(Fort Collins, CO, September 30,2020) – Alpine Gardens is proud to announce it has been given the Award of Excellence- Silver Award by the National Association of Landscape Professionals.
Alpine Gardens won this award for their work done at a lakeside villa in Loveland, Colorado. The client contacted Alpine Gardens with the goal of creating a landscape that complemented their newly built lakeside home with the essence of Tuscany, Italy. The homebuilder incorporated many elements reminiscent of Tuscan Villas and their aim was to further create that atmosphere to enable the clients to enjoy their space and feel as if they were living on the coast of Italy. Challenges of the homesite included selecting plant material appropriate to the harsh exposed climate and very heavy clay soils while still giving the Tuscan look and feel, creating stylish and functional lake access, and giving privacy while not interfering with the spectacular lake views.
Keeping these challenges in mind, Alpine Gardens used a combination of colorful plantings such as ornamental grasses, groups of perennials, and shade loving plants in the front yard. The front plantings were framed by upright pine varieties to give the feeling of Italian cypress and to create privacy. Shrub beds were mulched with butter rock and perennials were mulched with Washington cedar mulch. The path to the new dock and bridge was constructed with grey breeze and large pink sandstone steps. A breaker wall was built, and narrow dark columnar evergreens were planted on either side of the deck to screen the view.
Annual pots were placed on the 2nd story deck and front porch to match the overall feel of the home while ensuring season-long color in the highly visible areas. Landscape lighting was installed to enhance the landscape at night.
Some of the installation challenges included timing the installation of the breaker wall with the water level of the reservoir, fixing the grading in the flat back yard to ensure proper drainage, and tying the landscape into the neighbor’s landscape in a natural way. The level at which the boulder wall was installed would be underwater during a significant portion of the growing season, so getting the timing right was critical for progression of the project. The grade in the backyard was largely flat, so careful grade adjustments had to be made to ensure the lawn area would drain properly.
Each year, the National Association Landscape Professionals Awards of Excellence recognizes exceptional landscape, lawn care, and interior plantscape design projects from around the nation. This year, 110 awards were bestowed for maintenance, design/build or contracting projects.
About Alpine Gardens
Alpine Gardens, established in 1978 by Jack and Chris Fetig, is a family-owned business that has been creating hand-crafted, one-of-a-kind landscapes throughout the northern Front Range of Colorado and southern Wyoming. They offer unique landscape design, coupled with expert workmanship at a competitive price. Alpine Gardens takes pride in the beautiful landscapes they design to create special spaces and everlasting memories for their customers. Visit Alpinegardens.com for landscape inspiration and to get started on your new landscape design today.
For more information about the Awards of Excellence, click here.
About NALP
The National Association of Landscape Professionals represents an industry of approximately 1 million landscape, lawn care, irrigation, and tree care professionals. Through national advocacy campaigns, the association is growing the industry and its workforce. NALP offers its members professional development through education, networking, and training, and increases the professionalism of the industry through certification and accreditation programs. For more information about NALP, visit www.landscapeprofessionals.org. Also, visit Loveyourlandscape.org for landscape information or visit LandscapeIndustryCareers.org and Landscapeapprenticeship.org to explore career opportunities.
