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Are you in the process of designing or re-designing your yard or garden? There are many things an endevour like this requires, and so we bring you some words of advice from gardening design experts, sort of a check-list of landscaping lessons to remember; these will help you to make sure your garden is creative and attractive. |
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Design your garden for whole-year appeal.
When selecting your plants, choose evergreen shrubs. These will retain all their leaves and/or needles year-round, so you always have both color and shade every day. This will provide some interest to your garden even through the winter months. Evergreen plants placed near and around the house, especially at corners, can provide a 'softer' look for the house and give it a more inviting appearance. It's known as: "Curb appeal". |
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Connect points of focus using a walkway
Trampling aimlessly around the garden often results in a makeshift path of trodden grass and dead plants straight through your lovely garden. To avoid this, create a lovely-looking walkway using concrete stepping stones, crushed stone, natural flagstone or decorative brick. This is all about connecting various elements in your garden, pulling them together to one cohesive whole. The best materials to use are the materials most similar to the exterior of the house, which will provide the most aesthetic look. |
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Disrupt the monotony of your garden with rocks
A simple way to make a statement in your garden is to place a giant rock or 2 in the middle of it. These should be BIG rocks. This will break up the monotony of a large yard while still giving it a natural feeling. |
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Use a Berm to return a corner to life
A berm is a mound of dirt that you can cover with various things, most commonly a rock or a flower garden. Berms will add color and texture to what is otherwise a flat and plain lawn. They can add height as mounds, and you can place them anywhere. They are especially effective in the lawn's corners. |
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Using a water feature? Keep it simple and natural.
A water feature can really improve your garden and add much needed feelings of peace and tranquility. However, even a small water feature can do your garden damage if it is too complicated and doesn't go with its surroundings. Shore the water feature with natural stone and use only a few elements. A good rule to remember: No more than three elements in each area of the garden, or it will get too busy for you to enjoy it. |
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A great addition: An outdoor seating area
Building a patio is your best bet for sitting and enjoying the outdoors. You can use concrete, stones or pavers. If you can, build it near a tree or tall bushes to give you some privacy plus shade in the summer. |
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Use a variety of plants and diversify
Choose a diverse variety of plants and cord them together, so some will bloom in certain seasons and some in others. . Cording, for example, likes to use the perennial Rozanne geranium because it blooms from June through October. |
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Give your garden a quaint rustic look
Many garden and lawn shops sell rustic items such as old wagon wheels, split-rail wood fences, old wooden garden tools etc. A nice addition might be a 50s style bicycle or white wooden ladder leaning against a tree or fence. You can creatively incorporate these items into your yard to create the look you're after. |
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Ditch straight lines in favor of more curvy ones
A yard, especially a front yard, can set the tone for the entire house. Hard, straight lines can give your property a needlessly rectangular and mundane look, while using more curved lines (using grass, bushes etc.) will add character and appeal to your property. This is an easy way to go from boring to beautiful. |
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Add lighting for focal points and paths
An attractive, landscaped garden can look beautiful at night as well, so don't skip out on the lighting! Lights can play a pivotal role in showcasing your garden, as well as illuminating the paths you need without treading on flowers and other low plants. Make sure your lighting points to the main attraction spots of your yard, as well as other paths and walkways. |
