Hardscapes Built for Wisconsin

As Wisconsinites, we don’t take summer weather for granted. We spend the beautiful days of the year enjoying the warm air and green foliage, and we design our property to take full advantage of the weather while it lasts. Tour any neighborhood in the area, and you’ll see that homeowners generally put considerable time and energy into their backyard oasis. To design an outdoor living space with lasting aesthetic appeal and functionality, hardscape materials are essential. In Milwaukee and Menomonee Falls, there is no better builder of hardscapes than American Landscape.

Hardscapes are durable, beautiful structures that are incorporated into a landscape in the form of living spaces, walkways, fireplaces, seating areas, and more. These hard materials form a contrast to the softscape materials such as foliage and lawns, and add both functional and visual interest to an outdoor living area. The inclusion of natural stone and paver materials has a warming effect which breaks vast hard surfaces down to a comfortable human scale. It integrates natural colors and textures into highly-used areas and virtually eliminates the risk of cracks and fractures during settling.  Hardscapes can include pathways, small pools, seating and dining areas, or even fountains.

The hardscape is the longest lasting, most impactful portion of the landscape. As such, the planning of outdoor living spaces, patios, driveways, walkways or retaining walls presents the greatest opportunity during the design process to enhance the natural beauty of a landscape and promote positive change in the environment. Furthermore, emerging technologies in the paver industry incorporate recycled materials as well as storm water permeability which contributes toward environmental sustainability.

The Milwaukee and Menomonee Falls areas present unique challenges to hardscapes. Our long deep freeze can cause improperly designed hardscapes to heave, poorly installed walkways to become uneven, and other hardscape features to have a significantly reduced lifespan. At American Landscape, we have deep experience in all aspects of Wisconsin landscape design, installation, and maintenance. Our founder, Tyrell Hughes, has nearly 45 years of experience and ownership in landscape and snow management. He has worked, planned and designed in every aspect of this business, and this continues right into today. Tyrell has built a team of dedicated, expert landscapers ready to take on any challenge presented to them.

Contact us today!

We are masters in landscape management and have been serving Milwaukee and Southeast Wisconsin since 1973. Our design experts are standing by to build you a stunning outdoor living space today. Contact us today on our website or call us at (262) 252-4260 to get your project started!

Planning Landscapes That Attract Wisconsin Nature

Would you like to attract more beautiful birds and wildlife to your landscape? At a recent presentation at the WI-ASLA Spring Conference, keynote speaker and Entomology Professor at the University of Delaware and author of the book Bringing Nature Home, Doug Tallamy spoke about how a design mentality toward supporting species on the lower end of the food chain ultimately results in the attraction of desirable species on the higher end. In this case, he is referring to the various insect, moth and butterfly species he studies. These various species of bugs ultimately provide the food source that attract numerous birds. Professor Tallamy noted that it’s been understood over time that insects are highly specialized with regards to the type of plant on which they live, eat, and interact. The vast majority of insect species are adapted and attracted to a very select few types of plants. In many cases, bugs may only exist on one specific type of plant. The relationship between bugs and their host plants is the result of a slow evolution over time. Many of the plants that have been imported from other continents and sold for retail are relatively new to our landscape as compared to native species. Insects have not had time to adapt to those species yet.

To illustrate the point, Professor Talamy used the example of the native Oak versus the non-native Ginkgo trees. An Oak tree plays host to over 500 species of moths and butterflies. Not only do the majority of these species live solely in and around Oak trees, they also provide a vital food source to numerous desirable bird species. A mature Oak is a regular hub of bird activity with a naturally replenished, constant source of nourishment. A Ginkgo is also a beautiful tree that is commonly planted in the Midwest. It has distinct attractive leaves and great fall color. The difference is that while the Ginkgo is adapted to our midwestern climate and readily available at local nurseries, the species originated in Asia countries and was only brought here within the last two hundred years – a relatively small amount of time in terms of the evolution of insect species. In our landscape it only supports roughly 5 species of moths and butterflies. So while it is a viable option, and beautiful, you should not expect that by planting it you will be attracting wildlife to your landscape.

When planning a landscape with a goal of attractive wildlife, you will want to take this line of thinking into consideration. A more complete list of plants and the number of moth and butterfly species supported can be found here:
http://www.bringingnaturehome.net/what-to-plant.html