As swimming pool owners, we install pool surrounds for practical reasons. For instance, a surround creates a barrier between the pool and the lawn. This keeps the grass from being constantly splashed with chlorinated water, as well as prevents dirt from going into the pool. A pool surround also makes it easier for us to invite friends and family over, because we have room to set out pool chairs and perhaps even install a personalized BBQ area. To be honest, though, we want more than just practical benefits from our pool surrounds. We want them to be more than a…
Everyone who owns a pool eventually has to decide what type of surround to put around it. Pool surrounds can be made of various materials, with concrete and pavers being two of the most popular choices. At first glance, concrete and paver pool surrounds may look like equally good options, but there are some important differences which make one of these options stand out. Which one is it? Read on and we will show you. Paver Pool Surrounds Pavers have been around for thousands of years. Long before they were used to make pool surrounds, they paved roads in ancient…
Summer days in Melbourne are long, hot and sunny. Nothing is more relaxing than diving into a swimming pool to escape the heat and enjoy time with family and friends. Your swimming pool and the area around it should encourage relaxation and renewal. Installing an attractive concrete pool surround is an important part of creating a relaxing atmosphere, making the pool area an expression of yourself and transforming your pool into a work of art. Our team here at Normark specialise in laying surrounds around all types of pools, including fiberglass. We design our pool surrounds to meet our client’s…
In the last few months, we have posted a variety articles full of practical landscaping tips and ideas, such as 6 Simple Ideas to Improve Your Front Yard and 9 Steps that Will Make a Small Backyard Useful and Attractive. Today we have decided to do things a little bit different in order to cultivate some smiles. Here are 13 fascinating facts related to our everyday jobs of designing landscapes, maintaining flower beds, bushes and trees, correcting drainage and erosion problems, as well as installing decks and other hardscapes: 1. Australia is home to the largest earthworms in the…
andscapers, we spend our days mowing and pruning, designing landscapes to improve front yards, transforming small backyards into useful areas, and also nursing sick lawns back to health.
Outdoor BBQ areas are versatile. You can use them for relaxing family dinners, as well as entertaining family and friends, and you can personalise a BBQ area to meet your individual needs and preferences. If you are installing a new outdoor BBQ area or updating an old one, here are 5 ways that you can personalise it: 1. Modify the design Every BBQ area, no matter how simple it is, has a design that defines how it looks and functions. Here are three ways that you can personalise its design: Cover it completely, partially or not at allTraditionally, BBQ areas…
In a tropical rainforest, the air is cool and humid. Leaves rustle everywhere, vines blow in the breeze and colorful birds dart in and out among the lush green foliage. You can capture some of this tropical beauty and incorporate it into your landscape by: Mixing foliage Tropical rainforests always have a wide variety of plants. They grow to different heights and come in every shade of green that you can imagine. These plants also have different types of leaves, including broad leaves, narrow fronds and the lacy leaves of ferns. You can achieve a tropical effect in your landscape…
Small backyards are often undervalued. They seem too small to use for anything important and gradually become a rundown place to exercise dogs or store surplus stuff. We have encountered many backyards like this in our years of landscaping. If your backyard is in bad shape, we want to tell you that it can be transformed into an outdoor oasis – a place to entertain, relax and LIVE. Here are some ways that you can modify your small backyard into a useful, attractive and inviting extension of your home. Enclose it for privacy For generations, backyards were left open to…
Lighting Can Add Life and Intrigue to Your Landscape Lighting can transform a common landscape into something exceptional. Spotlights, well lights and post lights can all bring an outdoor area to life after sunset, increase its usefulness and add a touch of intrigue. Best of all, landscape lighting is simple. We are going to prove that to you by: Explaining the logic behind outdoor lighting Introducing you to different types of light fixtures Giving you 5 simple, yet attractive lighting effects Helping you choose what to light Sharing 3 tips for successfully maintaining landscape lights The logic behind landscape lighting…
Lawns and gardens cover thousands of kilometers of land area across Australia. Every week these landscapes need about 15 litres of water per square meter to remain healthy and this can increase the property owner’s water bill by 30%. Xeriscaping was designed to revert this situation and it has been successful. Xeriscaping decreases or eliminates the amount of irrigation that a landscape needs, conserves natural resources and saves property owners dollars and cents on every water bill. The Beginning of Xeriscaping In 1981, Jim Grabow the president of a landscaping association in the United States began a program to teach…