Beautiful and Functional: New Landscape Ideas

Posted on March 10, 2017 by greatgoatslandscaping

landscape ideas

We’re not the type of folks to jump on board with every new fad, but we have to admit, landscape trends in 2017 look promising. Landscape designers and homeowners alike are moving away from neat and tidy ornamental lawns and embracing yards that are both beautiful and functional. I love the idea of getting the most out of a yard while still having a space that shows off bright plants.

Landscape Ideas

Here are some of the landscaping trends we’ve been seeing that can inspire your imagination and get you daydreaming about what to do with your yard this summer.

Sustainable plants

Many homeowners are moving away from lawns featuring turf grass alone and embracing yards that feature sustainable designs. Low-maintenance gardens and drought-tolerant plants are edging out turf grass for both economic and environmental reasons. Of course the added bonus is less grass to mow which equates to more relaxation time.

Edible yards

Blended gardens that mix ornamental plants with edibles give homeowners the best of both worlds: beautiful yards and bountiful harvests. You can easily incorporate fruits, veggies and herbs into your design without committing to a full-sized garden. Adding edible plants to your yard design brings in rich textures and colors. Plus, you’ll be rewarded knowing the healthy selection on your dinner plate was the result of some ingenuity on your part.

Higher quality and more functional

Many homeowners are moving away from ornamental, showy deck and patio spaces in favor of quality, natural materials. Today it’s easier to find great products that compliment the natural environment around you.

Water features

Nothing is more relaxing than the sound of flowing water in a yard. From inexpensive self-contained systems in an urn or portable fountain to large water walls, water features are available in any budget and can easily be added to landscaping designs. Incorporating moving water is a great way to turn your yard into an oasis.

Your Dream Patio Project…Done Beautifully!

Posted on March 2, 2017 by greatgoatslandscaping

Patios are a great place for friends and family to gather and spend time outside.

The thing about living in Minnesota is that after spending the cold winter months stuck in a house, warmer weather makes us want to live outside. There’s no better outdoor living than enjoying long summer evenings on the patio. Maybe you don’t love your patio or maybe you don’t have one, that’s where the team at Great Goats can help.

Great Goats Landscaping exists to help you turn your landscaping dreams into reality. We want to design a patio area that you love and that fits your style.

We all love a beautiful patio

We hear from a lot of folks who are interested in adding a patio or updating their existing patio. In the summer, patios become an extension of your home and a great place to spend time with family and friends. Your ideal design might include a grill or firepit and have designated seating areas with chairs and tables. Add a couple potted plants and soon you’ll have a space that is beautiful and functional.

How it works

We work with homeowners to design landscaping projects. We love sitting down across the table to discuss how we can make landscaping dreams into a reality.

Here’s what you can expect when you work with us on your next project. Fill out our contact form or give us a call at 612-483-GOAT and our owner Mike Olson will get back to you right away. Tell us about the patio you want to build. After we’ve talked about what you have in mind, we’ll work up a a plan for the project and put together an estimate.

Enjoy your dream patio

Don’t let the snowy late-winter box you in, It’s never too early to start dreaming about summer. Just think what a beautiful outdoor living space could do for your home. Contact us today and let us know how you envision kicking back with family and friends this summer.

Get Early Spring Flowers By Planting Perennials in the Fall

Posted on October 2, 2016 by greatgoatslandscaping

Winter means colder weather and a break from weeding and caring for your garden. After a summer spent encouraging. prodding and cajoling vegetables and flowers to grow, putting the garden to rest for the winter can be a nice break.

But experienced gardeners know that there is nothing better than starting the spring months with early blooming flowers that were planted the fall before. If you’re looking for an easy way to add a little color to your spring, here are some ideas for planting perennials in the fall so you can start your spring with some color in your garden.

Early perennial bloomers

There are long lists of perennials that are easy to plant in the fall that will reward you with early blooms in the spring. Some of our favorites are violets, lily-of-the-valley, sweet kate, wisteria and trumpet honeysuckle.

Planting Perennials in the Fall

Planting fall perennials isn’t hard, but there are a couple steps you can take to make sure your first season will be a success.

Start by preparing your soil with a fair amount of compost or organic matter. Most perennials have roots that grow deep and fast, and soil should be dug and loosened at least a shovel’s depth.
Because your plants will soon have to face the cold, it’s better to get large potted plants that are mature enough to flower. Smaller plants are cheaper, but they may not give you the satisfaction of blooming quickly.
Lastly, it is very important to water the plant before transplanting it from the pot and to gently loosen the roots before putting them in the soil so they can spread out and get better established quickly.
Once your perennial is in the ground, cover the planting areas with a natural mulch of bark or straw to keep the soil moist and protect the plant from freezing.

