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Why Your Home’s Curb Appeal Matters

Your home’s curb appeal, meaning what people see of your home when viewing it from the street, is important for a few different reasons. A home’s curb appeal and landscaping may influence a number of factors, such as following the rules set forth by your home owners association or increasing your home’s value.

Increase Home Value

When homeowners plan to sell their homes, they have to consider the exterior of their home, as well as the interior. A first impression can make or break a sale on a home. If landscaping maintenance is not continued, or the exterior painting is dingy, many prospective homebuyers will not want to walk through the front door to see the inside. Maintain your home’s exterior—the landscape and the house itself—to maintain and increase the value of your home for when you decide to sell it.

Impress Your Guests and Neighbors

In addition to increasing your home’s resale value, you can impress your guests and neighbors with a well-maintained yard. With professional landscaping and maintenance, your front yard will have a consistent and beautiful look to it that will impress your guests as they pull up to your home. Your neighbors will also enjoy seeing your front yard every day as they drive by or walk their dogs. Professional landscaping is a great way to make a name for yourself in your neighborhood and among your friends.

Please Your Home Owners Association

Many of Tucson’s residents are part of a homeowners’ association, also called a HOA. These neighborhood-run organizations maintain the neighborhood’s common areas and make sure the houses are up to a certain standard throughout the neighborhood. By hiring a professional landscaper, you can ensure that your home is up to the required look and standards set by your HOA. This is important to keep from suffering potential fines and maintaining your neighborhood’s beautiful design.

Santa Rita Landscaping, Inc. is your specialist in Tucson landscape design. We offer commercial and residential landscaping services, so do not hesitate to call us at (520) 623-0421.

Villa d’Este

The Villa d’Este is one of Italy’s most famous and impressive properties. Located just east of Rome in the town of Tivoli, this 16th-century villa was built in the 1550s for Cardinal Ippolito d’Este, for whom the property was named. While the villa itself is beautiful and breathtaking, the true gem of the Villa d’Este is its lavish gardens; these gardens and their role in historic garden design are largely responsible for the property’s current status as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Gardens’ Creation

The gardens at the Villa d’Este were designed by Pirro Ligorio, who created the property’s 51 fountains with the help of Tommaso Chiruchi and Claude Venard. Prior to his work at the Villa d’Este, Chiruchi had played a part in the design and construction of the Villa Lante fountains, while Venard was a French manufacturer of hydraulic organs. Together, Ligorio, Chiruchi, and Venard created a garden full of water features that was rivaled by few existing properties and copied in many subsequent garden designs throughout the European continent.

The Gardens’ Water Features

Villa d’Este’s fountains and water features include a grand total of 398 spouts, 364 jets, and 64 waterfalls. The fountains are fed by over 2,800 feet of canals and channels, which provide water solely through gravity without the assistance of pumps. Today, the gardens’ fountains and features are supplied by the Aniene River, which has been partially diverted through the town. Among the named fountains featured in this beautiful garden are the Oval Fountain, the Hundred Fountains, the Fountain of Rometta, the Fountain of the Dragons, and the Fountain of the Organ.

Sanssouci Palace Gardens

Built between 1745 and 1747, the Sanssouci Palace served as a summer retreat for Frederick the Great. The palace, located in Potsdam near the city of Berlin, is said to rival the French palace at Versailles. In addition to the ten-roomed single-story villa that served as Frederick’s summer home, the property also contains terraced vineyards as well as an ornamental garden, a functional kitchen garden, and a large central fountain. Read on for a closer look at the features of this amazing garden in Germany.

The Vineyards

In 1744, Frederick the Great ordered the land behind his villa converted into vineyards. The final vineyard design was comprised of three large curved terraces to maximize sun exposure for the plants, which included vines from Italy, France, and Portugal. Between each terrace lies a strip of cultivated lawn, as well as several ornamental yew trees.

The Baroque Gardens

In 1745, Frederick added a Baroque ornamental garden to the property. This garden, which was designed to mimic the parterre of Versailles, contains flowers, shrubs, and statues, and is designed for aesthetic enjoyment during leisurely strolls or picnics.

The Great Fountain

The Great Fountain, located at the center of the ornamental garden, was constructed in 1748. However, due to a lack of knowledge regarding hydraulic design, the engineers had trouble activating the fountain itself. Regardless of its lack of play, the Great Fountain remained a centerpiece of the garden, and contains several marble statues presented by King Louis XV of France.

 

Rainwater Harvesting Tips

Living in Tucson means that homeowners need to take extra care with their water use, especially when it comes to landscape maintenance. One of the best ways to reduce your water use is to take advantage of natural rainfall with rainwater harvesting system, which allows you to water your plants for days or even weeks after a storm. Continue reading for a few tips on how to collect the most rainwater and use it efficiently.

Use the Right Equipment

Building a rainwater harvesting system is not as simple as placing a bucket on the side of your house or in the middle of your yard. To collect rainwater, you need a large barrel that will resist leaking water and will not contaminate your water with toxins. You will also need a spigot to release water, along with a hose and hose adaptor to water your garden. You should also consider installing mesh over the barrel to filter the rainwater and deter larger animals and insects from crawling in the barrel.

Keep It Covered

With standing water in your yard, it may attract mosquitoes, frogs, and many other insects and small creatures. To keep these annoying pests from your rainwater harvest, install a hose from the gutter directly into the barrel, and keep the barrel closed at all times. This will keep bugs from getting in your system, and it will make your system more efficient at collecting rainwater runoff.

Consider Professional Installation

Hiring a professional landscaper to design your yard is essential to gaining the look and feel you want on your property. Consider hiring your landscapers to build a properly-functioning rainwater harvesting system. These professionals can ensure your property is level, the system is efficient, and that your landscape is receiving the best amount of water possible. When they come back for landscape maintenance, they can check on the rainwater system for possible repairs and upkeep.

Are you looking for the experts in Tucson landscaping and rainwater harvesting? Call Santa Rita Landscaping, Inc. at (520) 623-0421. With over 30 years in business, we know how to landscape for success in the Southwest.

Tackling the Landscaping Challenges of a Large Yard

The right landscaping will enhance the value of your property by offering an appealing setting for outdoor activities and providing a gorgeous backdrop for your home. Landscaping a large yard requires a different approach to design and maintenance than developing a landscape design for a smaller property. If you are looking to create a great outdoor space in Tucson, working with an experienced landscaping service is the best way to achieve the beautiful and long-lasting results you want quickly and with less stress.

Fitting the Design to the Property

The design of your landscaping should suit the size and style of your property. Thus, larger yards require a larger overall landscape design than smaller yards. A landscaping design for a large yard typically incorporates larger plants to ensure they fit with the size of your yard and your home. Features, such as fountains, ponds, and sculptures, may be added to a large yard landscape design to create visual interest points throughout the space. Large yards are also perfect for division into several different rooms or living areas through landscape design to accommodate activities such as swimming, grilling, socialization, and outdoor games.

Meeting the Needs of the Plants

The key to beautiful landscaping is ensuring that every plant in your yard gets exactly what it needs to thrive. A large yard can accommodate several different smaller environments with varying amounts of sun, shade, and moisture. Your landscaping service will evaluate the environment in each area of your yard to ensure that the placement of plants and irrigation systems reflect the needs of each species to reduce maintenance and minimize replacements over time.

At Santa Rita Landscaping, we can help you design a customized landscaping layout that will suit your budget, your home, and your property’s size. You can learn more about our company history or check out our gallery of past landscape design projects on the web, or reach us by phone at (520) 623-0421 to get started.