Landscape Design Problems and Rockaway Landscape Solutions

Landscaping is often seen as a purely aesthetic endeavor, but it’s much more than that. Landscaping can have a significant impact on the environment, our health, and our well-being. Unfortunately, many common landscape design practices can actually contribute to problems like:

Loss of biodiversity: Traditional landscaping often relies on a limited number of non-native plants, which in doing so can displace native species and disrupt the delicate balance of local ecosystems. Although Florida and local municipalities mandate new construction include benchmark percentages of native plants this is after tear out of large swaths of mitigated native flora and fauna. In turn, many homeowners hire landscape companies many of which provide designs without regard for biodiversity or principals of Florida Friendly Landscaping.
Poor Drainage: Many landscape designs don’t prioritize proper grading for good drainage, leading to excess soil and fertilizer runoff that can pollute waterways and strain water resources.
Limited use: Gardens are often designed to be looked at, not used. This can lead to a disconnect between people and nature and missed opportunities for recreation, relaxation, and education. This can be driven by too much focus on generating as much revenue as possible in the landscape design sales process.

Rockaway Landscape is a Jacksonville and area beaches serving company that specializes in sustainable landscape solutions. We take a different approach to landscape design, one that prioritizes the needs of the people who will be using the space in an ecologically friendly manner.

Here are some of the ways we can help you avoid common landscape design problems:

Use native plants: Our landscape plants include Florida Friendly native plants that are adapted to the local climate and soil conditions, so they require less water and maintenance. They also attract pollinators and other beneficial wildlife.
Create usable spaces: We can design gardens that are inviting and functional, with fire pits, custom carpentry features including patios, decks, and pergolas. We encourage use of pervious paver materials and offer outdoor lighting and sound systems options in our design plans that extend your comfort to these outdoor living space.
Improve drainage: We prioritize sound landscape architecture principles of grading to move water away from structures to avoid flooding, but do so in consideration of the need to reduce stormwater runoff that pollutes our precious rivers, streams, and ocean. Elements such as swales and dry creek beds can be built into your design to sequester stormwater onsite in an aesthetically pleasing manner.
Sustainable irrigation: Our landscape plans include consideration of grouping of plants with similar watering requirements. And we offer water wise smart irrigation controllers and drip irrigation as alternatives to standard sprinkler spray heads and have expertise in providing the right amount of water at the right time for your landscape to flourish without waisting money or our precious water resources.

In addition to the benefits for the environment and your health, sustainable landscaping can also save you money in the long run. By reducing water waste and maintenance needs, you can save on your water bill and landscaping costs.

Avoid Landscape Design problems by hiring a firm that’s aware of theses critical issues that offers sustainability solutions that seamlessly meet your aesthetic and functional needs. We provide commercial, HOA, COA, and residential clients throughout Northeast Florida beautiful and sustainable landscapes.