Designing With Deck and Landscape Materials

Adrian delivers some great tips on designing with deck and landscape materials.

 

Video Transcription

Hi, I”m Adrian Simunovic from Paradise Decks and Landscape Design. I want to explain some of the various methods available when designing with deck and landscape materials.

Right here we’re looking at landscaping with cultured stone. Cultured stone offers two big advantages: one it’s much lighter than natural stone and two it has a very authentic look.

One of the biggest advances in material is composite decking. This is truly a maintenance-free material, and for that reason it has become the decking material of choice for most homeowners. A word of caution, however: a deck that is built entirely out of composite materials often looks a bit stark. What we often do is introduce wood elements on to the deck to soften that effect.

We’ve used natural wood, cedar in this case, for the obvious reason that it’s structural and we need to build a pergola out of that material, but the other advantage is that it has that warm, natural hue that softens the effect of the composite decking. Often the first impulse for many homeowners is to preserve that natural colour and use stain. Do not be afraid to paint. Paint often brings a whole new dimension to the overall look.

Just to illustrate the point in another example, the combination of natural wood trim with the composite box of the planter creates a beautiful effect.