Could your home do with a little more garden landscaping? Probably so, and that is a good thing. In fact you should be very excited about it because there is nothing more fun than garden landscaping, it will get your imagination working overtime and you will have a ball planting and rearranging your plants and flowers.

By layering your garden landscaping beds you will be able to add a whole other level of beauty to your landscaping design. Your yard is the first thing that people will see when they come to your house and giving a grand tour that includes a fabulous garden is always fun and exciting. You will be the talk of the neighborhood, and for all the right reasons this time, when you do some really good garden landscaping.

Layering your garden landscaping design is easy to do. You need to know the flowers that you are going to plant first however. The choices that you make as far as the flowers and other plants will affect just how your garden landscaping is laid out. For example you do not want to have the taller plants in front of the shorter ones. This is obvious but you should still make a rough sketch of where you want things laud out for your garden landscaping before you begin. This will help you to keep thins as simple as possible. Your garden landscaping will go a lot faster this way and you will run into fewer problems as you go.

When layering you should have about three layers. Your back row should face north, if it can, and the back row should have the tallest plants and as the rows descend so should the heights of the plants and flowers. The trick of this kind of garden landscaping is that oftentimes the plants we buy are baby plants. So you will need to talk to those working at your local gardening store about how large the plants will grow to be. This is key to successful garden landscaping. If the front or middle row of your garden landscaping design is going to grow much higher than the last row, then you will have to do some rearranging.

The layering affect of your garden landscaping design will add depth and make your garden much more interesting to look at. This is what will make your garden landscaping a success.

 Information Courtesy of Lowes Home Improvement Realtor Benefits
Neatly mulched beds improve the appearance of any landscape. But beyond its appearance, a layer of mulch provides many other benefits. Mulch protects the plants’ root systems and can add much-needed nutrients to the soil. Mulch slows the erosion of topsoil. Though applying mulch may seem like a chore, it can actually save you effort later in the season. Because mulch helps to prevent weeds and retain moisture, you’ll spend less time weeding and watering your garden and more time enjoying it. Inorder for mulch to work and look its best, you must choose the best material for your garden and apply it properly.

Mulch can be separated into two groups, organic and inorganic

Organic mulches are derived from natural sources. They enrich the soil through decomposition.

• Compost is one of the best mulches for providing benefits to the soil, but that rich medium also provides a great place for weeds. Some compost is not very attractive. If appearance is important, use compost as a soil amendment and find a more visually pleasing material to cover it.
• Lawn Clippings are in steady supply during the mowing season, but let them dry before using. Spread them thin. Dry grass clippings will mat if spread too thickly. Never use grass clippings from a lawn that has been treated with herbicide. The best bet may be to add untreated clippings to your compost pile or use as mulch in the vegetable garden. Rich in nitrogen, grass makes a good vegetable mulch.
• Leaves are plentiful and free in many areas. They look and work better if partially ground and decomposed; otherwise they blow away or mat down when wet. Matted leaves form a barrier that prevents air and moisture from getting to the soil below.
• Sawdust is easily available in many areas. Use sawdust that is at least one year old if possible. Fresh sawdustcan deplete nitrogen if mixed with the soil. However, sawdust on top of the soil should not present a nitrogen concern. Just keep an eye on the plants, and add a nitrogen-rich fertilizer if necessary.
• Wood Chips or Shavings are visually pleasing and provide all the characteristics of good mulch. Like sawdust, it is advisable to use older, decomposed material. Wood mulch that has not been properly aged or turned regularly can contain toxins and acids that are harmful to young plants. Fungal contamination can also occur with unseasoned wood mulch.
• Bark is sold as chunks, nuggets, or shredded. Bark is one of the most attractive (and more expensive) mulch materials, so it may be best used in more visible areas. Pine, cedar, and cypress are the most common varieties. In addition to its appearance, bark provides good weed prevention and moisture retention. Plus, bark nuggets will last for years.
• Straw is the leftover stem portion of harvested grain. It is lightweight and therefore not always easy to apply.It tends to blow around. It decomposes quickly and therefore needs replacing more often than other mulches. Its appearance may not make it a top choice for the landscape. However, straw does make a good cover for newly-seeded lawn areas.
• Hay, the stem portion of grasses, is often confused with straw. Hay is likely to contain weed seeds, so use it with caution. Both straw and hay are good plant nutrients and work well in the vegetable garden where weeds can easily be pulled.
• Pine Needles are sold in bales like straw which makes them relatively easy to transport and apply. They are long lasting and attractive.
Topsoil that is sold at garden centers is basically packaged compost, a good soil amendment.
• Manure may also be best used as a soil amendment. If you use it as mulch, make sure it is dry and well rotted. Odor will not be an issue, but the appearance may leave something to be desired. Manure often contains seeds — a good reason to consign it to the compost pile.
• Newspaper or Shredded Paper is readily available, and paper decomposes quickly. Newspaper can be used in sheets or shredded. Paper is another mulch best used in the vegetable garden, unless you plan to cover it with another more attractive organic mulch. Colored ink is not good for plants, so don’t use the comics or magazines.

