Solar in the Landscape

When talking about residential solar systems we usually think about rooftop solar panels, but wait! There are three reasons to talk about landscaping and solar in the same breath. All of them can represent a source of work or collaboration for the landscape pro.

First, people are often installing solar panels on ground mounted systems because they can get better performance due to orientation, and they don't have to worry about roof penetrations or architectural appeal. When ground mounted systems are employed, they are almost always, an eye sore. Case is point; landscaping can be used to obscure a ground mounted array, or through the use of plantings and other hardscape elements, bring it more meaningfully into the landscape. The illustration below is a beautiful example.

A ground mounted solar array with tastefull landscaping.

The second situation, where landscapers and solar installers can collaborate, is in the...

So the client eventually settled on this design for the south side of the garden (the private side), but had not decided on a gate or materials yet. We proposed SynCore, our own composite material, Accoya, the premiere natural wood product with a 50 year warranty, or Sapele, a tropical hardwood like Mahogany, but less expensive.

The client ultimately decided on Accoya for all of the components, both for it's long life, and it's sustainability. Also, the decision was made to make everything white.

Arched Entry Scheme Selected for South Entrance

On the North side of the garden the owner wanted to make a more meaningful statement, as this was going to to be the public face of the garden. The gate decision was made here also, and we would be putting a matching garden gate at the South side as well.

 Public Facing Arbor with Gate

  Mid project a lower garden was added to the project along with additional picket fencing,...