Your Garden, Your Heaven

Design your Garden with latest trends

Having landscaping is one thing. Keeping your landscaping well-groomed is another, as you may have discovered. And if you have discovered it, you are just one landscaping- homeowner among millions.

It’s a given that effectively designed landscaping can transform a home from boring to dazzling, and with the current gardening aids and how-to manuals, doing so is well within the grasp of the average homeowner. But getting the plants positioned and planted according to a well planned design is only the first step.

Once you have the plants in the ground, you’ll still be confronted with the space around them. Unless that space is clearly defined with crisp edges, your landscaping will have a slightly unkempt look. What can you do to prevent that look? Define it with some nice crisp edges.

And how do you do that? With landscaping edging, available in a wide variety of styles and materials.

Landscaping Edging Techniques And Materials

One landscaping edging technique does not require anything of you but elbow grease. Using a good sharp spade, dig a narrow trench along the lines you have laid out to define your plantings. Putting in a trench as landscaping edging won’t cost you anything but time; you will, however, have to repeat the process each year. And if you are not rock-steady with your spade, the landscaping edging may be a bit uneven.

If you don’t trust your spading skills, consider wooden landscaping edging, made either of long, narrow pieces of wood–railroad ties are very popular–or of wooden blocks. Wood, as landscaping edging, is a natural material, blending well with almost any landscape design. But it is not permanent, and will have to be replaced after a few years.

If you want something more durable than wood, metal or plastic landscaping edgings are available in flexible narrow strips which come in rolls of varying lengths. The plastic landscaping edging, in particular, is very inexpensive, lightweight, and pliable enough to use around curved flower beds or as circular edging beneath trees.

Many landscaping professionals prefer the durability of metal landscaping edging, but it will rust if not painted, and costs more than plastic. Both plastic and metal landscaping edgings are utilitarian, not ornamental, in appearance. They will add a crisp clean look to your landscaping, but that is all. For more info see http://www.onlinelandscapedesigns.com/Landscaping_Equipment/Landscaping_Materials.php on some landscaping materials.

By far the most durable of all landscaping edgings are those of concrete, brick, or stone. Their long life will compensate for their higher initial expense. Each of these landscaping edgings is available in a range of shapes and colors, making them both ornamental and functional. If you wish to use individual stones as landscaping edging, you will have to decide whether to mortar them as a way to keep grass and weeds from rooting between them.

Landscaping edging, be it a hand-spaded trench or carefully laid brick, will add the final, defining touch to your yard, giving it that longed-for clean, professional look!

You are more likely to achieve your landscaping goals by hiring a professional landscaper-no matter if your project is a themed garden, like an English garden design or a Mediterranean landscape design, a small garden design that only encompasses landscape planting or a complex construction project. A well-versed Houston professional landscaper will take into account not only your desires, but the specific challenges of this region: dense soil, weather conditions of the Gulf coast, drainage issues, and likely insect infestations and plant diseases.

Choosing a Professional Landscaper

Begin the process by distinguishing between off-the-shelf landscaping design services and a professional designer who can capture your vision for your landscape. During the preliminaries, visit the company website and ask to see a portfolio to determine if the design firm under consideration has a sense of style that complements your own. Ultimately, you want a professional who can design a landscape that reflects your home’s architecture and your lifestyle.

As you begin the early discussions, be as specific as possible about what you want the end design to look like. Perhaps you would enjoy hardscapes, like a well-thought-out patio design or pool design, eye-catching gates or interesting pathways. Maybe you like to entertain, something that calls for an outdoor kitchen. Understanding these landscape elements, their relationships to each other and the open space, and interpreting them well distinguishes a Houston professional landscaper working in the top echelon.

The Process

After selecting a landscape professional and the subsequent exploratory discussions, the next steps involve meetings, site analysis, program of uses, and use of the design professional’s expertise. During the conceptual phase, the landscape professional develops the overall design and puts it onto paper. The resulting documents will show such specifics as lawn areas, plantings, areas of general use and their sizes, irrigation systems and drainage systems, landscape lighting, and the projected overall cost.

Once you have agreed to the designer’s overall layout and made general material selections, it is time for the implementation and construction phase. This phase comes with its own set of landscaping design drawings for documentation purposes:

• For permitting.

• To convey final design intent and material selections for you and the installation contractors.

• To specify materials and installation methods. This paperwork is also known as construction documents.

In the permit arena, each governing body has its own set of requirements for landscape plan approvals. Usually a submittal of the permitting package will be accepted or rejected by a committee. This checkpoint illustrates why it is important to hire a knowledgeable professional, as they will know what information to include-items like engineered drainage plans, pool fencing layout, lot coverage ratios and specifications.

Taking the Long View

In choosing among Houston landscape designers, remember that it makes sense to use a design firm that also performs the project management and landscaping installation. Jeff Halper, landscape specialist with Exterior Worlds, says, “You want someone who not only has great ideas, but also knows local contractors and their methods of construction, the best use of materials and their availability, and overall budget development and containment. In other words, you want a landscaper who can bring you a landscape design that thrives in the Houston climate-and is on-time and on-budget.”

The design and implementation of a plan for a beautiful yard and garden can set your home apart.  It can also have other important advantages, including increasing the value of your home, reducing the cost of creating and increasing satisfaction while reducing the time required to keep it beautiful and personal.  

There are many ways to create a design plan for a yard and garden including hiring a custom designer, purchasing and using design software, or by doing your own research through the many magazines and do-it-yourself books.  The goal is to upgrade a yard or garden from poor or average to good or excellent.  It has been researched and proven that the monetary return can be anywhere from 7 to 14% when a home is sold.  It may be the attraction that sets your home above the competition when you decide to sell your home. 