Inorganic Mulches are man-made. They work well and seldom need replacing, but they offer nothing back to the soil.
• Recycled Rubber is a great landscape alternative to bark or stone. Made from 100% recycled rubber product, It is safe long-lasting and natural-looking. Rubber mulch does the things you want mulch to do: helpsretain moisture, moderates soil temperature, controls weeds and looks good in your landscape.
Available in various natural shades to provide the look of wood bark, rubber mulch will not fade. It is heavier than bark mulch and less likely to blow away or float away during a heavy rain. Rubber mulch only needs to be applied to half the depth of traditional wood mulch. This product is excellent for playgrounds and is approved by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) when maintained at a 6″ depth (comparedto a minimum depth of 9″ for wood mulches).
• Plastic warms the soil, plus blocks air and water. Plant growth is accelerated by the added heat and moisture retained underneath the mulch layer. Since plastic is solid, moisture must be provided by an irrigation system underneath or by careful hand watering. Usually sold in rolls, black or clear plastic can be used. Black is impervious to light, while clear plastic has been known to let weeds germinate and grow beneath. On the downside, plastic can overheat the plant’s roots or retain too much moisture, particularly if the plastic is covered with a layer of organic mulch for appearance sake. Plastic will freeze, so you may need to take it up in the fall. If used on slopes, any material placed on top of plastic will wash away or slide off. Plastic is well-suited for use in vegetable gardens.
• Brick or Stone offers a neat appearance but may not blend with every landscape design. They offer some weed control. Brick and stone (especially lighter shades) will reflect heat back up towards plants, which may be harmful. This mulch is certainly long lasting. Be careful — if pieces are strewn into the lawn, they can become potential hazards when mowing.
• Landscape Fabric (known as geotextile) is purchased in rolls and provides good weed control. Plus, unlike plastic, the fabric allows air and moisture to penetrate into the soil and plant roots. Overall, it’s the best inorganic mulch for long-term use. Roots can become enmeshed in the fabric, making removal difficult, so be sure to remove weeds as soon as you see th

Regardless of whether you are just venturing out into the business world or already have a successful company, budgeting your expenses will help to improve profits and the overall health of the business. The largest expenses that a landscaping business has are advertising and the cost of equipment. The prices associated with a print advertisement can be significant, which is why a growing number of business owners are turning toward an alternative way of spreading the word about their landscaping business. With a company that provides local services, such as landscaping, it is more important to reach a local audience as opposed to a national one.

The most common way to generate free publicity for a landscaping business is through a press release, which is distributed to local newspapers, magazines and trade publications. Whether the landscaping business has an actual storefront present, is home or web-based, this option may have a positive success rate. In order for a press release to be worthy of publication, it must feature some type of news. A terrific example would be a grand opening, the launch of a new website, a free landscaping project contest or similar newsworthy event. A photograph of the business owner would make a nice accompaniment to any press release and may even grab the editor’s attention. Press releases can be submitted via mail, e-mail or fax and should be directed to the editor’s attention.

