Tips On How To Add a Garden to Your Next Landscaping Venture

By Annie W Douglas


If you're looking for an exciting and fun challenge, how about designing your own landscaping?

Here are several practical suggestions, should you be thinking about doing such a project.

Most importantly, planning the design must be your first step. Prior to you making any ultimate decisions about exactly what will be integrated in your design, there is a good deal of information you need to gather. You need to carefully look at whether to include stuff like a pond, walkways and a deck or patio. Also, there is going to be a huge assortment of flowers, plants and trees from which to choose. If you need to have a little help, check on the web for landscaping articles and books, and pick up a few landscaping magazines. You're going to be pleased you completed your due diligence of pre-planning, because in the long run you'll have a beautiful yard and save a whole lot of time and effort, to say nothing of money.

After you get all of the analysis finished, the next step is the design of your landscape. Ideally, if you have the capability, the smartest thing you can do is build an exact scale model.

Look online and you will find all kinds of manuals describing how to do this, most of which are free. Start out with a layout pad, on which you'll place all the various features you want included. (Just start - you can always keep modifying this until you're happy.) Now things are only on paper, so experimentation is a good idea. Think about the influences of the seasonal changes in your region - a well planned design will look good no matter what time of year it is. One more essential factor in your design is that the landscape should be as free of maintenance as possible.

Ultimately, check out getting some landscape design software, so you can actually see what your yard will look like when all is said and done. This kind of software displays virtual photographs of what your yard will actually look like, and it allows you to shuffle things around until you've got it all just right. You may also include actual images of your house for the software to display along with the landscaping aspects of your design. Also, the majority of landscaping software programs offer advice on feature placements.

Some programs even let you see how things will change as time passes and everything ages and grows. Understanding what your landscape designs will in reality look like over time gives you an opportunity to make a few changes now.

Not every person wants a garden in their landscape design, but many want it as the main focal point. It can be put anywhere, just so it blends nicely with your overall scheme. At times you may elect to tuck your garden away, hidden and awaiting discovery. For anyone of us who love getting out and working in the garden, designing your own landscape will be a lot of fun.




About the Author: