Photography by Russell Jenkins
Traditionally, kitchens and living rooms have served as favorite gathering places in homes. With an increased availability of outdoor furniture, appliances and décor, more people are creating outdoor rooms as a space for cooking, entertaining and relaxing. And while outdoor kitchens and fire pits remain popular features, many homeowners are asking for outdoor great rooms to simultaneously function as living room, dining room and kitchen.
“The outdoor room concept has been around for a long time, but now consumers, the media and vendors have coined the term ‘outdoor rooms’ and more products are being developed to add to these spaces,” says landscape architect
Carrie Woleben-Meade. “Outdoor rooms, including kitchens, living and dining areas are created with an attention to detail and are finished as if they are inside a home.”
To create your own outdoor room or expand on an existing space, consider the following points:
Functionality: How will you use your outdoor space? Function determines how much noise or light your space will tolerate, as well as the type of furniture and décor. Keep in mind a sound system will require proximity to electrical outlets; an outdoor kitchen will require hookups for water and gas.
Furniture: There is a greater variety of outdoor furniture available today than ever before. Furniture has expanded beyond the basic table and chairs: chaise lounges, serving buffets and outdoor beds are readily available. Teak and wicker remain popular choices, although today most wicker models are fortified with synthetic materials to increase durability. Comfort should always be considered; one trend is large, overstuffed sofas and chairs that appear suited to a living room but are weather resistant for outdoor use.
Appliances: Upscale grills, refrigerators, dishwashers and pizza ovens bring the kitchen outdoors, while sound systems and flat screen TVs create a high-tech family room feeling.
Décor: While style should complement both function and surrounding décor, outdoor rooms can be more forgiving than interior rooms. Experiment with bold colors, patterns and textures to create a fun, exotic or relaxing atmosphere depending on your taste.
Accessories: Plant containers are functional yet also offer chances to display interesting patterns and bright colors. Pillows and throws add a luxurious feel to the space.
Ambiance: Small touches such as lights, paper lanterns, fountains and wind chimes are charming additions to any outdoor room. Trellises, pergolas and pull-down shades define the space and create privacy.
Cool weather use: Fire pits and chimeneas add warmth and an interesting focal point, while extending use of the space in cool weather.
Outdoor rooms are more detailed and luxurious than ever before, expanding living space that once only existed indoors. Contact your Mariani Landscape representative to find out how Mariani
Landscape can help you create spaces to relax, entertain, or both, out of doors.
Crossandra Orange Marmalade
Crossandra Orange Marmalade is a beautiful tropical with glossy leaves and vibrant orange flowers. As a true tropical plant, it is tolerant of high heat and humidity and does well in late summer and early fall. It looks especially great against purple foliage or flowers, yet works well with all fall colors. Try combining
Crossandra with purple ornamental peppers,
Strobilanthus and fern varieties to lend different shades of green.
Black Pearl
An ornamental pepper, Black Pearl is a compact, upright plant. Its semi-glossy, deep purple-to-black leaves are complemented with shiny, round purple-black pearls of fruit that mature to bright red. Black Pearl goes well with any fall plant, especially
Crossandra.
Printed on an FSC-certified, 100% post-consumer recycled sheet made with non-polluting windpower.
Cover photo and feature story photography by Linda Oyama Bryan.
300 Rockland Road
Lake Bluff, Illinois 60044
847.234.2172
www.marianilandscape.com
PRSRT STD
U.S. Postage
PAID
Permit No. 232
Lake Bluff, IL
FALL 2008

Dear Friends:
This year Mariani Landscape is celebrating our 50th year. My father, Vito,
Sr., started way back in 1958 with a hope and a dream of a better life for him and his family and a burning desire to succeed. I am sure he is looking down on my brothers and me with a great pride and joy, and he is probably a little astonished by the changes in our industry. I also know that having my son, Frank V, and daughter, Alexandra, contributing to the business would be the topping on the cake. With my dad nothing was more important than family.