Many businesses, including those that provide landscaping services, often choose to have a website. Although the internet does provide for national exposure, many local customers may surf the web for landscaping information. A website should be professionally designed, regularly updated and feature plenty of landscaping example photos to showcase your ability. With a website, the free promotional opportunities are unlimited. From press release submission websites to article marketing and search engines, there are plenty of ways to get the word out about your new web presence.

Just as there are a number of ways to generate paid advertising, there are even more ways to obtain free publicity for your landscaping business. Most local companies will find paid advertising works most effectively in the telephone book’s yellow pages, but may also find limited success with newspaper and/or radio advertising. The main problem with the latter is that newspapers are often discarded quickly and most people do not have a pen handy when listening to the radio in order to write down a contact number. When you reduce the advertising costs and increase profits, your company’s bank account will begin to glimmer just as much as the dew on a beautifully landscaped lawn.

Improve the value of your home with great landscape ideas

If you own a home, then sooner or later you are going to be ready to sell that home. Maybe you’ve already sold a home or two. People tend to move more often than our parents did.

There are a lot of things that go into getting the best possible price for your home, but the very first thing your home needs is curb appeal. When a prospective buyer, or a realtor for that matter, pulls up in front of your home, they immediately form an opinion about your house. Fair or not, that’s what people do. You can have the most beautiful home in the city, but if prospective buyers don’t get a super positive feeling about your house the minute they lay eyes on it, they are going to enter and view the rest of your house with a negative impression.

Fixing that problem is easy enough to do.

When people pull up in front of your house there are two things they see. A house, and the landscaping in front of that house. If the landscaping is unattractive, the house will appear to be unattractive. Landscaping for curb appeal does not cost a lot of money, it’s simply a matter of making sure the landscaping is neat, with well defined edges, and colorful. But when landscaping for curb appeal, the most important thing you need to do is to raise the beds with topsoil. Of course you have to do this before you plant.

Plants do much better in raised beds, and the plants in the beds really stand out. In order to raise the beds around your house you do not have to buy expensive stones and build retaining walls. Just establish the outline of the planting beds, cut an edge into the soil with a spade, and fill the planting beds with approximately ten inches of good rich topsoil. You’d be amazed at how much you can raise a planting bed without any type of retention.

Here are two more things you don’t need:

Plastic edging. It’s expensive, a lot of work to install, and it never stays in place. You can cut an edge with a spade and your landscape will actually look better. Then you can make the bed a little larger any time you need to.

The other thing you definitely do not need is weed control fabric. The stuff just doesn’t work. The weeds grow right on top of the fabric, then root through the fabric making it even harder to keep your beds weed free. You’ll find a really good article on weed control on my website.

When landscaping for curb appeal, plant placement and selection is very important. In a corner bed you need a centerpiece. I like Canadian Hemlock because they are evergreen and provide an excellent background for more colorful plants. In front of the Hemlock you can use a bright colored evergreen like Gold Thread Cypress, but don’t use too many. Usually three is all you want. Around the backside of the same bed you can use a darker evergreen like Taxus or even a flowering shrub that you keep trimmed down low like Weigela. Lots of colors are fine, but don’t stagger the colored plants in your landscape, use them in groupings, and be careful not to use too many in any one grouping. When you use more than three of any colored plant they lose their effectiveness. You are adding them for contrast, and when used sparingly they look much better.

Front Yard Landscaping Ideas For Your Home offers a lot of good landscape ideas.

In front of a house I like to use an arc of medium height plants like Blue Girl Holly, then put a couple of taller plants behind the arc. When landscaping for curb appeal you want the landscape to stair step toward the house. In other words, the lawn is the bottom step, the raised bed is step two, low growing plants step three and so on.

