TIME TO MOVE IT OUTSIDE

Written by Lou Ann Wilcox

As we spend more time at home, many of us have decided that the views from our windows are not giving us the joy we seek. With vaccinations increasing, more safety protocols in place, and sunshine and warm weather imminent, spring 2021 promises to be a more positive time than one year ago. As we prepare to spend more time outdoors, we reached out to three notable St. Louis landscape designers and architects to learn how people are transforming their outdoor space to better accommodate their lives.

All three acknowledge that they have gotten a lot busier in the past year. “We are seeing a significant re-think in how homes are designed and how landscape interacts with the home,” says Tony Frisella Jr., a third-generation landscape designer and vice president of sales with Frisella Landscape Group. “People want to make memories and create experiences in their outdoor space -- with families, parents and grandparents. People are nostalgic for simpler times.”

Sunken outdoor masonry kitchen and pergola with both counter seating on one side and swim up bar on the other by Frisella Landscape Group. Photo by Brian Collins.

Matt Moynihan, founder and principal designer at Matthew Moynihan & Associates, agrees. “The game’s changing though. Because of our climate (extremes of hot and cold), people are used to having an indoor area with lots of glass so you feel like you are outside. Now, it is truly outdoors. Families are turning their outdoor space into entertainment areas with fireplaces, outdoor kitchens, sports courts, water features. Young home owners especially are interested in playing, cooking, and eating in outdoor areas.”

Doug Beckmann, general manager and a certified arborist with M&P Landscaping, Inc., is seeing more play space in outdoor living areas such as sport courts which are paved surfaces for things like roller hockey, basketball, and pickleball as kids are home more. “Discretionary income that was previously spent on trips is being redirected to landscaping and outdoor living areas,” Beckmann notes. “We have worked on projects as small as building a fire pit to installing water features with some projects taking up to 18 months to complete.” Beckmann adds that the outdoor space needs to be functional as well as private, basically creating an outdoor room with privacy screening provided by masonry or carpentry structures, hardscape elements, or living green screens using various types of plant materials.

Conversely, other popular projects include interactive gardens, meditation gardens, and small private spots where people can be alone outside of the house. Moynihan notes that in stressful times people respond to the harmony and clarity of their surroundings. “I refer to things like patios, driveways, pavilions, and pools as ‘hardscape’ in comparison to the natural shapes of the horticulture,” he explains. “The goal is to achieve balance via juxtaposition of the geometry of the hardscape and the fluid shapes of plantings.”

This water feature was created using natural materials by M&P Landscaping. Photo by Catherine Beckmann.

Frisella notes the importance of creating the environment that each client wants. “You have to touch the senses,” he says, “Perhaps by adding a dramatic element to the project such as artwork, outdoor lighting, or plants that smell great. It’s all part of the experience.” Homeowners are investing in landscaping and hardscapes to create experiences so that they are happy in their homes.”

Top: Matt Moynihan created a water fall pool and terraces for this hillside garden. The stone retaining walls eliminate the requirement for a pool fence which provides an unobstructed view of the native landscaped common ground. Bottom" A gazebo with reflection pool and night lighting for entertaining by Matt Moynihan.

What’s next? Beckmann notes the increasing popularity of Permaculture, which is using personal landscape to sustain living gardens. “Permaculture creates a very hands-on landscape for the homeowner. It requires a lot of work and maintenance to reap the full benefits, so, if people are looking for low maintenance or a light-duty garden, it is not an option. We are seeing a lot of younger homeowners who want to substitute an edible berry bush for an ornamental plant in their landscape, for example,” says Beckmann.

“They might want to retain storm water on site and use that to irrigate plants. It needs to be the right client however. If everyone did a little of this it would make a huge difference in lessening the burden on factory farming and our food chain supply.” Frisella agrees, “Garden to table is huge. Edible gardens, incorporating edible plants along a meandering walk, and growing herbs are popular all due to the declining nutrition in grocery store food. Chicken farming in urban settings has grown too.” Frisella notes a monstrous interest in house plants and gardening.

Top: Matt Moynihan collaborated with Brian Smith Gunn and Smith architects for this sculpture court yard garden featuring a lap pool, pergola and covered pavilion. Photo by Alise O’Brien. Bottom: This aerial view of a pool and seating with view of the owner’s property, by Matt Moynihan, includes shrubbery and stone walls for privacy.