I write this column with so much gratitude to all of you—our incredibly faithful, generous friends and clients for without you there would be no
50th and future for Mariani Landscape. Nothing rates higher in my book than building relationships that go on for years and years. I know that
“business is business.” But I firmly believe that if we build beautiful gardens and maintain them with impeccable detail, it can only cement the bond between our family of dedicated associates and our wonderful client base.
Our business is a little different than most. When we are working at your home, we strive to enhance your quality of life during these difficult and turbulent times. It’s hard not to develop a relationship under these circumstances and for every one of our client representatives and project directors it’s part of our mission. We take business personally here because it is your personal space we are working in.
50 years in business—35 this November since my dad passed away.
You would think I am starting to get old! Not a chance as I am one of the luckiest men alive. A wonderful family, brothers and a son and daughter with a passion for gardening, a dedicated group of fellow associates who
I believe are the best in the industry, a wonderful partner and President,
Fred Wacker, and the best clients and friends anyone could ever have.
For me personally it’s been close to 40 years at Mariani and I look forward to another 40!
Thank you all for making it possible.
Frank Mariani, CEO
Each summer, Mariani Landscape recruits talented college students to participate in an internship program. The internships are tailored to fit each student’s career goals from design, construction, maintenance, horticulture and nursery areas of study. Interns gain valuable experience in the industry while working with and learning from
Mariani’s team of professionals.
Eric Ball
A senior at Brigham Young University-Idaho, Eric
Ball is seeking his bachelor’s degree in Horticulture.
This summer, he worked as a maintenance sales intern, learning how to properly care for landscapes and how to interact with clients. According to Eric,
“My time spent at Mariani gave me a solid understanding of how a large design/build/ maintenance company should function, and the skills I learned will help me throughout my career.”
Andrew McDowell
Andrew McDowell is in his fifth year as a landscape architecture student at Michigan State University.
In the course of his landscape design internship,
Andrew was involved in each phase of the design process, giving him an understanding of how to work efficiently. “This new knowledge will allow me to become more proficient in designing and create new goals for the upcoming school year,” says Andrew.
Andrew Rulewicz
A native of Tupelo, Mississippi, Andrew Rulewicz is in the Landscape Contracting and Management program at Mississippi State University. Andrew interned in the maintenance sales department with
Chris Russo and in construction with Mike Devora.
During this internship, he developed client relation skills. “Mariani strives for no less than perfection,” says Andrew.
Tatum Collins
A junior at Mississippi State University, Tatum
Collins majors in Landscape Contracting with a minor in Business. “Everything Mariani does is done with professionalism, quality and caring,” Tatum says. “They taught me never to settle for my best— one can always perform better.”
Samuel Kibler
A native of White Heath, Illinois, Samuel Kibler is a
Horticulture major at the University of Illinois. His internship paired him with Jim Osborne and Paul
Zuzinec, where he learned about plant production and the operation of a landscape design/build/ maintenance company.
In a village known for its breathtakingly beautiful properties, the grounds of a Lake Forest home have been transformed into a European landscape reminiscent of the south of France.
Developed in phases and taking into account the homeowner’s strong influence, Jim Osborne, Ed Furner and the Mariani staff created an elegant and formal design that complements the architecture of the home, with a setting more typical of Provence than Chicago’s North Shore.
The first step in the multi-year process was to reorganize the existing landscape. “Starting from the rear of the property and working toward the entrance, we removed more than half of the plantings because they didn’t fit our new design,” said Ed Furner,
Mariani client representative. “The developer used a very generic landscape when the home was constructed that really could not be incorporated into our plans.” passersby to get only a quick glimpse of the house, and the back of the property lacked privacy. Two large crabapple trees were planted in front to offer color in the spring and provide screening from the street. Flowering shrubs and evergreens were also added. The evergreens along the driveway were tethered, allowing them to grow downward and touch the ground, resembling mounds. In keeping with the client’s wish for a restrained palette, green giant arborvitae and privet were planted to achieve a fastgrowing landscape in the back. White is the only other color in the landscape, which is provided by both vines and annuals.
The major structural change was the addition of 90 yards of topsoil. “We created a grass terrace that sloped from the swimming pool toward the woods,” said Furner. “In addition, the majority of the plants we use don’t like a lot of water, so we added more drainage to the property.”
A major challenge was recreating French landscape styles with plants and materials available locally. “The client particularly liked the strong vertical lines of the cypress tree and clipped globes of rosemary and lavender common in southern France,” said
Jim Osborne, Head Horticulturist at Mariani. “We substituted wintergreen arborvitae for cypress because they are greener and broader but present a similar effect. Existing boxwoods were regrouped and yews added in the back for the clipped rounded forms in the landscape.”
Because of a lack of mature plantings for this relatively new home, screening became a top priority. The owners wanted
In keeping with the European style, all exposed soil in the gardens is covered. Where plant material could not provide sufficient cover, gravel was provided. This gravel is the same type used in the property’s walkways.
“As someone who is primarily known as a flower gardener,
I welcomed the challenge to develop a green landscape,”
Osborne said. “The owner’s strong sense of style was extremely helpful to our efforts, and I found the whole process very rewarding. Mariani, we believe, has created a unique property, even by the exceptionally high standards of the North Shore.”
Beautiful landscapes—lush, weed-free lawns, vibrant flowers and manicured shrubs—can sometimes demand vast resources and harsh treatments to maintain. Yet with an increasing mindfulness of sustainability, many people are rethinking what constitutes a beautiful landscape and opting instead for ecologically friendly practices. The most ecologically effective landscape practices are the same time-honored approaches that Mariani Landscape has always employed, beginning with responsible cultural care and respect for the environment.
“It’s in the best interest of the landscape and our client to manage with the least amount of environmental impact as possible,” says client representative Keith Lemburg. “This has been a standard practice at Mariani Landscape for a long time, although it is more popular than ever with our clients.”
Sound environmental practices begin with the lawn, “the canvas on which the rest of the landscape is painted,” says Lemburg.
“If the lawn does not appear healthy and vigorous, the rest of the landscape suffers as a result.” A great lawn is attainable without the use of chemicals; sound turf management begins with proper soil aeration and mowing at the optimal height to strengthen root systems. And while grass is a fixture in most landscapes, it is not suited for all areas; a small city plot may be suited to alternate forms of groundcover rather than sod or forcing grass through constant watering.
Four years ago, Mariani Landscape introduced a 100 percent organic fertilizer program. Unlike its synthetic counterparts,
Nature Safe ® is completely derived from organic materials and is free from chemical additives. “We felt that if we wanted to offer a true organic product, we should go 100 percent,” says Service
Programs Manager Chris Paisley, who manages maintenance programs. The use of organic fertilizer requires some compromises. Organic fertilizers can take longer to work and require more frequent applications than synthetic counterparts.
However, after the application of Nature Safe ® , the lawn is completely safe for people and pets.
Limiting the use of pesticides also promotes ecologically friendly landscaping. “It is important to realize that insects are an important part of an ecosystem, and tolerance for insects is beneficial to any landscape,” Lemburg says. Mariani Landscape uses treatments that will be the most effective with the least amount of impact on plants, animals and people. By treating at the optimal time, pests are controlled and plants stay healthy.
Native plants require less artificial care and are therefore easier on the environment. They provide more consistent sources of food and shelter to native wildlife than non-native varieties.
Furthermore, an integrated native landscape adds diversity, which limits the spread of diseases and other problems, such as the Dutch elm disease and the emerald ash borer outbreak.
Through simple, time-tested techniques, Mariani Landscape incorporates environmentally friendly principles in its projects.
“While many people are intrigued with having an environmentally friendly landscape, it is necessary to become more educated about the living organisms that constitute the landscape,”
Lemburg says. And while the end result may slightly differ from that “perfect lawn” ideal, eco-friendly landscapes can be equally as beautiful and are healthier for the environment and people.