Spring 2014 Landscape Designer Color Combinations: 1

It may still feel like winter in the metro Atlanta area, but to landscape designers, it feels like a blank canvas ready for us to paint! Fresh color combinations can turn any area, whether home or business, into a showplace, creating a welcoming atmosphere and setting the stage for your visitors, family, customers, residents or employees to enjoy the outdoors.

Over the next few weeks, we’ll be sharing some innovative and fresh spring color combinations that we can integrate into your home or business seasonal color beds. This week, feast your eyes on a color combination perfect for the Atlanta area because it’s suitable for sun and part shade, which is a common issue in our tree-heavy area. (Click on the image for a larger view of the custom PDF.)

SpringBlend1-AtlantaLandscapeDesigner

Atlanta Landscape Designer on Pinterest

If you are looking for even more ways to experience Unique Environmental’s gorgeous designs and get inspired, follow us on Pinterest. We’d love to hear about your inspiration, which of our projects most inspired you, and what your greatest landscape challenges might be. Here in the metro Atlanta area, we experience a variety of conditions. That’s why we put a lot of time and effort into educating our customers. The more you know about how we design, install and maintain your landscapes, the more you’ll want to give us a call.

Happy pinning! We look forward to seeing you there.

Visit Unique Environmental Landscapes’s profile on Pinterest.

Atlanta Landscape Maintenance

Atlanta Landscape Designers 1

3 Atlanta Landscaping Trends for 2014 from Leading Atlanta Landscaper

2014 Atlanta Landscape Trends

The New Year is here and with it comes the opportunity to create the outdoor living area of your dreams. Unique Environmental Landscapes offers the experience and design expertise needed to ensure your project is exactly what you dreamed it could be! So, what are many Atlanta property owners hoping for in 2014? We’ve got the hottest landscape trends right here. Which is your favorite?

1) Paying attention to new plant introductions: Much of the trends are driven by the environment. We’ve now experienced the polar vortex, drought, floodingrain…Georgia experiences a wide variety of environmental conditions……and opportunities – if you know how to choose the right plants for the right environment. We have access to the best new plants and can help you make the best choices.

2) Experimenting with new palettes of landscape plants: The palettes of landscape plants in the Atlanta area have evolved, too, as the wishes of the consumer have evolved. Pantone color trends aren’t just for interior decorating! Homeowners and businesses are increasingly looking to their landscape professionals to be on top of the latest color and design trends. Unusual color combinations, well-suited to the aesthetics of your home, business, personality and neighborhood can elevate your outdoor areas.

3) Outdoor living continues to grow: In Atlanta we are truly blessed with a climate that allows almost year-round outdoor living. Our Atlanta homeowners and business owners continue to demand practical and beautiful designs that bring the outdoors and the indoors together, creating a seamless living experience, adding value, and providing unparalleled opportunities for social, resident (personal?) and family time. Our designs can integrate the latest in both design and technology, including:

  • Landscape lighting systems that are controlled with your phone or tablet
  • Outdoor firepits with gas systems that are remote controlled
  • High quality audio and video that allows virtually year-round viewing and listening to favorite programs

In conclusion, one of the wonderful things about the green industry is that change is constant. Here at Unique Environmental Landscapes we thrive on providing the best in industry design coupled with the most innovative and forward-thinking trends. Whether you are interested in traditional or classic design that includes the latest technology, or trendy color combos that will make your home stand out, we are here to work with you every step of the way. Our designers are not only gifted creatively, but exceptional horticulturists, as well.

Are you ready to take advantage of one or more of these wonderful landscape and outdoor living trends? Give us a call today and we’ll help you get started.

Check out these posts for additional inspiration:

Outdoor Kitchen Retreat

Backyard Oasis

Inspirational Design Video Montage

A Full Portfolio of Inspiration

Goshiki Osmanthus Plant is a Year Round Pleaser

Winter is a good time to assess just how colorful your landscape is! It’s very easy when planning a landscape to create a great spring and summer display, but the trick to creating year around color in your landscape is selecting from plants that bloom each season. I will try to lay out over the next couple weeks and months plants that you can add into your landscape that will bring it year-round interest and create focal changes as the seasons progress. A lot of these plants I’ve used for years in my landscape designs as well as my home landscape. Just walking around yesterday I realized how Yellow Twig Dogwood, Edgeworthia and other winter plants create an interest even on the dreariest of days.

Osmanthus heterophyllus 'Goshiki' is a tough, strikingly variegated evergreen shrub with five colors on each leaf which create an eye-catching display in the landscape.

Osmanthus heterophyllus ‘Goshiki’ is a tough, strikingly variegated evergreen shrub with five colors on each leaf which create an eye-catching display in the landscape.

For starters, let’s look at Goshiki Osmanthus. This great mounding evergreen shrub has variegated foliage throughout the year with interesting color changes as the new foliage comes out and the later summer foliage matures. It is a slow growing shrub that loves to be pruned hard so it’s adaptable in small spaces and, if left untreated, can grow 4 to 5 feet tall, which makes it very adaptable for many areas in your landscape. For those of you who get creative around the holidays, its foliage works very well in Christmas wreaths and holiday greenery. Goshiki means ‘five colored’ in Japanese and refers to the various colors found on each leaf. The leaves will show off all five colors: cream, pink, orange, yellow, and white. Those colors will appear in attractive spots or swirls that combine together to create an eye-catching display!

