Are you ready to transform your Sarasota property with stunning landscape and hardscape design? Troy’s Tropics is here to help! We’re a three-in-one solution as we offer a full-service plant nursery in Sarasota, as well as design, build, and installation services. Keep reading to learn more about why professional landscape and hardscape design add value to your property and what our approach to the design looks like.
Before we delve into the specifics, let’s get on the same page about some terms.
Landscape Design vs Hardscape Design
Landscape design is the process of arranging such elements as plants, trees, hardscape features, and outdoor structures. Hardscape design falls under landscape design and includes adding human-made structures, such as pergolas, playgrounds, dog runs, firepits, patios, and more to your yard.
Add Property Value with Professional Landscape and Hardscaping Design
If you’re interested in hiring a contractor for landscaping and hardscaping services, you probably recognize the potential value a well-designed garden can bring to your property.
If you’re still uncertain, however, here are some statistics. Let us support your decision with some insights. According to research from the National Association of Landscape Professionals (NALP) and REALTORS®, landscape maintenance recovers 100 percent of the costs at the time of your home’s sale. Also, adding hardscape components like a wood deck, water feature, statement landscape, new patio, or fire feature was reported to significantly increase homeowner satisfaction.
Additionally, the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) suggests allocating 10 percent of your home’s value to landscaping. This ends up paying for itself, since a professionally landscaped property can add 20% to the value of your home from a first impression alone.
A well-designed landscape not only offers visual appeal but also acts as an extension of your home. For example, if you want to add a play or recreation area to your yard, it would be the best idea to place it in front of your kitchen or family room so that you can keep an eye on your kids while cooking or relaxing with a book on your couch.
Key Components of Successful Landscape and Hardscape Design
Now, let us walk you through the key factors we prioritize when designing landscapes and hardscapes for homeowners in Sarasota, South Florida.
Choosing the Style of Your Yard Spaces
As a first step, you should decide whether you want your yard to blend in with your neighborhood or stand out with something more unique. Your neighborhood’s aesthetic will certainly influence your landscape and hardscape design choices, but what’s equally important is considering the architectural style of your own home.
Every landscape and hardscape design includes the following key elements:
- Lines
- Colors
- Textures
Let’s take a look at each of these components.
Geometric or Naturalistic Forms
Lines and forms play an important role in landscape design. Lines can be straight, curved, horizontal, and vertical, while forms can be geometric or naturalistic. Lines define how such components of a landscape as sods, fences, plant bedlines, and pathways are shaped.
Forms are three-dimensional masses of shapes. Depending on the lines, the forms can be circular, square, and irregular polygons, or they can be naturalistic, mimicking rivers or streams.
As we already mentioned, choosing what lines and corresponding forms would fit your landscape design better depends on your neighborhood, personal preferences, and the style of your home. For example, if you have a traditional-styled home, straight lines and geometric forms may fit your yard better because they create a formal character. On the other hand, if you opt for naturalistic lines and forms, you can add a touch of intrigue and mystery to your yard.
Color
You’re probably familiar with the color wheel theory, but if not, here’s a quick refresher. It divides colors into primary colors of red, blue, and yellow; secondary colors that are mixes of primary colors; and tertiary colors, which are mixes of adjacent primary and secondary colors.
Choosing a color for your garden depends on the mood you want to achieve. Cool colors, such as blue and violet, create a relaxing atmosphere, while bright ones, such as red and orange, make the heart beat faster with excitement.
Texture
Whether coarse, fine, or medium, texture helps to manipulate the perception of space. The texture found in the leaves of palms, crotons, and ixoras helps create focal points. Fine-textured grasses, ferns, and boxwoods help create solid edges, which is why they are perfect for giving the feeling of a larger, more open space.
Medium texture can be found in such plants as Agapanthus, Pittosporum, and Viburnum, as well as such hardscape elements as flagstone pavers. At Troy’s Tropics, we offer a selection of flagstones that you can purchase for your yard’s hardscape design.
Hardscape Elements
Hardscape elements are essential for boosting the functionality of your yard. Whether you want to add a new driveway or a patio, we are here to help you make sure it blends seamlessly into your landscape.
Selecting the Right Plants
The second key component of a successful landscape and hardscape design is selecting the right plants. Helping you choose the right plants for your landscape is where we shine. As a local nursery in Sarasota, South Florida, we are experts in Florida’s native and naturalized plants.
When designing your landscape, we keep Florida’s climate in mind. For example, if you want to install privacy hedges, we would recommend that you opt for Dwarf Red Ixora. These plants are tropical Asia natives and can withstand hurricanes and floods.
With the summer approaching, we would highly recommend choosing date palms or Christmas palms for the focal points of your landscape design. Palms are native to areas with high winds and storms, and they thrive in summer heat.
Delivery and Installation
At Troy’s Tropics, our commitment to the beauty and comfort of your yard doesn’t end with landscape and hardscape design services. We can also deliver and install all the essential components of your newly transformed yard.
We have the knowledge and experience to make sure the needs of each of your tropical specimens are taken care of during planting. We will also get you up to speed with the scope of maintenance your new yard requires.
Troy’s Tropics has been in the landscape design business for over 15 years, helping Sarasota homeowners increase the value of their properties with excellent landscaping and hardscaping designs. Contact us today!
