Lifescape Associates

Is your Outdoor Living Space ready for Entertaining?

2012-05-14T12:53:26Z

Memorial Day is almost here which kick starts the season of barbecuing on the back porch, taking a few cool dips in the pool and inviting over family and friends to enjoy a day outdoors with food, fun, and laughter. So is your outdoor living space ready for all of these activities?

The best time to have an outdoor space renovated is during the colder months so that they can be ready by the time summer comes around, however, it is really never too late. Depending on what you would like in your outdoor space and the size of the project, it may not take long, and you could enjoy it by the end of the summer. But for those larger projects like pools, courtyards, outdoor kitchens and such, you want to allow as much time as possible.

One great thing about having a project done during the summer, you can be off traveling with the family and not have to worry about seeing and hearing all the work being done, just make sure that you are available to your landscape contractor when decisions need to be made.

If you live in the Denver or Boulder area and need to get your outdoor living space ready for entertaining, contact a landscape designer at Lifescape for more information. 303-831-8310

A Healthy Garden for a Healthy Lifestyle

2012-05-14T12:32:53Z

Many people are choosing to grow their own vegetables and fruits today. There are plenty who enjoy gardening as a hobby, but now more people are making the choice in order to help supplement a healthy or organic lifestyle. Depending on what foods you like to eat, that is one of the first steps to figuring out what you want to plant in your edible garden. Here are a few examples.

Love making Italian dishes? Basil and tomato plants are well suited to be companion plants, whether in the garden or in your pasta sauce.
Need a fresh batch of salsa for your Mexican dishes? You can plant a salsa garden which consists of cilantro, tomatoes, chives, green onions and tomatillos, great for a South-of the border themed container garden.
Are you a tea drinker? Tea planters are wonderful. You can fill yours up with tasty mint–like chocolate, orange and peppermint–and sweeten the mix with a Stevia plant.

What type of garden do you want to grow in your Denver area landscape?

Source: alcc.com, Photo Credit: coloradovegetablegarden.com

Planting Edibles and Growables Together

2012-05-07T14:42:35Z

Now is the time to start planting those annual flowers, tender veggies, perennial herbs and berries. Plus, those beautiful flowering perennial plants that bring the landscape alive with color and texture. Early May is the perfect time to fill your garden with color and flavor!

A new trend in the garden is to mix the edibles with the growables. Here’s a great example from the ALCC.com, by interspersing parsley and broccoli, for example, among perennial plants and the annual flowers you’ll be planting soon adds new interest in the garden.

It is also a great idea to compare edibles with companion plants because the right combo can help deter unwanted pests.

Here are a few suggestions of what perennial edibles and hardy vegetables to plant in early May:

Starter plants of lettuce (if you haven’t planted seed), broccoli, cabbage, kale and onions.
Perennial herbs like oregano, thyme, lavender and sage.
Fruits: strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and fruit trees.

Are you ready to start planting this week?

Source and Image: ALCC.com

The Top Outdoor Living Trends for 2012

2012-05-07T13:49:49Z

Americans are still very in love with their back yards, shows a recent survey conducted by the American Society of Landscape Architects. According to the 2012 Residential Landscape Architecture Trends survey, Americans are showing a preference for an undemanding outdoor space that is great for lots of entertaining.

The survey was rated by landscape architects across the country who specialize in residential design. The residential outdoor design elements that rated the highest percentages were gardens and landscape spaces with 94.9 percent rating , low-maintenance landscapes (96.6 percent), fireplaces/fire pits (95.8 percent), and outdoor livings spaces at 91.5 percent.

“The economic recovery continues to struggle, but residential design has remained stronger than other categories throughout the recession,” said ASLA Executive Vice President and CEO Nancy Somerville, Hon. ASLA

Americans are also still loving pools(79.2 percent), spas (80.4 percent) and ther decorative water elements (89.9 percent), like waterfalls or bubblers.

For more information on this recent survey, visit www.asla.org. Are you ready to improve and enhance your Denver home’s outdoor environment? Contact a landscape designer at Lifescape for more information. 303-831-8310

The Importance of Xeriscape

2012-05-02T14:29:58Z

Last week, Denver Water announced a Drought Watch Response. The watch is really a stage 1, which is a voluntary call to their customers to try and reduce their water use 10%. It is very important because continued dry weather could lead to a Stage 2 response which in return means more constraints.

This warm, dry spring is causing many people to think about their landscape care and understand the importance of xeriscape. Xeriscape is the term used for a type of landscape or garden that reduces or eliminates the need for supplemental water from irrigation.

In times were drought threatens the life of front lawns, vegetable gardens and trees, we have to be pro-active from the beginning - when we design our landscapes. Are you ready to incorporate more water efficient landscaping at your Denver area home? Contact Lifescape Associates at 303-831-8310.

Indoor Comfort with an Outdoor View

2012-04-23T18:06:06Z

People love the comfort of their homes, but they also want to be outside to enjoy the great Colorado natural environment. That’s where the beauty of outdoor living comes in. You can have your cake and eat it too! With an outdoor living space, you get to enjoy all the comforts of the indoors with your lovely view of the great outdoors.

