Backyard Getaways
Visitors to the 2021 Spring Dispatch Home and Garden Show, presented by Ohio Mulch, can expect to see the best work of central Ohio landscape designers and get ideas about how their own yards could be transformed.
Each Spring Dispatch Home and Garden Show has a theme; show organizers didn’t need to search far for a 2021 spring theme: Backyard Getaways.
“There will be six gardens at the show, each of them related to the theme that has more prominence than ever with the pandemic,” said Stephen Zonars, general manager of the show. “The Home and Garden show defines the garden theme based upon current trends in our society. ‘Backyard Getaways’ seemed obvious, given the pandemic and how everyone is stuck at home.” Each of the six landscaping companies participating in the show at the Ohio Expo Center -- Five Seasons Landscape Management, Oakland Nurseries, Riepenhoff Landscape, Seely’s Landscape, Hedge Landscape and Landscape Design Solutions - presented their ideas to be reviewed by a committee before a final plan was designed.
“One of our objectives was to make sure that each garden covered a different aspect of the backyard getaway so that collectively, they would tell a story that is interesting to the guests attending,” Zonars said. The gardens are organized every year by the Columbus Landscape Association and its members.
High Hammock
by Five Seasons Landscape Management
Not for anyone with any fear of heights, High Hammock’s entry in The Spring Dispatch Home and Garden Show features an elevated two-person hammock perched above a patio and dining area. The designer’s own backyard served as a template. Mike Moulton, a landscape designer at Five Seasons Landscape Management, said the design provides those in the hammock “with a 180-degree view” of the backyard. Below the hammock is a grill counter, constructed from recycled wood pallets, as is the fence on the garden’s perimeter. “The steps up to the hammock and the platform will also be made from pallet material,” Moulton said. The use of this material follows a trend, he said. “People are using pallets to build a variety of backyard things, including sheds,” Moulton said. A pre-ordered pavilion will be assembled on-site adjacent to the patio and dining area. Other features of the design include water, low-voltage lighting and evergreen trees. “A simple water feature will add gentle, soothing sounds for relaxation,” Moulton said. Low-voltage lighting lines a path through the garden and border walls are built from natural Ohio granite boulders. A variety of flowering shrubs, perennials and annuals will provide color, and large evergreen trees will provide the look of a hidden woodland garden, Moulton said. White pines, Canaan firs, rhododendron, azalea and lilacs are among the varieties in the display. “Come visit us at your ‘staycation’ relaxation garden,” Moulton said.
Rustic Spring Getaway
by Oakland Nurseries
*Image above inspired by garden theme; check back for actual garden photos
The sights, sounds and scents of early springtime will assail the senses in Oakland Nurseries’ exhibit. The landscaping company has been a fixture at the Home & Garden Show since its inception more than 50 years ago. Daffodils, crocuses, forsythia and redbuds are plentiful in the garden, said Bryan Joyce, a landscape designer for Oakland Nurseries. Wooden trellises welcome visitors to the backyard. The space is designed so the sound of falling water from a lazy waterfall surrounded by oaks, maples, azaleas and red-stem dogwoods draws them furtherinto the garden, Joyce said. The variety of plants and trees is designed to fill the visual field with a prism of colors. “The early spring color of redbuds and spring snow crabapples lead visitors through the garden, whileriver birch, oak and maple trees create the canopy above,” he said. Apart from the aesthetics of the Early Springtime Glory theme, Oakland’s backyard escape also provides the opportunity for activities such as roasting marshmallows at a fire pit. A closer look reveals other unique plantings: Golden Mop chamaecyparis provide an accent of evergreen at the back of the garden, adjacent to glorious forsythia, Joyce said. “A stately garnet weeping Japanese maple draws your eye from the fire pit into the beautifully naturalized planting,” he said. “Patrons can recreate all or part of what they see in our exhibit in their own backyards. “They can take pieces of it to use in their own backyards or we can help recreate it,” Joyce said.
Night At The Movies
by Hedge Landscape LLC
The silver screen provided the inspiration for this garden design. “I designed this garden because I put something like it in my own backyard last year during the pandemic,” said Steve Maravich, a landscape architect for Hedge Landscape LLC. “At this time of distance in our lives, we’ve created a way to safely bring people together for a night at the movies,” he said. “We encourage you to take your mind off your troubles and enjoy a fun activity that typically doesn’t occur outside. “The movie screen may initially draw you to the space, but the outdoor seating, fire pit and plant choices will keep you entertained,” Maravich said. “The landscape promotes lounging and the comfortable, spacious seating is perfect for lingering in the backyard.” A fire pit is not only aesthetically pleasing, but useful for making refreshments to be eaten during the movie, he said. The garden is designed to encourage other family activities aside from watching movies - stargazing, for example. “It is not one-dimensional,” Maravich said. Apart from being an entertainment center, Hedge Landscape’s backyard garden provides the traditional trappings. “Using white blooming flowers of serviceberry and Cornelian-cherry dogwood encourages dimension in the garden,” Maravich said. “The addition of light‐colored blooms draws attention to the more eye‐catching colors incorporated by containers or garden art.” Natural elements also are present. “Water is an essential element to creating a relaxing atmosphere for family and friends. The waterfeature brings movement, sound and tranquility to the space while providing opportunities to interact with nature,” Maravich said.
