Grow Your Green
Investing in your landscape pays dividends—both financial and personal
When it comes to interior spaces, most of us are uncompromising. Paint colors are meticulously evaluated for undertones of gray or brown; rugs selected for their pattern and durability; tassles and shams must carry just the right “mood” to a room. Yet many of our outdoor spaces make do with a couple of shade trees, basic foundation plantings in the front and back, and a vast expanse of turf grass—nothing that urges us to while away a warm evening with Scotch and the stars. ¶ That’s a shame, say homeowners who know better. Well-designed, well-planned landscapes yield wonderful benefits to their owners. Some of those benefits are hard and practical—landscapes buffer noise, add privacy, and pay back nicely upon resale. Others are more difficult to quantify—the scent of springtime lilacs, the calming trickle of a water fountain, a richer connection with the seasons—but are just as important to the people who live with these spaces, day after day.
❶ Pays Back
During economic times as turbulent as these, we all wonder where in the world to invest. In stocks? In bonds? In the mattress? Perhaps a better answer lies in your own backyard. Literally. The fact is, landscape improvements pay back—anywhere from 100 to 200 percent, according to the Minnesota Nursery and Landscape Association. “The only home improvement project that yields more return per dollar than landscaping is paint,” says James P. Sweeney, founder and senior designer at Mom’s Landscaping & Design in Shakopee.
❷ Increases Curb Appeal
The O’Brien house in Eden Prairie wasn’t terrible to look at, it was just ... plain. “It looked like a normal, builder-built house with an aggregate sidewalk, a little edging, mulch, and overgrown viburnum,” says Sweeney. But after the O’Briens invested in their outdoor living spaces, they have something far more interesting: crashing waterfalls, lava-black taconite stone, and unusual tree varieties such as ‘Summer Glow’ tamarisk and chamaecyparis ‘Pom Pom’. “Suffice it to say, when people come to visit this house, it really makes an impression,” says Sweeney.
❸ Expands Living Space
Since outdoor rooms become expansions of a home for at least six months of the year, it’s important they connect to the rest of the house, says Keith Waters, president of Keith Waters & Associates in Eden Prairie. He smoothes the transition from inside to out by using similar materials and architecture details. Such well-designed exterior spaces make an impact on lifestyle. Folks who have never been outdoorsy find themselves gravitating outside; homeowners take up stargazing and birdwatching just to be in the spaces they have created. That’s certainly true for Lee and Barb Boerbon, who embraced outdoor living after adding exterior “rooms” to their North Oaks home. Summertime now means gatherings and get-togethers on their loosely jointed bluestone back patio. Friends and neighbors can mingle among the planting beds or sit on their low lannon stone wall. The Boerbons grill well into winter and take refuge under the deck, where a small, wall-mounted fountain spills into a pool surrounded by hostas, symphoricarpos, evergreen groundcovers, and ferns. “For us, the landscaping really is part of our home,” says Barb.
❹ Creates Privacy & Shields Noise
Before their backyard was landscaped, grilling a steak in Ertugrul and Karen Tuzcus’ backyard felt like quite a presentation. Neighbors to the left and right could peer right in, and the neighbors on a hillside had a bird’s eye view of the action. Plus, there was ambient noise from traffic. Scott Ritter, owner of The Nature Group, sheltered the Tuzcus’ space with a 3- to 4-foot-tall mixed limestone retaining wall that holds back soil, while the trickling sounds of a fountain blocks noise. Behind the wall, he added a 6-foot-tall barrier of arborvitae, and behind that, a canopy of maple trees will eventually stretch leafy arms over the scene and form a natural ceiling. “They have another patio on the side of the house with great views of downtown Minneapolis, but this is the one they use because it feels so protected,” says Ritter.
❺ Cuts Heating & Cooling Costs
Heating and cooling buildings accounts for 32 percent of all the energy used in the United States. One lush and beautiful solution: Trees and shrubs that break winter winds and provide summer shade. Landscape architect Meg Arnosti and her colleagues at Windsor Companies in St. Paul brought these considerations to the Boerbons’ home in North Oaks. Now towering spaded conifers provide a windbreak and also shade the house to the south and west.
❻ Awakens the Senses
Green spaces promote true well being—for our bodies and stressed out minds. Kirsten O’Brien and her husband, Hayes, can attest to the calming powers of their wonderfully fragrant Eden Prairie landscape with ‘Miniature Snowflake’ mock orange, ‘Westerland’ shrub roses, ‘Royal Star’ magnolias, and ‘Sensation’ lilacs. “People say they’re going outside for five minutes, and inevitably they are gone for 20 or 25,” says Kirsten. “As soon as I step outside, I can feel my heart rate calming, my blood pressure slowing. It’s a magical thing.”
Pro Tips
Have a master plan. Even if you complete your landscape in stages, know where you’re going. “Work on the landscape of your dreams with a designer, and then break it up into reasonable sections to do over time,” says James P. Sweeney of Mom’s Landscaping & Design in Shakopee.
Discover your own garden aesthetic. Do you like curvy or asymetrical? Formal or informal? Spare or filled up? Visit the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum or other public gardens. Go on garden tours and take snapshots. Cut out pictures from magazines or books.
Imagine your dream landscape. Are you entertaining large groups? Stargazing? Tending an herb garden? Napping in a hammock between two big oaks? Knowing yourself and what you want will make your landscape project easier and more fulfilling.
—A.F.
Alyssa Ford is associate editor and Colby Johnson is managing editor of Midwest Home.
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