We all want to have a special place where we can sit, relax, entertain, and just enjoy our home from the inside to the out. Your outdoor living space can have all the indoor comforts with beautiful furniture, comfy cushions, a fireplace, a flat screen TV and more.

When enjoying an evening out by the pool it’s important to have a comfortable setting to relax, chat with friends, and watch the kids play. Outdoor living spaces are perfect for family entertainment and there’s no need to hop on a plane or ride long hours in the car.

Are you ready to bring indoor comfort to your Denver home’s outdoor environment? Contact a designer at Lifescape for more information. 303-831-8310

Lifescape at the ALCC Planet Day of Service

2012-04-23T18:29:36Z

Lifescape Associates had the pleasure of participating in the ALCC Planet Day of Service on last Friday, April 20th. This great event took place at the Excelsior Youth Center and was for an extremely good cause. This event was really cool because the center is a school for at-risk young women (ages 11 to 18) and it’s building a raised beds gardens for the girls.

“The project includes installing pathways to 14 raised plant beds as well as installing the wooden planters and soil. Community volunteers have been working with a student club for two seasons and now through the combined efforts of these volunteers and ALCC volunteers and suppliers, the students will have first-class garden.” – ALCC.com

Lifescape was able to introduce the girls to the great group of women on our team, who reached out as role models for the girls and talked about the opportunities for women in the landscape design industry.

Please take a look at www.alcc.com for more information about the day.

3 Ways your Landscaping can Pay you Back

2012-04-20T14:29:28Z

Did you know that investing in your landscaping can pay you back? We’re not simply talking in your home’s worth, but bringing more value to your environment and your own well-being. Take a look at three ways your landscaping can pay you back.

1. Can cut cooling costs – cooling costs can be lowered as much as 25% by carefully selecting and placing trees around your home. Also, shading your air conditioning unit can increase its effectiveness by 10%.

2. Vegetable gardens can pay back times two -The amount of money you spend on growing your own vegetables can bring back 7 to 10 times the initial investment in your own locally-grown produce. The second way a vegetable garden can pay you back is by burning calories. It’s a fact that 45 minutes of gardening can burn as much calories as 30 minutes of aerobics?

3. Energy that comes back – Water and maintenance used to keep plants healthy don’t go down the drain when you consider things like turf grass, which serves as a natural filter to reduce pollution by purifying the water passing through its root zone.

Are you ready to find out more about how investing in your landscaping can pay you, your family, and your community back? Contact a designer at Lifescape for more information. 303-831-8310

Source: ALCC.com, Photo Credit: www.today.colostate.edu

7 Weed Fighting Tips

2012-04-19T12:45:31Z

Most of us are happy for an early spring, but one ugly truth remains that the early arrival of spring, just enough natural precipitation and hand watering gets the weeds taking off like mad. If you are in the midst of battling wild weeds, here are seven strategic tips that the ALCC wants you to know:

1. You must use fertilizer. Weeds thrive in lawns that are not fertilized.

2. Drying them out, will not help kill them. Don’t let drought-stressed weeds fool you. They may look on the brink of death, but they are not.

3. Know your weed before you pull it. Make sure you get all the root out too, or it will grow back.

4. Know your weed treatment’s limitations. Weed treatments range in what type of weeds they effect from broad leaf weeds to any plant period.

5. Make sure follow the product label. You’ll want to know what the product is good for and where it might do more harm than good.

6. Is there a breeze? Be aware that the treatment can drift even in a slight breeze.

7. The best strategy in the weed war is always the offense. The best success comes from being proactive first.

How do you usually treat weeds in your Colorado lawn and/or garden?

Photo via coloradoweedbusters.com

3 Reasons to hire a Landscape Professional

2012-04-12T21:06:06Z

When it comes to regular menial yard work, you may hate it, but it is something you can take care of yourself for the most part. However, there comes a time when the problems you have in your lawn can be a bit too much for you to handle and you’ll need to call a Denver landscaping professional in order to help you find a solution and implement it.

Take a look at three top reasons you should hire a landscape professional:

1. You have a specific issue that requires certain horticulture knowledge. For example, you don’t know what is wrong with a particular tree in your yard, why plants never seem to grow in a certain section of your landscape, or your best options for an outdoor living space.

2. You do not have the skill nor the time to do what is needed. It’s hard to get things done around the landscape when you are always running low on time, and you do not know have the know-how nor the tools/equipment to efficiently do what needs to be done.

3. It’s not a safe job for you. If the work that need’s to be done calls for climbing a tree, operating heavy machinery or moving heavy landscape materials, you most definitely need a landscape contractor’s help. Plus, you can not just dig anywhere. It’s the law to call for a utility locate before doing any digging takes place.

Lifescape Associates can help you get your Colorado landscape healthy and beautiful whether in the planning stages of building a new home or wanting to revamp the landscape of your current home. Just give us a call at 303-831-8310.