Garden Party
by Riepenhoff Landscape
*Image above inspired by garden theme; check back for actual garden photos
People are spending a lot more time with members of their immediate family thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic and sometimes the house seems a lot more crowded. That perception resulted in lots of creative thinking about how to expand space, said Nick Besser, a landscape architect for Riepenhoff Landscape. “Part of the inspiration for this design is the pandemic. So many people called us last year and asked us for ways to spruce up and create a living area in the backyard,” he said. Many people learned that enlarging inside spaces such a kitchen or family room, could cost more than$10,000 so an alternative became modifying outdoor areas, Besser said. Lighting is the centerpiece of Besser’s design. “As you enter our garden, you’ll quickly notice the LED ‘party lights’ strung across the main patio area. The lights not only create a festive atmosphere but functionally. They allow the patio to be used for a variety of uses well after dark,” he said. The LED lights, strung from an arbor in the garden, “provide a ceiling” to the outdoor room, Besser said. The design also includes an area to set up a grill and a place for a flat-screen television. But the design doesn’t overlook what is typically seen in a garden. “The patio is surrounded by a variety of plantings intended to provide year-round color,” Besser said.“For a winter effect, evergreen trees are complemented by yellow-green Golden Mop false cypress andboxwood hedges, while masses of lilac, Virginia sweetspire and Knockout roses provide wonderful floral color during the spring and summer months, as well as attractive fall foliage as a bonus.”
Inside Outside: The Outdoor Rooms Experience
by Seely’s Landscape Nursery
The backyard design by Seely’s Landscape Nursery aims to make the isolation and seclusion forced on the world by the COVID-19 pandemic more bearable. “Our intent is to show people a way to redo an outdoor space to make it more functional for entertainment,” said Roger Seely, a landscape designer for Seely’s Landscape Nursery. “It is accomplished by selecting multiple rooms from the house and recreating them in a landscape as outdoor living rooms,” he said. Seely’s garden will have a more semi-formal English-garden appearance, he said. “Tumbled-stone walls will be filled with flowering trees, evergreens , and boxwood hedges, while rows of colorful shrubs, including rhododendron, azalea, and forsythia will layer the garden,” he said. A paver walkway leads to a lower patio and outdoor dining room. “Here is where the family can come together and sit down, talk about the day and enjoy a freshly cooked meal,” Seely said. “From there, the dining room connects to an upper patio area that we refer to as the outdoor family room, a paver patio built underneath a beautiful cedar pergola. “This room contains an elegant fire pit surrounded by seating walls where the family can gather,” for recreation, game night, or other activities, Seely said. Adjacent to the outdoor family room is the outdoor bedroom, featuring a queen-size swinging bed. The bed is suspended by thick rope from old, reclaimed barn beams above a gravel and bluestone floor, Seely said. The room features an outdoor projector screen that pulls down from a cedar arbor and provides “a perfect place to relax and enjoy family movie night,” he said.
It’s 5 O’Clock Somewhere Garden
by Landscape Design Solutions
Work and home are often one and the same in the world of COVID-19 and the It’s 5 O’Clock Somewhere Garden is designed to combine the necessities of a workspace with the amenities of a home. “This is our spin on turning your backyard into your very own outdoor home office,” said Jacob Basnett, owner and managing partner of Landscape Design Solutions. The design is meant to create an outdoor area that is “an extension of the home,” offering a place to not only conduct business but to relax in the same area, Basnett said. As the coronavirus pandemic continues into the foreseeable future, Basnett said more people are investing in their homes. “Owners are seeing the value in investments into their home,” he said. “The situation we’re in, we will be dealing with for a few years. (The pandemic) isn’t going away with a shot.” This garden provides areas to conduct business calls, take a break for lunch, and retire whenever you call it a day, Basnett said. “We’re all tired of being cooped up all day, so why not bring the Zoom meeting outside to your cozy patio space?” he said. The entrance to the garden is flanked by two redwood trees leading into a 20-foot sweep of large-leaf rhododendrons and white azaleas. “The smell of dwarf lilac will guide you to a three-column basalt stone water fountain that provides the relaxing sound of bubbling water that is sometimes needed on those trying days at the office,” Basnett said. A rustic, rough-cedar pavilion provides multiple places to open up a laptop and dial into work, he said. The pavilion also includes a sitting area with a television and fireplace. Whether it’s been a particularly frustrating or productive day, you can clock out a little early and stroll to the outdoor bar at the pavilion. “Pour yourself a glass of your favorite beverage to close out the workday. After all, it’s 5 o’clock somewhere,” Basnett said.
Gardens from past shows