If you are re-landscaping an older home you probably should start with a sledge hammer before you do anything else and bust out the sidewalk to the front door. Some builders put in the ugliest sidewalks in the world, and they usually are hard to maneuver as you walk toward the front door. Once you have the old sidewalk removed, let your imagination run wild. Remember, you are landscaping for curb appeal, and there is no better way to establish ultimate curb appeal than with a beautiful curved walk that gently winds its way to the front door. Once again, there are photos of such sidewalks on my website, and you’ll see what wonderful landscaping opportunities they present.

The last step in landscaping for curb appeal is to create an interesting shaped raised bed in the front yard. Fill this bed with spring flowering bulbs, and annual flowers for the summer. If your house is going to be on the market in the fall, add some chrysanthemums for a burst of fall color.

So what’s the best benefit of landscaping for curb appeal? You’ll gain great experience so you can make sure your new home is landscaped just the way you want it!

Landscape Ideas to Enhance The Value of Your Home

For homeowners around the world, a big part of owning a home is landscaping the yard. Front yard landscaping or backyard landscaping, the work must be done. While the front yard is important because it’s more visible to neighbors and others who drive by, the backyard is no less important. The backyard is where families and friends gather for barbeques and birthday parties and where some families place their swimming pools. Most backyards are landscaped with careful thought and preparation. Special consideration is put into the positioning of every blade of grass, each decorative stone and all of the species of flowers that beautify a backyard.

Flowers, stones and grass are just some of the ways to landscape a backyard. Large shade trees, waterfalls and herbal gardens are some other ways. The theme of your landscape will depend on your hobbies, interests and goals for your backyard. Backyard landscaping can be a lot of fun, especially when you make it personal. Landscape your yard to reflect your personality and your homes personality. If you and your family like to entertain, add a bar to your back patio. Clean up the barbeque grill and don’t forget the citronella candles to keep the bugs away. Maybe you’ll want to build a croquet course, mini golf course, or put in a sand lot for some sand volleyball. Whatever your preference, make backyard landscaping fun for the whole family.

Keep your family in mind too, when it comes time to maintain the backyard landscaping. Large yards will require a lot more maintenance and grooming. Taking care of the yard can be a nice family activity. You can mow the lawn, pull the weeds and get the kids involved in watering the plants. If you have a fruit tree in your backyard, you’ll probably be spending some time picking up the fallen apples or cherries. And of course, you’ll also need to reserve time to tend to your herbal garden. It can be surprisingly rewarding to grow your own herbs and use them in special recipes that you cook when you’re entertaining friends and neighbors.

If you are the type who would rather keep your backyard to yourself, then maybe you don’t need to worry about the huge, green lawn. Perhaps you’d rather have a quaint yard with basic backyard landscaping. You can put in some grass, strategically place some shade trees and plant some of your favorite flowers. You may want to include some bigger bushes, if space allows as they will add some gorgeous green to your colorful backyard. This type of backyard may require the same maintenance as a large backyard, but not nearly the time commitment. No matter what your personality says about your backyard landscaping, one thing’s for sure—homeowners everywhere will tell you to create your backyard just the way you want to.

Check out Front Yard Landscaping For Your Home

If you have been thinking about how you would like to cut your home energy costs, you might want to take a second look at your home landscaping. This is an area you may not have even thought of.

Did you know energy-efficient home landscaping can reduce your household’s energy consumption for heating and cooling by as much as 25 percent.!That’s staggering, isn’t it? Proper placement of trees, shrubs, vines, grasses, and hedges lets you modify the microclimate around your home to maximize shade during the summer and reduce wind chill during the winter.

Energy-efficient home landscaping is one of the best investments you can make, because aside from its potential to increase the resale value of your property, it can generate enough savings to return your initial investment in less than eight years. It is not surprising then that more homeowners than ever are implementing energy-conserving home landscaping ideas on their property.

So where can we begin with this exciting new landscaping adventure? I hope the following information will be of help to you. Develop a Home Landscaping Plan for Energy Efficiency There are countless home landscaping strategies for energy conservation, but not all of them may be appropriate for your property and climate zone.