When spring comes, you’ll be able to fill out your garden with quick growing annuals and have a beautiful garden that is bright and colorful during the first days of spring.

Custom Outdoor Fireplaces and Fire Pits

Posted on September 20, 2016 by greatgoatslandscaping

As our late summer turns into an autumn deluge, have your thoughts turned to crisp evenings around the fire? At Great Goats, we’re committed to helping our clients create the cozy outdoor “room” of their dreams. Stretch those fall days into nights by hosting s’mores toasts, apple cider tastings, and Halloween parties around a custom fireplace or fire pit.

Beautiful Built-in Fireplaces

Extend your living room outside with a stunning, built-in fireplace like this one we recently installed. A stacked stone fireplace creates an especially dramatic focal point for any sized space, and a well-built one will last for decades. (Bonus: Custom upgrades like this are great for resale value, too!)

Rustic Fire Pit Ideas

Sure, you can buy a small, portable metal fire pit at any home goods store…but why not have one built specifically to your tastes? Go beyond cast iron with decorative boulders, antique grills, and other unique touches. This example of one of our custom fire pit installations matches the rustic vibe of the backyard and is carefully sited to provide warmth to two different areas of the patio.

Practical Considerations

Foundational Issues: While fireplace kits are available at big box stores, going the DIY route can cause stability issues years later. Given the height and weight of a stacked stone fireplace, it’s important to have a professionally installed base and frame.
Wood or Gas?: We’ll help you pick the best option for your lifestyle. Wood ovens have a simpler installation process, and nothing can quite compare to that woodsy scent. With gas, you’ll have more control over the temperature and less cleanup.
Good Ventilation: We’ll site your fireplace carefully so that smoke vents away from existing plantings (not only in the fall, but also when foliage come back in the spring). For open fire pits, we ensure retaining walls or other permanent seating are oriented away from smoky breezes.

Call Great Goats today to get started on your autumn landscape design projects!

Minnesota State Fair Garden Inspiration 2016

Posted on September 9, 2016 by greatgoatslandscaping

One of Minnesota’s great traditions is our beloved State Fair, which wrapped up on Monday. While the rides are fun and the food is to-die-for (did you taste a bacon donut slider?), we at Great Goats are wowed each year by the beautiful blooms on display in the ag-hort-bee pavilion. Here are a few takeaways for homeowners from the 2016 State Fair Flower Show:

Do Try This at Home!

Many home gardeners stick to tried-and-true favorites just because they’re worried about trying a more “difficult” flower. If you marveled at the delicate blue-ribbon violets but thought, “I could never grow those in my yard,” give us a call! We can help you achieve the colorful garden of your dreams with blooms that work for your lifestyle. At Great Goats, we work with our clients to understand how much time, energy, and expertise you can commit to your garden and design our plantings accordingly. We can also install custom irrigation systems that make watering as easy as setting your a/c.

Best Blooms for Color

We always appreciate the bright—almost neon—colors on display in the dahlia and gladiolus exhibits, which highlight the incredibly wide-ranging palette of these varieties. Dahlias in particular are a great flower for the Minnesota climate, but they do have drawbacks: they lack fragrance, and they can be water guzzlers during the summer. If you’d like to bring the colors of dahlias into your yard, we recommend marigolds as a low-maintenance alternative.

Marigolds are natural mosquito deterrents. Plus they add a bright pop of color to your yard.

Everyone Loves Evergreens

We also love how the State Fair thinks outside the (flower) box by showcasing the Minnesota Bonsai Society’s unique trees. Bonsais give your space a sculptural element and come in a wide variety of species and sizes. If you’re interested in a similar look, consider a stand of small evergreen trees that can be tightly pruned and even dressed up for the holidays.

Blue spruce is admired for its color and comes in a dwarf variety perfect for small spaces.

If you were inspired by the trends you saw at this year’s fair, call us at Great Goats to talk about how we can start turning your garden dreams into reality.

