Courtyard magic
Texture and color bring balance to all seasons.
During a renovation to the front of the house, the homeowner had created the “skeleton” of a courtyard but didn’t know how to pull it all together through landscaping. Her goal was for the area to be inviting 12 months out of the year.
We convinced her to keep the fatsia from the original landscape. Our design was about textures, color and balancing during the seasonal changes. The fatsia just fit the style of the house as well as contributed great texture to the area year round. The remainder is a fun blend of perennials, ground cover, and traditional plants.
The photo above of the courtyard in the spring shows off the blending of textures and colors. You can also see the Fatsia, which was part of the original planting.
On the left side of courtyard we used Creeping Jenny to create a bright sunlit effect in this shaded area. We used flowering plants but we also let the texture and color of the plant material add seasonal interest throughout the year.
This photo shows off the summertime plantings and how we used variegated and bright color plant material to contrast the rich green of the surrounding area.
Photo showing off the accenting plant material, with a mix of Mojo Pittosporum and Lonicera. The trellis in the back is planted with Evergreen Clematis to screen off the utility meter.
Entry into the courtyard area.
Judges' comments on this project:
- Really like the feel of this courtyard - I like the textures and the colors. It feels very soothing with the fountain.
- It has a lot of variety - that's hard to pull off but it just it all works together.
- They did a nice job selecting plant material that's not going to get too big for the space.
- Creative, I like the way they repeated the lime green through the whole garden - it just kind of ties everything together, good use of repetition.
- Like the burgundys and the pinks against that grey brick - it really pops and brings that brick alive.
- In the front view you see a lot of brick in the house and a lot of brick at the entrance -would like to see something soften that a little bit.
- Didn't really change the space or modify the pathways of the layout - the plant structures are really good but could use some height, maybe a canopy that would soften that front wall.
- Great that they actually took the time to take pictures during a couple seasons.
About Unique Environmental Landscapes
Providing landscaping services throughout metro Atlanta for over 25 years, Unique Environmental Landscaping company was recently counted among the Atlanta Business Chronicle’s top 25 commercial landscape companies. Unique Environmental works with residential, commercial and homeowners associations, from designing a grand landscape to maintaining commercial and HOA properties.
The staff designers and installation experts at our company have the experience to create and install the landscape of your dreams, giving attention to every detail.