 Before you plant those evergreens in your backyard, make an assessment of the comfort and energy shortcomings of your current home landscaping. Things like the property’s microclimate, house location, and the presence of surrounding structures will influence your energy-efficient home landscaping plan. Microclimate is the climate immediately surrounding your home, and along with the regional climate, it helps determine which plants and trees will thrive and provide the best energy-saving benefit to your home landscaping.

Your home’s location affects your dwelling’s exposure to the sun, wind, and water, consequently shaping your home landscaping needs. Nearby buildings, walls, trees, and bodies of water can produce significant climatic effects that would impact your home landscaping strategies. A thorough analysis of your property’s features enables you to devise an energy-efficient home landscaping scheme that addresses your needs and goals.

Landscape to Maximize Shade Properly planned home landscaping can reduce your air-conditioning costs in the summer by providing shade from the hot morning and afternoon sun. Deciduous trees (trees that shed their leaves in winter) provide shade in the summer when its leaves are in full bloom and warm the home in winter by letting low-angle winter sun filter through its bare branches.

Home landscaping that maximizes shade can reduce temperature inside the home by as much as 8 to 10 degrees Fahrenheit. Would you think of shading your air-conditioner through home landscaping because that increases the unit’s efficiency. In addition, shading the ground and pavement with trees, shrubs, and groundcover plants reduces surrounding air temperatures.

Other heat-reducing home landscaping ideas include building a trellis for climbing vines to shade a patio and planting a row of shrubs to shade a driveway. Landscaspe for Wind Protection Home landscaping to divert the flow of cold winds helps cut down your home heating costs in the winter.

Trees, shrubs, bushes, walls, and fences make effective windbreaks for winter-protected home landscaping. You can achieve adequate wind protection through home landscaping by planting evergreen trees and shrubs along the north and northwest areas of your property. Windbreaks can decrease wind speed for a distance as much as 30 times its height, although maximum wind protection occurs at a distance of two to five times the mature height of windbreaks.

For optimal wind protection, make sure that the foliage density on the windward side of your property is 60 percent. A well-designed home landscaping provides energy savings year-round. Enjoy the warmth of the winter sun by not planting evergreens too close to the south side of your home.

Shrubs, bushes and vines planted close to your house create dead air spaces that insulate your home in both winter and summer. I hope this article has been of help to you in creating landscaping for energy conservation. Reducing my household energy consumption by a possible 25% has motivated me to start looking around my yard.

The Foundation For Your Landscape Ideas

Whether you plan on “borrowing ideas” or plan on creating your own landscaping design, you should have at the very least a basic understanding of the principles of landscape design.

This doesn’t mean that you have to apply every principle to every part of your plan. But just having an understanding of these principles will help you generate ideas and increase your creativity.

Great landscaping lies in the eyes of the its creator. So, while the principles of landscape design are great guidelines to follow, don’t feel like they’re the “have to rules” of landscaping. Abstract and creativity are allowed.

Unity should be one of your main goals in your design. It may be better understood and applied as consistency and repetition. Repetition creates unity by repeating alike elements like plants, plant groups, or decor throughout the landscape. Consistency creates unity in the sense that some or all of the different elements of the landscape fit together to create a whole.

Unity can be achieved by the consistency of character of elements in the design. By character, I mean the height, size, texture, color schemes, etc. of different elements.

A good example would be in the use of accent boulders. If you’ve ever seen a landscape design that had one large white round boulder here and another large red square granite boulder there and so on, then you’ve seen that unity wasn’t created by this specific element.

This is just one example but the principle applies to all other elements such as groups of plants and materials.

A simple way to create unity in your landscape is by creating themes. And one of the simplest ways to create themes is by using a little garden decor or garden statues. Creating a theme garden is easier when it’s related to something you’re interested in or have a passion for.

If you’re into butterflies for instance, you could create a theme using plants that attract butterflies as well as using statues, ornaments, and other decor that are related to butterflies.

Unity should be expressed through at least one element in your landscape and preferably more. Using elements to express a main idea through consistent style and a specific theme is what creates harmony.