Beckmann also says he is getting more questions from clients about how to incorporate native and near-native plants into residential landscaping. “While this sounds good, the downside is that they are unruly. People think they are weeds and more often than not we end up digging them out after time.” Moynihan says he also gets requests for sustainable gardens and native plants. “But you get snakes and lots of bugs including ticks which are not great for play spaces.” He recalls designing a corporate campus where he created an eight-acre prairie and then enlarged the parking lot islands so that he could extend drifts of native grasses and wildflowers across the parking lot to the building entrance. “It was beautiful. One day a woman found a snake sunning on the hood of her car. Needless to say, we modified the plantings shortly after that!”

Moynihan continues, “People’s acceptance of these types of spaces is growing however. Younger people grasp it. They are interested in rain gardens, bioswales, new ways of dealing with stormwater and drainage, no longer blowing leaves and letting them naturally mulch in. People are realizing the fragility of the environment and are learning to appreciate the aesthetics of that look. It is a different look and a learning curve for older people.”

There are many issues that the designers and architects face that homeowners typically don’t think about when contracting for a project. “People often overlook drainage and that is becoming more and more important due to change in weather patterns,” says Beckmann. “St. Louis has had several 100-year rainstorms which have thrown things off. That much water affects the health of the plants and thus the success of the landscape.” He says they regularly seek local municipality and Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District engineers’ input when possible and needed on projects that involve challenging drainage issues on multiple properties or storm water management inlets or drains.

Moynihan echoes this, “I recommend mowing cool season, fescue blue grass blends higher. The mower should be set to three-anda-half to four inches cutting height and mowed when it is six inches tall. You may need to cut the grass more than once a week during the growing seasons but it is worth it. The higher cutting height will help develop a healthier, dense, and deep-rooted turf with less space for weeds. When you water the lawn, deep water the soil to a depth of six inches. Irrigation controllers have cycle and soak settings that can be programmed to help you accomplish this. Frequent daily or every other day shallow depth watering promotes shallow root systems, disease, and fertilizer and chemical runoff problems.”

Circular meditation garden by M&P Landscaping.

Moynihan says the level of maintenance required also is an issue. “Complex doesn’t work for most people. My clients usually want to do something like hide a telephone pole or a bad view and they want something low maintenance. It is important to know what they mean by that. Understanding their expectations for maintenance and making sure they have the knowledge they need to care for their space are key.”

“Educating people about what they need to know to care for their yard is part of our process,” says Frisella. “We talk to them about the right type of turf for how they will use the space, different fertilizers that are safer for kids and pets, weed control options -- all determined by each circumstance. While everybody wants nice landscaping, most aren’t interested in the maintenance. They hire us to provide maintenance services so they can spend their time enjoying their new outdoor spaces. I always ask, ‘What do you want to do yourself?’ These questions are important because their responses impact the landscape design. For the DIYers, we help the homeowners be successful at keeping their landscape looking great for years to come.”

For homeowners interested in enhancing their outdoor space, Beckmann suggests thinking big picture -- including protection for existing trees and their root zones and proper drainage in the plan. “The fun stuff -- trees and flowers -- comes toward the end of most projects,” he says. “Having a plan will allow you to complete the project in an orderly fashion over time if doing it all at once isn’t practical.” Frisella asks prospective clients to give him photos of things they like and dislike and to have some kind of budget in mind. “Most people cannot imagine the potential of their property,” he says. “People limit themselves to what they know.”

This water feature and fire pit with ambiance lighting was designed and installed by Frisella Landscape Group. Greenery provides privacy.

If you’re interested in recommendations for plantings, Moynihan suggests considering our native poverty grass for your lawn “It is a perennial oat grass that matures at a five inch height. It is not invasive, does well on and prefers nutrient poor soil, thrives in sun or shade and survives drought. Also, he loves the American Pawpaw tree and Sassafras trees. “Their colors are extraordinary in the fall.”

Beckmann’s personal favorites include the Cloud 9 Dogwood (his mother’s favorite tree), the Cornelian Cherry Dogwood, and Poukhanense azaleas, which he says are more resilient in Missouri soil. His favorite shade tree is the Black Gum tree, also called the Sour Gum Tupelo (not to be confused with a Sweet Gum tree). “I prefer them over Maples for fall color.”

In conclusion, Frisella adds, “We are designing an experience that is growing, every day of every year for as long as we can foresee into the future. We want to stir an emotion – no matter the season.”