How to Use Natural Stone in Your Landscaping

Posted on August 25, 2016 by greatgoatslandscaping

Beautiful and functional, natural stone is a classic choice for your landscape design—whether the style you’re going for is rugged and rustic or modern and minimal. While natural stone costs more per square foot than other materials, you’ll appreciate its low-maintenance durability during harsh winters, and the “wow” factor it offers is hard to beat. Here are some tips for how to use natural stone in your landscaping from some of our favorite Great Goat projects:

Rock the Foundation

Slate or flagstone is a versatile choice for patios and walkways, as these sleek stones look good paired with almost any home style (stucco, brick, wood) and outdoor decor. Plus, they never need to be refinished like decking. While some homeowners consider pavers a DIY project, installation can be tricky due to the stones’ varying widths and tendency to shear over the years if laid down incorrectly. Give us a call at Great Goats to have the job done by an experienced professional.

Mix It Up

Once you have your walkway, build up using a combination of different stone types, which will keep your space from looking overwhelmingly monochromatic. A dry creek bed lined with shiny river rocks makes for a great contrast to flagstone, and a fire pit in a different colored stone creates continuity on your patio without looking too matchy-matchy.

Focus on Functionality

Since stone is such a long-lasting (and comparatively pricey) material, put it to good use! Instead of buying patio furniture that you’ll have to store during the winter and replace after several years, consider using rough-hewn accent stones as seating. Like the look of those dry creek beds? They also serve as drainage channels to protect your home.

Nature Is the Best Teacher

Natural stones and forest rocks are a great way to personalize an otherwise standard backyard and give you the serenity and privacy of a walk in the woods. Instead of buying a prefab fountain, consider installing a custom one lined in shiny river rocks. We also love using using large boulders as decorative accents to add visual interest to flower beds and borders.

With nearly two decades of experience in natural stone installations, we here at Great Goats are eager to help you bring the great outdoors into your own backyard.

Beautiful, Functional Retaining Walls

Posted on August 1, 2016 by greatgoatslandscaping

If you’re planning your dream yard, chances are you’ve ogled photos of custom patios and pinned pictures of fire pits. Retaining walls? They don’t usually command as much attention in the landscape design world. We hope these examples of some of our recent projects will convince you that a low-profile wall can be a beautiful, functional part of your landscape design. Here are some of the benefits of adding a retaining wall to your property.

Curb appeal

Front yard retaining wall

A retaining wall provides a grand border for your home. With a mortared-stone wall fronting the sidewalk and steps leading up from street level, you have a sophisticated design that will make your house stand out from the neighbors. Also noteworthy: If you sell your home, a front-yard landscape upgrade is estimated to have the highest return on investment of any renovation, according to the National Association of Realtors.

Flower power

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Highlight the fruits of your green thumb by planting them against a natural stone backdrop. A knee-height wall provides structure for your gardening and helps to section off shrubs from flowering plants. Plus, with a solid border in place, you’ll be able to spot-water more effectively either by hand or with an irrigation system.

Extra seating

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Far from keeping guests out, a low, smooth-topped wall invites friends and neighbors to take a seat and visit for awhile. And unlike those rusting patio chairs, this “furniture” can withstand even the most inclement weather. (A retaining wall also creates a perfect pedestal for outdoor decor, like jack-o-lanterns, potted plants, and holiday decorations!)

Help for hills

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Got topography? A retaining wall can help segment your property both visually and functionally, carving out usable space from every sloped square inch. A wall also helps corral leaves, making cleanup easier, and keeps loose dirt off of your driveway and patio.

Improved drainage

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Snowmelt and rain runoff aren’t glamorous design topics, but you’ll appreciate the benefits of a retaining wall each winter. You can trust us at Great Goats to not just build you an aesthetically pleasing wall, but also one that works with the specific contours of your property to divert water away from structures.

Landscape Design Ideas for Small Spaces

Posted on July 22, 2016 by greatgoatslandscaping

If your design dreams are big but your yard isn’t, you may think a landscaping company isn’t for you. But landscapers aren’t just for homeowners with acres of property under their feet! At Great Goats, we’re experienced at tackling the design and usability challenges that small spaces present. Here are some of our favorite landscape design ideas for small spaces.

Make a Statement

It may seem counter-intuitive, but incorporating one eye-catching feature actually makes a small space seem larger than one that is filled with lots of little decorations, statues, and tchotchkes. Give your small space a feeling of grandeur with a vertical recirculating fountain, a custom pergola, or a built-in brick oven.

Think Vertically

Installing hooks under the eaves for hanging planters instantly doubles your gardening space and frees up precious patio room for a grill and seating. Or consider a “living wall,” which uses a sturdy fence or wall to support succulents or other low-water plants.