Other notes:  Thrives in dry, hot climates, good container plants, drought tolerant, fragrant, low maintenance

Learn more about Unique Environmental.

 

Unique Environmental Featured on Landscaping Pro Blog | Atlanta Landscaper

Unique Environmental Landscapes is honored to have one of its value-add blogs featured on the Landscape Pro blog, which is a service of the Georgia Urban Ag Council. The blog discusses ways to repurpose your Christmas tree. Put your tree to good use after the holidays and read more here:

http://037902b.netsolhost.com/blog/2014/01/02/re-purposing-christmas-tree/

Unique Environmental Landscapes Featured on Atlanta’s Newstalk 1160 the Talk of the Town!

Unique Environmental’s Todd Guilmette (President) joined Media Mojo for an interview on Newstalk 1160 “The Talk of the Town” to talk about seasonal landscaping tips, trends and techniques in the green industry and how to build business by listening to the customer. Check it out and share with folks who want to know more about what we do!

Our Gift to You: Inspirational Landscapes and Atlanta Gardens

Happy Holidays to you from Unique Environmental Landscapes! We know that in this cold weather you dream of warmer Atlanta days and evenings or maybe taking advantage of beautiful, crisp evening by the firepit. Either way, we can make your dreams come true and we’ve put together an inspirational video of some of our projects for your enjoy.

It’s our gift to you – consider all of the wonderful possibilities right in your backyard!

 

Atlanta Landscaping Tip from Designer Todd

From Todd:

Here is a link to a fertilizer company that we use and is also available to homeowners. What is great is the organic content and the thoughtfulness of their fertilizer blends. This stuff really works! http://nelsonplantfood.com/feed-your-plants/colorstar/colorstar-19-13-6/

Happy gardening!

 

~ Todd

Tips for Atlanta Cool Season Pots and Planters

2013 Fall Pots and Planter Blends2

Temperatures are dropping here in the Atlanta, Georgia area, but that doesn’t mean you can’t continue to enjoy beautiful flowers through the fall and winter! Our designers at Unique Environmental understand that there is a lot of misinformation in the marketplace about cool season annuals and how well they work in your pots and planters. We are going to tackle some of those for you in just a moment, but if you’d rather spend more time with your family and still have a gorgeous yard during the fall and winter months, you may want to consider the container planting or seasonal color bed installation that we provide. You can check that out here.

Ready? Let’s debunk some common DIY landscape ideas:

  1. Pansies For All: Yes, the great thing about pansies is you can find them in all different shades of colors, but have you considered violas? Violas bloom stronger and mix well with pansies. In fact, this precious flower was chosen as flower of the year by the National Garden Bureau in 2007. They can be the workhorse of pots and planters and are perfect for bridging the seasons in warmer zones, where they can remain in bloom throughout the winter.
  2. Chrysanthemums Last Forever: Mums, a gardener’s go-to for classic beauty, would also do wonderfully in your window box for a quick hit of color. Remember, though, typically the blooms will last about 4 to 6 weeks depending on temperature and then they are just a green plant, which can still provide a nice backround for other plants.  Just make sure they are spaced properly, watered frequently and have at least 4 hours of sunlight each day in order to thrive. You will need to update your pots and planters if using Chrystanthemums, so be sure you want to include them in your mix!
  3. Snapdragons or Bust: If you are looking for a tall, elegant flower for your window box, snapdragons may be the perfect choice for you – but they only bloom late September through early October- then they go through a dormant stage and will not re-bloom until late March or early April. This is an example of how your pots and planters can really look sad if you aren’t educated about the best types of plants and materials.
  4. All I Need Are Flowers: Spectacular, well-designed, awe-inspiring pots, planters and seasonal beds aren’t only full of flowers. There is a wide variety of accent material and accent plants that will make the color of the flowers pop and sing. Our generous blends of trailing pansies, variegated foliage, and coordinating uprights mean that the outdoor appeal of your living areas is strong – even in the fall and winter. Just give us a call.
  5. Plant and Go: There is no such thing as a maintenance-free planting – that is, unless we are maintaining it for you! Your pots and planters are only beautiful with the proper attention to soil/ fertilization and the general care necessary for prolonged seasonal color. It is not a one and done process. Even after the installation deadheading, fertilizing is critical to maintain long-term color. Beautiful pots and planters are within your reach

What about you? We would love to hear about some of your favorite cool-season plants! Stop by our Facebook page and share with our online community your go-to fall and winter flowers. If you have a picture – feel free to share that too! We look forward to hearing from you.

For more information about Unique Environmental Landscapes and the services we offer – give us a call at 404-691-9310 or visit us online.

Atlanta Landscape Designer Launches Online Videos

Unique Environmental Landscapes is pleased to provide some insight into how they create such gorgeous landscapes, who is behind the designs, and what makes them different. Going forward, the Atlanta landscape design company will also provide short, informative videos to help commercial and residential clients learn more about various landscape elements.

Today’s video is a brief introduction to Todd Guilemette, the primary designer and President at Unique Environmental Landscapes. If you’d like to learn more about how they serve the Atlanta market with only the best in design, installation and maintenance, contact them today.