Backyard Landscaping Trend for 2013: Outdoor Living

As our everyday life grows ever more dependent on technology, many people are longing for the simplicity of nature. Whether you’re hiking in the woods or just relaxing and admiring your own backyard landscaping, spending time outdoors surrounded by plants and fresh air is good for your physical and mental health. 

This year’s Garden Trends Report from Garden Media Group reveals a major societal trend of slowing down and redefining happiness. In general, people are starting to recognize that outdoor activities like gardening can bring them great satisfaction.

According to this article, the hottest landscaping trend of the upcoming year is creating scenic outdoor living spaces. Outdoor home decoration will become more sophisticated, with the goal of creating a desirable retreat from daily life. Instead of spending money and time traveling, more and more people would rather have a “vacation spot” right in their own back yard that they can use any time throughout the year. 

From small patios to sprawling gardens, outdoor living spaces can be customized to fit the space available, while creating the desired effect, whether that is a cozy retreat or a gathering space for entertaining friends.

Now is the time to start dreaming and planning for your 2013 landscaping projects. What does your ideal outdoor living space look like? How could you turn your backyard into an urban retreat for soaking in all the positive effects nature has to offer?  

Spending time in a scenic outdoor living space can boost your health and happiness. Check out our photo gallery for ideas and inspiration, then contact us to get started.

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Have You Ever Been a Part of Uncovering History?

By Ryan Sarvis

Recently, Johnson's Landscaping Service, Inc. has had the honor of renovating a piece of American history; namely, a crypt used as a hiding spot for escaped slaves on the Underground Railroad.  Nestled in the heart of Georgetown and above Rock Creek is the small, Mt. Zion cemetery, established in 1822 when the Mt. Zion Church acquired several acres from the federal government. The church began to use the property for the final resting place of its congregation members and some of the unclaimed dead from the city morgue.  A simple and basic crypt was built just above the creek made of brick and mortar to be used in the future. 

As a gateway to the North, Washington, D.C. was a vital and important stop for African Americans escaping the oppression of southern slavery via the Underground Railroad. Many white citizens provided escaping slaves shelter in their homes or on their property. Mt. Zion Church and its members, many of whom were freed slaves themselves, provided aid in the form of food, drink, shelter, and directions to the next stop on the Underground Railroad.

The slaves only traveled at night to avoid patrollers looking for blacks on the road without permission.   During the daytime, the Mt. Zion crypt provided shelter for the escaped slaves.  After the Civil War ended, the crypt was no longer used, and after many years of neglect, fell into disrepair.

As the church's budget shrank over the years, the hillside surrounding the crypt became overgrown with polk weed, poison ivy, and other brush. For many years very little maintenance was done to keep the area in good shape. In 2003, the church applied for assistance from the National Park Service to renovate the site and to later become a national historic preservation area. After several years of campaigning, the Church was successful in getting the needed assistance, and was able to move forward with the areas' renovation. 

Several church members were long-time customers of Johnson's Landscaping, and looked to us to help implement the needed changes.   We were very excited about the possibility of uncovering history for all to see.

The church's main purpose was to enable easy visitor access to the site, and to create an area for people to sit and receive information about the site's history.   When we first visited the site, we could barely see the crypt through the thick brush and we had difficulty getting close due to the steep hillside. We could see that they were in need of serious assistance. We set out to design a visitor's path and surrounding landscape that were both scenic and useful. We also had to keep the small budget in mind. Most of all, we wanted to provide a safe as well as scenic setting for visitors. 

After presenting our plan, the church leaders and the landscape designers from Johnson's Landscaping worked together to fine tune the design so that all parties were fully satisfied.  After approval, Johnson's sent out expert construction and landscaping crews. The crews first cleared and hauled all brush and debris from the site. We excavated a path and installed timber steps and leveled areas between steps. We planted several evergreen shrubs and hardy grasses....plant life that would thrive in the conditions surrounding the crypt. For safety, we installed a railing made of 4 inch posts and heavy duty rope. Finally, we put a thick layer of mulch to prevent weeds and unwanted plant material from coming back. The final product was a low maintenance landscape that all visitors could enjoy.

We at Johnson's Landscaping were proud to share in the work of uncovering an important piece of local history.

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Worried about your home's current value? Visit these links to learn how landscaping can help!

Lawn and Garden Equity

While studies show that you'll only recoup 80 to 90 cents on every dollar you spend to upgrade your kitchen or bath, professional landscape designers estimate that improvements to your lawn and garden can boost your home's value by 7 percent to 15 percent. Those findings have been confirmed by survey results from the Gallup Organization and the National Gardening Association, or NGA.

(read more)

Adding Value to Your Yard

Value added: Consumers perceive a home with proper landscaping to be worth up to 11.3 percent more than its assessed value, according to 1999 study by Clemson University. The same study found that the return on the landscaping dollar is more than 100 percent.

(read more)

It Pays to Clean Up Your Yard

"The whole trend for living outside is enormous right now" says Denis Flanagan, host of HGTV's One Garden, Two Looks and manager of membership services and PR for Landscape Ontario. "The garden has become an extension of the house."

(read more)

 Source:  http://www.nbcwashington.com/

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