Our Atlanta area clients have asked us how to use landscaping to help cool down as the summer temperatures rise. Our landscape designers have compiled a list of the “beat the heat” landscape ideas, techniques, & strategies they are adding to their client’s landscape plans.
Below are recommendations you can use to enjoy your backyard and outside spaces while addressing heat concerns:
1. Consider strategically placed shade trees to cool your home and outside entertainment spots.
Planting trees to block or diffuse the western and southern sun can make a dramatic difference in the temperatures we feel both in our homes and outside in our yards. For example, Maple, Oak, Elm, and similar trees provide good leafy coverage and grow well in Georgia.
Did you know?? Trees planted strategically around your home can lower indoor temperatures by up to 10 degrees.
2. Choose cool color plantings
Aesthetically, it helps to think about “cooling” colors when selecting plant color pallets. Blues, purples, whites, and deep pink colors are excellent plant & bush choices. Using cooler colors will visually make your backyard and outside living areas feel more usable versus hot colors such as red, yellow, and oranges.
Examples of cool color trees, bushes, and plantings include Loropetalum shrubs, Blue Saphire trees, Vitex trees, white and pink Crape Myrtle trees, and glossy-leaved white gardenia bushes.
3. Install outdoor structures Designed for shade
There are a variety of outdoor structures that provide overhead shade, or which can lessen or block sun in your outside living spaces. Building or adding cover from the sun will provide you with a shaded haven so you stay cooler when entertaining outside during the summer months.
Bring shade to your yard with wood arbors and gazebos and to your pool area with umbrellas; cool your patio or deck with sun shades; or add shade to any outdoor location with custom-built carpentry structures designed to block the sun.
4. Add air circulation to cool the temperature
This is where a landscape architect’s experience will pay off. When planning your yard, a seasoned landscape designer will know how to incorporate features that can help air move more freely and keep your outdoor areas cool. Tips for improving air circulation outside:
- Choose locations wisely – Design a patio in a breezy corridor or a shady woodland edge in the backyard vs right behind a reflective window or hard siding of the house;
- Plan windbreaks when designing your backyard spaces – Windbreaks are rows of trees or shrubs that direct airflow and breezes toward outdoor living spaces or protect them from hot winds.
- Add fans – Outdoor fans and misting fans are a quick and easy way to quickly make your outdoor spaces more livable in the summer months.
5. Invest in a Pool or Water feature
While pools are the clear “beat the heat” champion, adding water features can also create the feeling of being cooler.
Waterfalls, fountains & ponds with running water may even lower the surrounding temperature as the water evaporates & absorbs heat.
Hopefully, by incorporating some of these landscape ideas, you can continue to entertain and enjoy your outside living areas whether you live in “Hotlanta” Georgia or anywhere else!
For more design ideas and inspiration, view our gallery and before & after photos. If you have questions or need help with your landscape plans or installation, we would love to help! Call Outside Landscape Group at 770-754-1188.
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