Outdoor Design by Lucas Congdon

My name is Lucas Congdon and I am the President of Lucas Lagoons. My company builds water features, specialzing in free standing grottos, lagoons, landscaping, outdoor kitchens, tiki huts, fire pits, and so much more. I always work with natural rock and create landscapes that give that feeling of having your own tropical paradise in your backyard.

This blog will be an overall step by step layout of everything involved to create your own, unique, outdoor design that works best with your personality, needs, and architecture of your home and property.

Common question in Outdoor Design: Where Do I Start?

When first visiting a new property I start to make a mental note of terrain, surrounding landscapes and architecture. These three things may influence the exterior design of the prospective property. The home’s exterior will be the backdrop and center of the design. It is very important to consider every element of its architecture when creating your plan. The inside of the home is equally important because that is where you will spend the most time viewing your exterior design. A well planned exterior design will have that incredible "WOW" factor but will still blend into its surroundings and not stick out like a sore thumb.
I love a timeless look that feels as if it has always been there and will never be dated. For this reason, I love using natural materials such as stone because it is timeless and will last forever. In Florida, where I am located, there is not much terrain to speak of, so creating elevations with berms, waterfalls, foliage etc. creates a uniquely different design. Incorporating surrounding plants, palms, and trees into your design will help tie into the surrounding landscape. Creating focal points with more unusual specimens makes it more visually pleasing and unique. The architecture of the home should be considered when selecting plants to put around the house, especially trees and palms. If you have a single story house, you may not want to plant palms that grow very tall or they may appear to dwarf the house, unless you use understory palms to help layer the landscape down to the home. Colors and textures of plants, pavers, mulch etc. want to compliment house colors and textures. Plan on where you may want to showcase certain architectural elements of the home and where you may want to break up dead spaces or create privacy.
You may be asking, where do I begin? Much like writing an essay or a story it is very helpful to start with an outline and then move on to an overall plan with your objectives in mind. This blog will walk you through the process of creating your outline and plan to make sure that nothing is forgotten along the way. Even if your exterior design has to be done in stages, this blog will eventually contain everything you need to know to help you create an overall outdoor design plan first. This ensures nothing will have to be redone in the future and bring flow to the design.

Learn more about Lucas Congdon with Lucas Lagoons at http://www.lucaslagoons.com