Saint Louis Landscaping Ideas

Create Structure with BoxwoodIf your garden is lacking organization and structure, you can try bordering your planting beds with boxwood. A great place to see boxwoods in action is in the Blanke Boxwood Garden at the Missouri Botanical Garden. Paths curve amongst the boxwoods, which have been clipped into low hedges, while pink and green plants carpet the space on the inside. Brick edging adds a little something extra beneath the well-manicured evergreens. At home boxwoods can be used to line a front yard walkway or border foundation plantings. The intricate pattern seen here can also be scaled down to work in a residential setting.

Missouri Botanical Garden

Incorporate Built-In SeatingThere’s nothing worse than having a gorgeous backyard and pulling out cheap lawn chairs when company comes over. Make sure all your guests have somewhere to sit with custom built-in seating. Take a walk through Gateway Mall’s Citygarden to see how beautiful built-in garden seating can be. Low walls, topped with granite, curve through the public garden, providing many seating options for people. In your own garden, seatwalls can be used in conjunction with a fire feature or built around the edges of a patio. Select materials that blend with your existing landscape and the exterior of your home.

See more examples of built-in seating

Citygarden

Incorporate Built-In SeatingThere’s nothing worse than having a gorgeous backyard and pulling out cheap lawn chairs when company comes over. Make sure all your guests have somewhere to sit with custom built-in seating. Take a walk through Gateway Mall’s Citygarden to see how beautiful built-in garden seating can be. Low walls, topped with granite, curve through the public garden, providing many seating options for people. In your own garden, seatwalls can be used in conjunction with a fire feature or built around the edges of a patio. Select materials that blend with your existing landscape and the exterior of your home.

Think SustainablyIn today’s world it is important to be cautious about the impact we have on the environment. There are a number of ways to make your home landscape more sustainable without sacrificing its appearance. However, if you need convincing, take a short drive to Webster University and check out the landscape around their East Academic Building. Some of the sustainable practices that can be seen at Webster include permeable pavements, rain gardens, green roofs and more. This project was managed by SWT Design and was honored as the winner of a 2012 St. Louis Chapter American Society of Landscape Architects Merit Award.

Learn more about sustainable landscaping

Webster University

Incorporate Built-In SeatingThere’s nothing worse than having a gorgeous backyard and pulling out cheap lawn chairs when company comes over. Make sure all your guests have somewhere to sit with custom built-in seating. Take a walk through Gateway Mall’s Citygarden to see how beautiful built-in garden seating can be. Low walls, topped with granite, curve through the public garden, providing many seating options for people. In your own garden, seatwalls can be used in conjunction with a fire feature or built around the edges of a patio. Select materials that blend with your existing landscape and the exterior of your home.

Create a Healing GardenHealing gardens have become very popular at hospitals across the United States. Many similar concepts can be applied at home to create a landscape that is calming and restorative for body and soul. At St. Anthony’s Medical Center, plants in the Healing Garden were selected for interesting textures and colors as well as to appeal to the senses of smell and touch. The garden is located north of the heart Center and was designed by the Lawrence Group. Another lesson to be learned from this garden is that you can do a lot with a small space.

St. Anthony’s Medical Center