By Rachel Knight
Springtime in Texas typically brings three things: warm weather, wildflowers, and the realization that it’s time to spruce up your home’s landscape.
Nathan Teinert, owner of Landmark Landscape Group, knows the importance of curb appeal better than most. As a freshman at Texas A&M University, Teinert started mowing lawns with a push mower to make a little cash. During his junior year of college, he started doing design-build work to further his company. By the time he graduated, his business had already bloomed and has continued to blossom and expand ever since.
In addition to landscaping homes in the Brazos Valley, Landmark Landscape Group works on commercial projects in Houston and runs a full-scale retail nursery out of East Austin. His company works on projects that work their way into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
No matter what a homeowner’s budget may be, Teinert says landscaping is an important part of a home’s landscape. He compares the importance of landscaping to personal appearance.
“Curb appeal is the first impression of a property,” Teinert says. “You meet somebody and you see what they’re wearing ... That says a lot about them. It’s the same kind of thing. If you pull up to a house and see weeds in the flowerbeds or the grass unmowed, it kind of defines a person.”
Teinert recommends homeowners looking to achieve a beautiful landscape remember that not every landscape has to be the Miramont landscape.
“It needs to complement your house,” Teinert says. “There are several things homeowners can do. Simply trimming your plants and mulching make a difference.”
After the landscape has been cleaned up, Teinert says three elements make an ideal landscape: layering, contrast, and textures. The components that make up each element depend on the land and house.
“The landscape should not overpower a house; it should not own a house,” Teinert says. “The landscape is there to complement a house.”
Layering and contrast can be achieved in different ways, but are the foundation of designs made by Teinert and his team. “Layering and contrast are the two main objectives we shoot for,” Teinert says. “When we design, we start with foundation plants, so plants against the foundation. A lot of times that’s an evergreen. We want that there even in the winter when it’s freezing cold. Then you can have your perennials in front of that and maybe a shorter perennial in front of that or an annual.”
The layering effect ensures the landscape is never bare. Even when the annuals and perennials in the landscape are bloomed out, the evergreen still adds color to the landscape.
Contrast can be created by simply mulching a flower bed. Teinert says mulching is the easiest way to add contrast to a landscape.
“A lot of people like black mulch because typically colors in the landscapes are very colorful and green,” Teinert says. “The biggest contrast you can get to that is black.”
Blooms and even foliage provide another opportunity to add contrast to the landscape. Sunshine ligustrum is an evergreen that is not common on the market yet. Teinert says it is lime green in color and its small foliage contrasts with a lot of other evergreens. “You can get your layering effect, different textures, and a contrast within two evergreens,” he says.
As a business that covers a wide area of Texas, Landmark Landscape Group sees a wide variety of homes and climates, but one thing each area has in common is that homeowners want to conserve water.
“Something that’s getting really popular is the smart controllers for irrigation,” Teinert says. “That’s something we offer. We get online and manage their irrigation system. We’re saving them water and money.”
In addition to smart controllers for irrigation, xeriscaping is another water conservation trend Teinert predicts will be popular in 2018.
“A lot of people think that’s desert scaping, but it’s not.” Teinert says. “You could have a formal xeriscape. There are a lot of different kinds. Typically, people relate it to a hill country theme landscape. Native plants are the best way to define it. Native plants are adapted to grow well here without supplemental watering and include things like wildflowers.”
While Teinert says DIY projects improve home landscapes, he also says there is value in hiring a professional landscaper.
“It’s like when you have a cough: you can take some cough medicine or you can go to a doctor,” Teinert says. “Anybody can mulch their flower bed and put plants in the ground, but it’s not the same as actually having an architect draw something out. There is a science behind it.”
Whether you do it yourself or hire a professional is up to you. One thing is for certain — creating curb appeal is essential.
