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Jessica Schwartz
11 Landscape Design Trends To Expect This Spring
From avoiding invasives to xeriscaping, these are the landscape requests to anticipate from homeowners. Tilly, which offers outsourced landscape design services (profiled in Turf Spring 2021), has a unique perspective on what landscape customers want. As an affordable online service, landscape design is all they do and homeowner-clients are located across the U.S. So what do they anticipate will be the most-requested yard features in 2022? As expected, environmentally sensitive design will continue to be increasingly embraced, but there’s some sheer fun on the horizon too, like dog-influenced design. Backyard bars also made the list—perhaps not surprising as the ongoing influence of COVID-19 puts an emphasis on at-home, outdoor entertaining. Here are Tilly’s predictions. Environmental Trends Avoiding Invasive Plants. Homeowners are starting to become extremely savvy about their yards—and not only what looks good, but what is good for the environment. While specifying native plants has been a focus for many years, residential clients are becoming more knowledgeable about the harm of invasive plant species. Some towns are even offering free removal of invasives. This concept can be a struggle for landscapers and growers since demand for invasive plants still surges in certain areas. Low Water Usage Landscapes. With droughts, extreme heat waves, and water shortages, xeriscaping will continue to grow in popularity across the U.S., but specifically boom in the West and Southwest. (Xeriscaping is creating a landscape that requires little or no irrigation to maintain.) Landscape designers savvy at making this pragmatic landscape look chic, sophisticated, and natural ...
AOS Partners With RLCS To Bring MowFleet To American Market
Hopes to transform landscaping practices with robotic fleet system. Two robotic lawn care companies are partnering in hopes to transform the way professional landscapers operate. Together with IL-based Automated Outdoor Solutions (AOS), Swedish company, Robotic Lawn Care Systems (RLCS), is determined to automate and digitalize the landscaping industry, enabling professional lawn mowing at a lower cost and at zero emissions. RLCS has introduced the MowFleet system, a robotic lawn mower system for cutting grass in multiple green areas, independent of the electric grid. “MowFleet is automation at its very best. Landscapers will get more done and achieve better results while addressing the labor shortage in the US. Not only does the MowFleet system operate independent of grid connection – it does so in a sustainable way as well. I see it as a significant addition to the AOS portfolio, greatly expanding our market opportunities. A win-win-win, with the end customer as the most obvious and ultimate winner. Finally, the end customer will enjoy a financial upside mowing lawns using automation,” says Joe Langton of AOS. Kalle Andersson, CEO of RLCS, co-inventor of the patented MowFleet system for commercial robotic lawn care, is equally excited about the partnership: ”Both RLCS and AOS are companies with vast experience in the field of robotic mowers; both sharing an end-user’s perspective after working closely with these users for a total of 40 years.” Andersson stresses the fact that landscapers can now be fully focused on their core businesses, knowing they will get the best mowing ...
Design-Build Thrived In 2020. Will It Continue?
It’s not news that COVID-19 has people spending more time outdoors, and it put a renewed emphasis on outdoor projects in 2020. Not only was landscaping deemed an essential service, but after a shaky few weeks at the start of the pandemic, landscape design-build firms found their businesses were booming. But with vaccines currently being distributed and an anticipated return to some form of normalcy, will the trend continue? Whether residential or commercial, the emphasis in 2020 wasn’t on big, splashy projects, but rather on simply providing comfortable, usable spaces that allowed families to get out of their houses and into the fresh air. Even better, designer-contractors see at least a few of these trends continuing in 2021. The Big Surprise Call it unexpected. Call it a shock. Call it quirky. Whichever word you choose to describe last year’s business climate in the design-build market, it’s safe to say it was a surprise. That’s the word Terry Morrill, owner of Sun Valley, CA-based Pacific Outdoor Living, uses. “There was a very short time lag when COVID first came out, but then it just kind of exploded,” Morrill says. “We ended up with record sales after a pretty slow start. The leads started picking up and we did just great.” Across the country in South Windsor, CT, Ryan King, an award-winning designer with Bahler Brothers, Inc., uses the word “awesome” to describe that company’s level of business. “February and March sales were almost half of what we normally see, so we ...