There are many ideas to consider when creating a yard and garden design.  The most obvious is cost and time.  You will also need to consider the size of the area, your personal style and environment you live in.  It has been common practice to have a lawn mainly of grass and a garden of green plants.  Alternatives can include choosing to use natural elements, planning for maintenance efficiency, adding a variety of height and size, and choosing décor to highlight the natural plantings of your yard and garden.  In this economy, another option is to consider ways to add a vegetable garden to the décor of your yard and garden, either by area planting or container gardening.     

A well designed yard and garden should include color.  When choosing plants for your design, remember to give serious consideration to their life span and their space requirements.  You need to evaluate the amount of sun, shade and water your areas provide and what plants work well in those environments.  You also need to consider the variety of color and color compliments.  Ask a garden specialist or a university extension agent if you need help.

Gardens can also provide décor to attract birds.  Many people are bird enthusiasts, but even those of us who know little about birds can enjoy their playful antics and enthusiasm for life.  There is a wide variety of garden décor items that entice our feathered friends to make your yard and garden home-such as bird feeders, bird houses and bird baths. 

These are not the only garden décor items that add to the eye appeal of a garden.  You should also consider figurines, statues, arbors, trellises, stepping stones, lights, planters and more.  Browsing through a garden store or website will provide your with many ideas and options.   Each should be chosen according to your style and design.   

With your special touch, your yard and garden will be an extension of your home where you and your family will enjoy time together.  If done correctly, your yard and garden design planning will reduce having to re-plan and replant at a later time.  It will add to the curb appeal of your home and provide a place of comfort and joy. 

As landscape matures, things change. Garden design is the process of designing the layout and planting of domestic gardens while keeping this change under control. But as people’s lifestyles change the areas once used for kids play or for dining out evenings, may no longer be needed. Furthermore, in case the house you bought came with mature plantings that do not any more look healthy or suit your taste, the time has come for you to understand what landscape design is and why should you revive your garden by re-modeling the space and focusing on the plantation you want and covers your needs.

Garden owners became increasingly involved in garden design during the twentieth century and there was considerable expansion in the garden designers’ profession. Specifically, education on garden design has emerged from the older traditions of training and most garden designers are currently trained in design and horticulture. Over the years, well-known garden designers obtain an expert knowledge of plants, their habits and their needs. Most importantly, garden designers focus on constructing an outdoor space that is not only beautiful to see, but also feasible to manage and corresponds to the needs of the particular house residents. That is the reason why elements of garden design include landform and planting design, water features like fountains and ponds, garden lighting, sculpture and garden furniture.

As re-modeling of houses and gardens has turned out to be an “in” thing to do these days, more and more people consider altering their garden’s design and begin looking for possible ideas that will enhance their existing living space. If you are convinced that redesigning your home garden is a necessary step towards the outdoor space of your dreams, then the first thing you should do is to take a hard and honest look at what you have and reassess it so you can make improvements to your life and your lifestyle. If for example, you want to hide the garage walls from your view or to conceal the garbage and recycling area, consider shrub plantings, but make sure that once they are fully grown they will not obstruct access to the area you wish to “hide.”

It is important to landscape your yard in conjunction with your home’s size as well as its style and structure. As you are designing your outdoor space, keep in mind that trees get taller and cast deeper shades, bushes outgrow their original compactness and places in the garden and plants in pots at some point need to be transferred to bigger containers.

Remember that landscaping should only serve to enhance your home, as plants and trees must be in scale and balance with each other, as well as with your home, so as not to detract attention away! Spend your money wisely by planning the type of shrubs and trees you will purchase in conjunction with the type of home you own.

Simplicity as a landscaping principle. Most home landscapers don’t realize that simplicity is actually one of the principles of landscaping. Not only is it a principle of design, but also of all forms of art. And while it may seem unimportant to most, it’s actually one of the most important guidelines to follow.

Simplicity doesn’t just suggest that your landscape design should be bland or totally simplistic. It just means to stick with the other dominant principles related to contrast, form, and repetition.

A usual mistake that most people make is in trying to add an excessive amount of varied objects and elements in their design to begin with. This can bring about confusion and distortion of the final design plan. Keeping your ideas really simple at first will keep things clear and in perspective. You can always add more later.

The clearest illustration is in plant selection and color schemes. Selecting plants is often a huge obstacle for a lot of folks usually because they don’t have any idea of the countless varieties of plants to choose from. And even still, so many people will go and purchase several different varieties of badly matched plants to place in their landscaping. And just doing this can cause the whole garden design to be out of balance.

So just how to keep things simple?

While the majority of people don’t have much knowledge of landscaping plants, most people are somewhat familiar with a variety or two or can see what stands out in their neighbors yards. And observing what works is where you should start. You can get a lot more impact from a simple selection of a couple of good varieties and then repeating them throughout the garden than you will from an unrelated mix of plantings.

In simpler terms, pick a few different kinds of plants and repeat them throughout the garden. Repetition is also a principle of landscape design.

Here’s a pretty cool design “trick” to try:

If you’d like to create some impact in your design, try building a few beds or borders using different shades of the same color. Do this using two, three, or more species of plants and you’ll also create some interesting contrast of texture. And the same as other elements, contrast and variables in texture are also principles of design and art.

This basic design principle can be applied to all of the many different areas and elements of your design. It’s not just limited to your plants.

Keep your landscape design simple in the beginning stages. It will make it easier to design and you can always add more elements later. Every good landscaping or garden project should express the principle of simplicity.