Pick a Palette

We love color, but in a small space too many hues can look busy, which visually shrinks your space. Green plantings with natural wood or stone structures are an obvious pairing, making your patio into a calming, zen-style retreat. But monochromatic doesn’t have to mean boring. Add pops of color through outdoor textiles or container flowers, which are easy to replant as the seasons change.

Build in Extra Seating

Expand the usability of a small space by incorporating some low-profile seating along the edge of the patio or deck. By installing benches or a retaining wall, you’ll save square feet that would otherwise be taken up by bulky patio furniture. (Bonus: benches on a deck can double as storage boxes!)

The bottom line: No matter how many acres or inches you’re working with, we can help you create the backyard of your dreams! Call us today for a consultation.

Kid-Friendly Landscape Design Ideas

Posted on July 12, 2016 by greatgoatslandscaping

If you’re a parent or grandparent, chances are you’ve already heard that familiar refrain from your children at least once since school let out: “Mom? Dad? I’m booooored.” As parents ourselves, we at Great Goats love helping our clients create outdoor spaces that will keep kids active and entertained right in their own backyard. Banish boredom with these kid-friendly landscape design ideas!

In-Ground Swimming Pools

The house with a pool is the one where kids and their friends gather. Concerned that a pool will dominate your whole space? We can help you integrate a pool into your landscape with distinctive pavers, attractive plantings, and trees that act as privacy screens. We’ll also advise you on the best safety gates on the market.

Space for Sports

A wide-open lawn invites ball games and backyard campouts. But the key is choosing the right grass. We’ll help you select a hearty variety that can stand up to all your kids’ activities. With our full slate of lawn-care services, you can count on Great Goats to keep your lawn in top shape during the off-season as well.

Designated Play Areas

By fencing off a section of yard and installing a play structure, you create an instant mini-park within your own backyard. Kids love having their own special space, and parents love that toys stay corralled in one spot. And gone are the days of those plastic Fisher Price swing sets. With easy-to-assemble structures in classic hardwoods, your little ones’ play area will blend in nicely with the rest of your landscape.

Planter Boxes for Veggies

Here’s one we bet you hadn’t thought of! Growing vegetables from seeds instills excitement and a sense of responsibility in kids of all ages, and with the right design, in-ground or raised planter boxes can actually be an attractive part of your outdoor space. We can help you to site and install your veggie garden to keep it safe from kids and wildlife. Tip: strawberries, kale, and peas are easy veggies to start with.

Safety First!

For grandparents’ homes and vacation properties, where kids may not be part of the daily routine, we still recommend some landscape design additions geared toward safety. Consider installing low-profile fencing along steep drop-offs and gates around water features.

Beautiful Backyard Water Features

Posted on June 22, 2016 by greatgoatslandscaping

As summer temperatures rise, you may be thinking about adding a refreshing (and functional) water feature to your home’s landscape design. Whether you’re envisioning a dramatic fountain centerpiece or a gently babbling brook, we at Great Goats can take your design dreams and bring them to life in your outdoor space.

Here are samples of some of our recent projects to get you started. Call us today to get started on a beautiful water feature of your own!

Koi Pond with Recirculating Fountain

Koi ponds are a classic landscape design feature, giving your space a focal point that delights both children and adults. While big box stores do sell DIY koi pond kits, this isn’t a job to tackle on your own. Creating an environment in which carp can thrive requires a top-notch draining and filtering system installed by an expert.

Drainage Stream Bed

More and more homes are sporting drought-tolerant and low-maintenance landscapes, but many homeowners are hesitant about replacing their beautiful lawn with a water-saving option. No Minnesotan wants to live in a desert! But a creek bed like this one, lined with river rocks and edged with redwood chips, creates a lush, woodsy landscape that also helps funnel rainwater away from the home. Bonus: less time spent mowing your lawn!

Natural Stone Waterfall

Can’t get to the lake this weekend? Kicking up your feet next to a burbling waterfall in your backyard is the next best way to relax. Waterfalls can range from sleek and modern to rustic and natural, and they’re the perfect complement to swimming pools and fire pits. We’ll customize a design that fits perfectly in your space.

Dramatic Retention Pond Fountain

If you’re lucky enough to own or manage a property with a pond, you likely know the potential pitfalls that come with them. While a retention pond limits flooding and brings wildlife to your outdoor space, it can become polluted and even breed mosquitoes without proper circulation. A fountain aerates the water and also creates a beautiful visual centerpiece.