PROJECT PROFILE BY HANNAH GOOCH
DESIGNING WITH LOCAL Plants Brings Home a Win for Colorado LANDSCAPING FIRM
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he Associated Landscape Contractors’ 2021 ELITE Gold Award for Residential Plant Design went to Tree of Life Landscapes’ well-deserving Lince Rossa project in Colorado. So, what set Tree of Life Landscapes’ design apart from the competition? The Lince Rossa project’s landscape designer, Johnny Moore, shares his experience working on the project.
Tree of Life Landscapes has made its mark by using perennials in landscape designs. These robust plants are able to weather the Colorado climate while borrowing the colors and feel of the natural setting. “I think perennial-driven design is becoming a thing a lot of people are doing now, but I think it’s something that’s still not really well known,” Moore says. “Not a lot of designers are really specializing in that.” For the Lince Rossa project, the Boulder, Colo.-based residence sat on a hilltop where the land was subject to dramatic extremes between incredibly hot and frigidly cold or windy weather. “The plants had to be able to tolerate some real extremes,” Moore says. “With those kinds of stressful factors and constraints, it caused the plant palette to become really unique.” Mixed in with the perennial wildflowers were shrubs and trees that were equally as hardy to survive the Colorado climate. Moore takes pride in
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Brooke Forwood Photo
The Power of Perennials
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the colorful combination of the plants and the distinctive aesthetic created when using perennials in designs.
Nature’s Touch
As with any residential landscape design, the customer’s vision is the driving force behind the design concept. The Lince Rossa project was no exception, Moore says. “The client’s greatest overall vision was to reduce the sod and to add perennials,” he says. “A couple of other factors were to create something that was low maintenance, as well as being friendly and beneficial to wildlife and pollinators.” The property backs up to a large, open space surrounded by fields and
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other natural areas. The client did not want to stray from the natural feel with the landscape design. “Creating an environment in her front yard that was going to be welcoming and kind of an extension of that wildlife and climate was a big factor,” Moore says of the design process. “I’m always looking to create an aesthetically and environmentally pleasing place with the design, where it’s beautiful, not just to the client, but also to the world around it.” The client received a National Wildlife Federation certification for her natural landscape. This certification is awarded to residential yards where wildlife is able to rear young, pollinate or otherwise thrive.
www.greenindustrypros.com
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