When it comes to a keeping a well-maintained home, landscaping holds an important place in the hearts of many Americans.
The U.S. landscaping industry generates an estimated $73 billion of revenue annually. Additionally, the U.S. landscaping industry has grown an estimated 3.7% annually between 2009 and 2014.
Eighty million households in the United States have private lawns and 83 percent of Americans think having a yard is important. What’s more, 90 percent of those surveyed think it’s important to have a yard that’s well-maintained. In fact, the average American spends an average of four hours per week taking care of their lawn. That’s more than 200 hours per year that the average person spends making their lawn look its best.
If you’re interested in creating outdoor living spaces, here are some landscaping features you can install:
- Add a walkway: If you’ve got a patio in one spot, a hot tub in another and a barbeque pit in a another area, consider adding an outdoor walkway. This eliminates having to trample your lawn and some stepping stones can add another dynamic to your backyard.
- Add a Water Feature: A small, self-contained water feature surrounded by some natural stones can added a natural feel to a backyard and can make for some great eye-candy.
- Add a Wood Stove: Commercial wood burning stoves are great for indoor use, but they can be just as great for outdoor living spaces. Installing commercial wood burning stoves outside can help to heat patios and greenhouses. It also removes the smell of burning wood from a house, but can still be useful outdoors.
- Add seating: Putting in a patio with plenty of seating gives homeowners and their guests a chance to sit back and enjoy the view. If you’re feeling like you want to add more than just chairs or a bench, try something fun like a hammock.
- Add Plants: Nothing draws the eye to outdoor living spaces faster than lush green grass or lots of colorful flowers. There are dozens of options to choose from and you can choose to plant certain flowers that bloom at specific times of the year to keep your yard looking colorful all year.
If you’re interested in landscaping your property or creating outdoor living spaces, but don’t have the time or the knowhow, landscape architecture services can be of great help. In fact, hiring landscape architecture services may be one of the best decisions you make for your home because of the following benefits:
- Better value: Hiring landscape architecture services can help increase the value of your home by as much as 15 percent. That’s because the professionals are equipped to add features like outdoor living spaces that will extend your living space and allow you to get the most of your home. These services can add other features like outdoor lighting which are both aesthetically pleasing and eco-friendly.
- Planning: Another advantage of landscape architecture services is their ability to come up with unique landscape ideas for each home they work on. With your home, the professionals can identify problem areas and can address both immediate needs and long term concerns. Having a detailed plan in place is going to reduce stress, save time and increase comfort since you’re entrusting the project to folks who know what they’re doing.
- Industry smarts: Depending on what type of landscaping you want to do, landscape services will know how to the job well and in a way that makes sense. If you love gardening for example, the pros can install a low-maintenance garden with plants native to your area. This helps keep water costs down and cuts down on the need to apply chemical agents.
- Correct Tree Placement: When it comes to trees and shrubs, landscape architecture services can place them in spots that will ultimately help reduce cooling and heating costs.
- Satisfaction: Ultimately when you hire landscape architecture services you want them to do a good job. The good news is that they will deliver something you’ll be very happy with. They can install many of the features listed above and they’ll all be up to code.
There are plenty of benefits to landscaping your home and property and landscaping architecture services can deliver a detailed plan, plenty of industry knowledge and a project you’ll be very proud of.