The best-executed outdoor spaces and activity areas will draw crowds out of the house and into the fresh air, no matter the season or time of day.
by Dianne Rinehart
When you’re building or buying a home, the last thing you might think about is landscaping. But maybe it should be the first, considering it extends your living quarters and can increase the time you spend with family—by a lot.
Imagine, if you will, that you’re indoors on your computer or watching TV and your kids are playing video games downstairs.
Now imagine a landscaped lot with outdoor furnishings and, for winter, a hot tub, firepit and propane heaters for the coldest days. And for the summer, a pool with a wee waterfall, a cabana for easy changing and an outdoor kitchen/bar.
Oh, and did we mention lawns, flower-filled gardens, perimeter trees and—for larger lots—a meadow for butterflies and bees?
Where would you rather be? And, importantly, where would your kids rather be?
For The Landmark Group, a Collingwood landscaping company, the most rewarding thing they can hear from clients is how much time they now spend outside as a family, says the company’s general manager, Curtis Hutten.
Indeed, the motto of the company, which years ago landscaped all of the Blue Mountain Village with its gorgeous flower beds and scented cherry and lilac trees, is “Think Outside.”
The company puts a lot of effort into planning great outdoor areas with clients, which is why they want to be involved long before your new home is built. “It’s about our mission and our vision,” says Hutten. “When things are designed well, you can utilize them.”
Early involvement is key in optimizing landscaping goals.
The company has in-house designers and estimators. Nothing needs to be farmed out, Hutten says. “We make sure all the drainage and electrical is all done first. We work in a strategic way.”
The company also wants its landscaping to fit the needs of clients. “For example, do you need a place for the kids to play? Do you entertain? When you have friends over, how many? Do you want a lap pool? We explain the opportunities,” says Hutten.
Some clients, with a view of Blue from their backyards, just want landscaping to be their après-ski area, he explains. “They go skiing, and after have a drink with a big fire table and lounge chairs.”
Others want to create a four-season playground. And if that’s the case, bringing in landscapers before the home is even built is key. Don’t wait until your budget is blown on the house, Hutten advises. Incorporate the planning for your outdoor areas ahead of time.
For example, one of the company’s clients was tearing down an old home to build a new one. While the property already had a pool and a cabana, they were situated so far away from the home site that they were unlikely to be used. As well, the new home would be modern, and the old pool and cabana were anything but.
Landmark worked with the architects and builders to ensure the landscaping fit with the home and there was easy access to the new pool and cabana. “We like to be involved as early as possible,” says Hutten. “Before the house plans are finalized is ideal.”
So, in went a rectangular pool with descending cubes at one end to enter it, and at the other end, a gorgeous waterfall that lights up at night.
Lighting is a huge part of landscaping. That’s because Landmark’s goal is for the outdoor spaces to be as useful at night as they are in the day. Features like trees and flower gardens are lit up. And the light from fire pits and fire tables adds a warm, golden glow.
The owners of the property with the new pool, for example, can turn on the lights in their cabana from their home in Toronto using their smartphones.
So, in went a rectangular pool with descending cubes at one end to enter it, and at the other end, a gorgeous waterfall that lights up at night.
Adjacent to the pool is a patio with separate areas for lounging. Gorgeous hardwood trees set into the patio are illuminated. One seating area has wicker sofas and a coffee table. Another separate seating area is nestled under the roof of the cabana, with a clear view out over a forested area on one side and the pool on the other. There is a barbecue, appliances and a sink for food prep, as well as a fire table and portable upright propane heaters for chilly nights.
Next to the modern, warm-looking wood-panelled cabana is a hot tub area.
At one end of the pool and on one side, is an immaculately groomed lawn (maintained by Landmark) with a lovely flower garden. At the other end is a planting of gorgeous grasses.
“We try to keep to local plants,” says Hutten. And now their plantings reflect a trend to naturalized plants, like wildflowers and grasses. Surrounding the home and garden are specimen trees native to Ontario.
The four-season, around-the-clock allure of the landscaping not only brings families closer together all day and all year long, “it adds property value,” says Hutten. “Entertaining is huge for a lot of our clients. It’s extending the use of the property.”
Indeed, what sense does it make to be up in the gorgeous Blue Mountains area and not be outside as much as possible?
And then there’s this: the landscaping is designed to last. Patio stones, for example, aren’t put on crushed stone. They are put on concrete. “You spend a little more,” says Hutten, “but six years on, not one patio stone has moved. We’re building a landscape that will last.”
Indeed, the company offers a three-year, no-questions-asked warranty. And that quality and design work has won the company numerous awards, including four of the industry’s top accolades: the Dunington-Grubb awards from Landscape Ontario, a Casey Van Maris award for the best-designed landscape from Landscape Ontario, and two national awards from the Canadian Nursery Landscape Association (CNLA) for best landscape design and best maintenance of a project in all of Canada.
But for Hutten, the true rewards are all about maximizing each home’s utility and value. Whether it’s a new build or a redesign of an existing landscaped lot, “We want people to use their properties.”
