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LCDBM March 2011 Hardscapes: Ultimate Backyard Challenge Showcases Contractors' Work03-03-11 | News

Ultimate Backyard Challenge Showcases Contractors' Work

By Lindsay Houts, consultant to Pavestone Company




Above and below; Colorburst Landscape & Design of Omaha, Neb. created a versatile, compact space for the Ultimate Backyard Challenge using Pavestone Company's Anchor?EUR??,,????'?????????????? Highland Stone???????(R)???? Free Standing Wall in Adobe. This same wall system was used to create two small fire-pits built into the wall on each side, making two separate heated seating areas. Photos courtesy of Craig Fulkerson, Fulkerson Photography



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Interior design has packed up and moved out - outside. As the economy has changed in the last several years, so has the way that homeowners have spent money on their homes. Landscapers have seen a surge in the business of custom backyard design, presumably because of the appeal of the ''staycation,'' the popular vacation option that has kept families in the comfort of their own homes rather than packing bags, boarding planes, and staying in hotels.

Lisa Lackovic, Marketing Manager for Watkins Concrete Block in Omaha, Neb., has watched the outdoor living industry grow exponentially over the last several years. Taking note of the shift towards outdoor living in consumers, the company created a contest, the Ultimate Backyard Challenge. The competition, sponsored in part by Pavestone Co., challenges fifteen landscapers to remodel an outdoor space, judging their final products on three criteria: creativity, use of space, and workmanship.

After two years of competition, the team at Watkins Concrete decided to make a minor adjustment to the Ultimate Backyard Challenge: they wanted to make the workspace smaller, after noticing that their landscapers were enormously more imaginative when relegated to small spaces. The contest was renamed the Ultimate Backyard Challenge Lite, and the results were stunning. ''It was like the contractors were creating works of art,'' Lackovic explained, ''the smaller spaces inspired more creativity, and we saw things we had never even considered using stone for.''







Above and below photos: KRU Landscaping, one of the 15 participants in the Ultimate Backyard Challenge, used pavers and wall stone to create an entrance to this outdoor living area. The home is located in an area of Papillion, Neb. called Hawaiian Village and the decor and plants are designed to give the outdoor space a Hawaiian feel. These steps lead down from the residence to the grill and fire pit. Water is also a key component of this project as the patio area sits by the lake. In addition, a water feature was constructed along another stairway leading from the patio to the residence.








The most popular pieces built from natural stone were things like fire pits and outdoor cooking areas. Retaining walls were transformed to be more than walls with built in benches, finished with plush pillows for comfortable seating. In a place like Omaha, Lackovic noted, the months between Thanksgiving and Easter had previously rendered backyards useless. Residents of wintry states who wanted to enjoy the outdoors with anything less than snow pants and several layers of wool needed to board planes bound for warmer climates. New ideas about outdoor living spaces, however, have changed the need to flee in Omaha.

A typical outdoor living room is covered, heated, and furnished, and it's not your grandmother's plastic-walled sunroom. Grills built into natural stone take meal preparation outdoors, even in the cool of December, and flat-screen televisions mounted onto walls above patios take the sporting event of the moment outside, even as autumn becomes a distant memory.

Luke Snyder, a landscape contractor and designer with Clear Creek Landscapes, and Trent Reimers, a landscape contractor with Colorburst Landscape & Design both in Omaha, Neb., have noticed the outdoor shift as well. Snyder has seen homeowners benefit from outdoor living designs that allow a space to change and morph as they continue to use them. ''Helping homeowners understand how their space can function is important,'' Snyder shared. ''The space can be about more than grilling. Add a bistro table or lounge chairs, and the space can be used for coffee in the morning.'' Snyder also sees a lot of need for pergolas in his clients' outdoor living spaces.

''The pergolas and shade spaces make the outdoor space more useable in the summer, and if they're placed correctly, they can cool the home as well.''







The fire pit at this residence, an integral part of most backyard designs, was created by Executive Lawn & Landscaping, another landscape company participating in the challenge. Prior to construction, the outdoor living area was a 12-foot by 12-foot concrete slab. Now, in addition to the fire pit and wall, the outdoor space has an arbor, seating, and pavers.


Reimers has noticed a major challenge is with homeowners who are used to constantly changing hardware and technology. ''They're used to trends changing every 3 or 5 years, so they hesitate about building-in too much. We work to get standard sizes so that if they want things changed, it's easy to get a new grill, for example.''

Cooking space is a mandate, whether the grill is built in on not. Both Snyder and Reimers noted that homeowners wanted complete outdoor kitchen spaces, from grill to counter space, to sinks, outdoor-rated refrigerators and bar areas. ''Outdoor countertops are tricky,'' Snyder said, ''because granite is often times too shiny. We're having a lot of success with using pavers or cut natural stone for countertops.''

Snyder and Reimers find that the sticker-shock of an outdoor project can be tough for homeowners to stomach, especially as home improvement shows on television make it seem incredibly affordable. Snyder overcomes this by getting his clients excited about one aspect: the grill. ''Get a client excited about only the grill and they'll be on board for the rest of the project, regardless.'' Reimers finds that in families, the sale lies with the female head-of-house. ''The wife, the mother - she has to want the project to happen. Her husband might be the mouthpiece, but she's going to make the final decision.''

Homebuilders are not trained in landscape design as a rule. Many have begun to adapt to these trends and expand their menus of services to include things like custom outdoor living spaces and backyard design specialties, as homeowners have continued to demand them. ''It seems like curb appeal is taking a backseat to ?EUR??,,????'?????<

In the industry, the trending toward staycations and creating spaces that homeowners love to live in and stay in could not be any more welcomed. Despite the continued recovery of the economy, the importance of saving and financial responsibility has remained popular. Investing in creating an outdoor living space that is both comfortable and unique is one that may be life-long for a consumer and will provide more for a home and family than a one-time vacation ever could.

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