naturally blends with the landscaping.
3. Pergolas and Shade Structures
Trees and tall species of plants aren’t the only way to provide shade for your clients. Pergolas and shade structures are excellent construction projects to include and complement the landscaping. Pergolas come in a variety of materials, colors, and sizes. They provide some shade, especially with the addition of a fabric top, but they also contribute to the aesthetics and can be a place to wind vines.
Besides pergolas, other shade structures include gazebos and pavilions. Each has its own look depending on how you intend to use them and what your vision is for the land. Again, using rendering software is helpful to switch out these structures and show how the individual types of structures can change the entire look of the landscape.
4. Water Features
Everyone loves looking at the water. There is something so captivating about it. There are a lot of options when it comes to constructing water features into a client’s landscaping. Some ideas include pools of all shapes and sizes, fountains, waterfalls, ponds, and creeks. You can further customize any of these water features. For instance, ponds can be big or small, and be stocked with fish or just with some foliage.
Additionally, you can combine some of these water feature ideas like constructing a pool with a waterfall or a creek leading into a pond with a fountain. Water elements are an excellent construction project that is easy to blend with the landscaping and even allows you to include different species of plants that you otherwise wouldn’t be able to.
5. Permeable Hardscape
Permeable hardscaping is where you use hard materials that provide support, but provide room for water to drain and plant life to come through. Permeable hardscape is perfect for patios and walkways, especially walkways through a garden. They allow you to keep natural-looking landscape while still having a supportive enough surface for walking comfortably or placing furniture. This can be a suggestion for clients that are seeking a more unified natural look while still being able to walk through and enjoy their outdoor space.
Fun fact: some cities are embracing permeable hardscaping for parking lots to reduce heat and carbon dioxide emissions!
Barndominiums are innovative construction projects for landscaping that have become increasingly popular in recent years. This is because they are rather useful, diverse, and customizable. Many homeowners choose to include small barndominiums in their outdoor spaces that blend with their landscaping to use for entertainment, relaxation, and functionality.
Small barndominiums can be used as a “she shed”, “man cave”, or even tiny homes. They allow you to extend the living space of your home, especially if temperature control is installed. As we briefly mentioned, these can be customized to your client’s needs, including sizing, materials, features, and more.
For instance, if they want to use a small barndominium as a tiny home to rent out or use for guests, you could include working plumbing, electrical, and HVAC. This also goes the other way. If they just want a place for storage and a hammock out of the elements, you might suggest they forgo plumbing, temperature control, and even electricity.
7. Separate Spaces with Walls
Just because it’s the outdoors, doesn’t mean that your clients have to just have one big open space. An innovative construction project for your landscaping is to separate spaces with walls. There are a lot of ideas that can branch off of this.
For instance, you can use retaining walls to create varying levels, living walls to separate spaces while still maintaining a natural environment, or use louvers to hide unsightly spaces or provide privacy while keeping the focus on the landscaping. Some rendering software like Lands Design, by Asuni, can simulate the different levels of the land. Other ideas include using outdoor walls to build outdoor showers, protecting garden areas from animals, and even separating patio spaces.
Bring Your Project To Life
Are you ready to bring your ideas to life and show your clients? Sometimes it can be hard to see what everything looks like together. Lands Design provides the solution. With Lands Design, you can see 2D drawing, 3D model, renderings and drawings of your entire landscape design including the construction projects you want to include. Lands Design is the software of choice for landscape professionals with thousand plant species in the plant database, landscape information modeling, dynamic 2D documentation for planning and organization, and simulations such as plant growth, sunlight motion, season changes, and more. Bring every project to life for your clients by using Lands Design. It has a free 90 day trial.
About the author: Sam Willis is a contributor to Innovative Building Materials. He is a blogger and content writer for the real estate industry. Sam is focused on helping fellow homeowners, contractors, and architects discover materials and methods of construction that increase property value, maximize energy savings, and turn houses into homes.