How Landscapers Near Me Experiment With Interesting Materials in Cottage Grove and McFarland WI Areas

Modern landscape design is filled with possibilities for creative expression. The trends tend to be eclectic, often integrating elements from various styles, and mixing materials with interesting effects. If you’re looking for inspiration for your latest outdoor living project, here’s how landscapers near me experiment with interesting materials in Cottage Grove and McFarland, WI, areas.

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Simplicity

Simplicity is elegant and timeless. But it’s anything but boring! Rather than basing your landscape design on a specific look such as traditional, contemporary, cottage, or rustic, you could consider a relatively minimalist approach that focuses on enhancing the characteristics of each material, where materials don’t compete for attention but rather complement each other. This works well with any style of home.

Monochrome

This is an approach you can experiment with on patios that feature retaining walls or seat walls. Monochromatic hardscapes put the focus on shapes and textures. Here are a few examples:

The patio surface could be natural stone such as bluestone. The wall and other vertical elements could be made in the same dominant color (or a shade or two lighter) and faced with a veneer that matches the look of stacked flagstone. The result will look put together, and since the colors are similar, the eye is naturally drawn to the unique characteristics of each material.

The Rule of Threes

This approach centers on simplicity: avoiding too many colors and embellishments, and narrowing your choices to no more than three colors to avoid an overly busy outdoor living space.

Underfoot, you could go add subtle color variation between distinct living spaces; or, use contrasting borders and banding to add visual texture. For example, a flagstone patio could be “dressed up” with a subtle brick border in a similar shade. Or, the border could be made more dramatic using brick in a contrasting color. A retaining wall in a different complementary color could also feature banding in the same brick you used on the patio, to tie the look together.

Textures

If you have chosen patio pavers with a smooth finish, vertical elements could be smooth, slightly textured, or heavily textured. Each will give you a distinctly different look.

Smooth finishes are generally associated with modern design; slightly textured finishes (such as brick) can be used alongside any architectural style; and textured finishes are typically used in more rustic settings.

But again, this is just a general rule. Mixing textures (such as a smooth patio with a heavily textured retaining wall) needs to be done carefully so one doesn’t dominate the other. The most satisfying results come from mixing smooth and moderately textured materials, or moderate and heavily textured materials and avoiding the extremes.

Sizes

Large-format pavers are often used in modern settings where clean lines and minimal texture are desired. Smaller formats favor designs where you want more texture. For example, 24” square limestone slabs offer a visually cleaner look than traditional brick.

Large format pavers minimize the visual texture of joints, especially when you use joint sand in the same color.

Why not mix the two? Achieve a stunning look with a large-format stone slab walkway that transitions to a geometric patio where the stone slabs are separated and bordered with brick.

Modern and Rustic Contrast

Achieve an interesting mix of natural and industrial by choosing patio pavers that are modern and don’t mimic natural materials and putting them alongside natural materials such as a wood privacy fence, or a separate flagstone fire pit area.

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