06.23
BRICK IN THE LANDSCAPE
One of the more timeless building materials in use anywhere is brick. If you buy a vacation package to Europe, chances are you are not going to book a tour somewhere in Italy or Scandinavia to be driven around the new suburbs –visualizing a faraway land of vinyl coated walls and glass buildings.
Quite a few of those old estates still standing after a few centuries were constructed by true craftsmen of their time using those rectangular blocks called brick made from a clay bank somewhere in the vicinity. Actually, part of what gives brick its charm is that clay banks are different and that bright red brick you might be thinking of in one part of the country could be a deep brown hue with a completely different texture somewhere else.
In fact, many of the bricks on sale today are subjected to special processes to add various colors and textures to what is actually dug out of the ground and thrown into a kiln to dry. This appears to be an attempt to duplicate those various rich colors and textures that might be found in various climates all around the world. They are, however, still real bricks and even with this facelift still have the lasting characteristics that are inherent in the basic material.
Just yesterday, I happened to drive by two properties that we had done the
Timeless Brick work
original landscape work on exactly 20 years ago. The entryways, planters and light pilasters were all made of brick (installed, I might add, with enough care and integrity to keep them all in place). They both looked great. A few of the garden planters had additions, such as new flowers, but overall the landscapes both looked like they might have been done 3 years ago instead of 20. There was a certain timelessness to them.
I am hoping that in a hundred years, someone will go by and remark on those charming old homes that still look great.
Bruce Larsen Larsen Landscape Have it done right the first time