Whether you are considering completely redesigning your landscape or just making a few changes there are a few critical indicators to consider before you begin planting.
Even though many people head straight to their local gardening supply store to see the selections, creating an idea beforehand can help you chose plants that will best fit the needs you have and thrive in your landscape.
It’s easy to go out and become tempted into buying plants that look beautiful at the garden store, only to have them home and realize they are simply wrong for your landscape. These tips will help you create a plan and put you on the path to creating a lovely, cohesive, and thriving landscape.
- Know your yard
Think about your regional climate, the topography of your site, and your soil type when planning your landscape. While using the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map is a great destination to start.
Take into account that the precise conditions of your yard are likely to develop a microclimate predicated on the total amount and length of sun and shade exposure the region receives.
Microclimates are usually broken into one of four categories: full sun, partial shade, shade, or deep shade; observe your landscape’s microclimate when choosing plants for your landscape.
The topography of your site is important to consider as well as you intend; take note of how water drains in your landscape. The very best landscape design will promote water movement far from home towards the areas of your yard.
- Who’ll be using your yard?
Consider who’ll be using your yard and exactly how they will utilize it. Will children be making use of your yard? Have you got pets? Will you be hoping to use your yard for outdoor entertaining? Remember you can create different spaces for different uses in your landscape using strategic plantings and hardscapes. Walkways may be used to move people from one area to some other.
Because you will be using and keeping your yard (or hiring you to definitely maintain it) think about what your maintenance style and budget are. Be as realistic as you can. How much time do you want to truly have to place into your landscape? Or if you won’t have enough time will you have the funds to pay another person to set up the time? Just how much must you spend money on your landscape? Determining the answer to these questions will ensure the success of your landscape for a long time to come.
- Think about themes
When deciding on a style for your yard, a good place to start is looking at the architecture of your house. Make an effort to complement the lines and design of your home’s architecture in your yard; in the end, your yard can be an extension of your house.
Themes can help guide the way you place and select plants, decorations, hardscapes, and structures. Will you be someone who wants lots of neat, geometric shapes and structures in your landscape? Would you like softer lines and a far more natural feel to your space? Would you like a landscape to add only specific colors? Questions like these can help you choose a unified theme for your garden.
To get more on finding inspiration for your design theme, browse the EDIS publication Landscape Design: Finding Inspiration for a Design Theme. gardening services in Singapore Solutions also has articles on specific Types of Gardens.
- Create and link spaces
In order to get the most out of your yard, think of it as another room, or rooms, in your house. Equally a home has well defined and carefully planned rooms, so when your landscape; using your materials wisely gives you can create different “rooms” in your landscape.
Do not forget to think about how exactly you’ll link your spaces. How will people move in one region of your yard to some other? Create openings to encourage exploration in your yard and keep people moving throughout the landscape.
- Make your plants do the job
Early in your planning you should regulate how your plants will function in your landscape. Plants can be utilized in a number of ways, they provides you with fresh and delightful vegetables & fruits, beautiful scenery, lovely aromas, plus much more.
Plants can be used as barriers to define areas inside your landscape as well as identify where your landscape ends. You should use plants to create physical barriers in your landscape by blocking both views and usage of an area. If you wish to keep your views open, but maintain some barriers, low growing plants can be used to create implied barriers, blocking access however, not the view.
Correctly located plants can even be used to improve your landscape site conditions. Temperature, light levels, and wind are greatly affected by the trees and plants in a landscape. The noises in your landscape can be affected by what you put into the look, such as water features or bird houses, as well as any physical barriers that maintain your garden insulated from noises away from landscape.
- Structure your plantings
Consider your various visual planes when selecting plants. Beginning with the region above you, take into account the overhead plane, this may include archways and trees.
Shifting to the vertical plane, consider how closely spaced or far apart plants will be, how plants will be layered or staggered (generally larger plants are being used behind smaller plants), as well as the individual and massed heights and widths of your plants.
Remember about the bottom plane (including how smaller plants will be grouped and arranged as well as groundcovers and hardscapes).
Repeating similar shapes and structures in your garden will give you a unified view during your space.
- Highlight important points
Using unique plants, distinct structures, or garden ornaments gives you to highlight a specific part of your landscape. Contrasting shapes, textures, sizes, and colors will capture attention and direct it to a particular area. - Focus on detail
Plants, hardscapes, and garden ornaments all have their own visual details, from various forms and shapes to a range of colors and textures. By thinking about how these visual details may be used to complement and contrast each other, you can create a cohesive and captivating landscape.
Don’t just think about visuals; considering the scents of the plants you decide on for your landscape can boost the experience you create for those in your garden. Consider when flowers will be blooming and fragrant, as well as what scents will complement the other person in the landscape.
- Think about the future
More specifically, consider how the duration of time will affect your landscape plants. When selecting plants, be sure you consider the plant’s growth rate, maintenance needs, and its own eventual mature size. Be sure you provide your plants with enough space to reach their mature size. Remember though, that mature size is typically predicated on optimal growing conditions, your landscape’s specific conditions could cause a plant to grow larger or smaller. - Protect your resources
By choosing resource-efficient plants, consciously managing water, and choosing environmentally sound hardscapes, you can help protect and preserve your environment.
Before removing plants from your landscape, determine whether these plants truly have to be removed, or if they could be relocated to another portion of your yard. When choosing new plants, look for resource-efficient plants, ones that will demand less water, fertilizers, and pesticides.
When planning the changes to your landscape, consider installing a rainwater catchment system that will provide you with an environmentally sustainable way to obtain irrigation water. With careful planning such a system could even be incorporated as an aesthetic design element.
Using environmentally friendly hardscapes, non-toxic preservatives, stains, paints, and cleaners is another way you can protect your natural resources. Also, consider reusing construction materials; before demolition starts think about what materials you may be in a position to reuse, repurpose, or incorporate into your new landscape design.