Lets Grow

Good Landscaping Starts With Good Design

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Published January 8th, 2010

It can be frustrating to invest money and sweat into a home landscape and not get the “look” you dream about. It takes some imagination plus a dose of real-life experience to visualize landscaping that can transform your home to a showplace for the least possible cost. We all see well-landscaped homes and want the same finished appearance, but every landscape is different so you can’t simply copy someone else.

Landscaping should have specific goals and benefits, and if you prioritize them a design will suggest itself. Examples are privacy, dust and noise control, windbreaks, shade, attracting wildlife, increasing property value or “curb appeal”. Each objective can balance the rest. If you concentrate on the most important goals, they will dictate the “backbone” of your landscape. You also have to consider traffic patterns for people and vehicles, shapes and sizes of plants that will to flatter the house, and the actual growing conditions you have in your yard.

Most people start with small, easy-to-understand projects such as kitchen herb gardens, water features, container gardens, and smaller scale planting beds. The challenge is to have these “micro-landscapes” harmonize with the overall plan, sharing a common style. Having an overall plan helps these small projects work together and look more professional. A landscape plan also reduces mistakes; it’s no fun to have to remove something you already planted in order to get to the next step.

Another challenge is to design with plants that are well suited to the soil, sunlight, wind and drainage conditions you have. It’s very difficult to permanently change sweet soil to acid, or clay to topsoil, except in fairly small areas for a specific plant or two. If you’re in love with a particular plant and you know it’s not well suited to your yard, you can make a special effort to prepare the ideal conditions for it. But the majority of your plants should be picked for the existing conditions or your landscape won’t do very well and your money will be wasted.

We like to say “paint with the big brush first, then fill in around the edges”. This means stepping back and looking at the overall picture, and doing the things that will make the most difference first. “Big brush” projects can take longer and be more expensive, so it’s easy to put them off year after year if you’re not really sure what to do in the first place.

We suggest getting some help from your local nursery or garden center. Many nurseries will help you with design ideas in order to earn your business on plants and materials. A good nursery wants you to succeed and your plants to thrive, so they can have your repeat business and recommendation. Just ask!

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