Simplicity is actually one of the principles in design and art. It’s one of the best guidelines you can follow as a beginner or do it yourselfer. Just keep things simple to begin with. You can do more later.

Simplicity in planting, for instance, would be to pick two or three colors and repeat them throughout the garden or landscape. Keeping decor to a minimum and within a specific theme as well as keeping hardscapes such as boulders consistent is also practicing simplicity.

Balance in design is just as the word implies. Equality. There are basically two types of balance in landscape design. Symmetrical and Asymmetrical.

Symmetrical balance is where there are more or less equally spaced matching elements of the garden design. With a garden equally divided, both sides could share the same shape, form, plant height, plant groupings, colors, bed shapes, theme, etc.

You may remember creating something like this when you were a kid in art class at school. Where you take a piece of paper, splash paint on it, fold it in half, unfold it, and then it magically creates an interesting symmetrical design. So symmetrical balance or design is somewhat of a mirror image or reflection.

Asymmetrical balance on the other hand is one of the principles of landscape design that’s a little more complex. While textures, forms, colors, etc. may remain constant to create some unity, shapes and hardscapes may be more random. This form of balance often has separate or different themes with each having an equal but different type of attraction.

A good example of this would be where bed shapes or paths differ on both sides of the dividing line. One side could be curvy with a sense of flow while the other side is straight, direct, and hard.

This can also create a neat contrast. Flowing lines are pleasing to the eye but the bold contrast of a curve with a straight line can be very interesting.

Asymmetrical balance isn’t necessarily limited to just the shape of your garden.

An example might be where one side of the garden is mostly large shade trees while the other side is predominately a lower growing flower garden or even a mix of both examples. This is only limited to your imagination.

Contrast and harmony can also be achieved using plants. Fine foliage verses coarser foliage, round leaves verses spiked leaves as well as color compliments and contrasts.

Plant height, color, and texture may be varied from one area to the next but each area should stay consistent within its own theme.

You’ll hear me talk about “themes” a lot. Many successful do it yourself designs follow a basic theme to achieve most of the principles of landscape design described on this page. The proper use of plants and garden decor or a mix of both is a simple way to achieve themes.

Color adds the dimension of real life and interest to the landscape. Bright colors like reds, yellows and oranges seem to advance toward you and can actually make an object seem closer to you. Cool colors like greens, blues, and pastels seem to move away from you and can make an object seem farther from you.

Grays, blacks, and whites are considered neutral colors and are best used in the background with bright colors in the foreground. However, to increase depth in a landscape, you can use dark and coarse textured plants in the foreground and use fine textured and light colored plants in the background.

Colors can also be used to direct your attention to a specific area of the garden. A bright display among cooler colors would naturally catch the eye.

Natural transition can be applied to avoid radical or abrupt changes in your landscape design. Transition is basically gradual change. It can best be illustrated in terms of plant height or color but can also be applied to all elements in the landscape including but not limited to textures, foliage shape or size, and the size and shape of different elements.

In other words transition can be achieved by the gradual, ascending or descending, arrangement of different elements with varying textures, forms, colors, or sizes.

An example of a good transition would be a stair step effect from large trees to medium trees to shrubs to bedding plants. This example is where a little knowledge of proper plant selection would come in handy.

Transition is one of the principles of landscape design that can be used to “create illusions” in the landscape. For example a transition from taller to shorter plants can give a sense of depth and distance (like in a painting), making the garden seem larger than it really is. A transition from shorter to taller plants could be used to frame a focal point to make it stand out and seem closer than it really is.

Line is of the more structural principles of landscape design. It can mostly be related to the way beds, walkways, and entryways move and flow.

Straight lines are forceful and direct while curvy lines have a more natural, gentle, flowing effect.

Proportion simply refers to the size of elements in relation to each other. Of all the principles of landscape design, this one is quite obvious but still requires a little thought and planning. Most of the elements in landscape design can be intentionally planned to meet the proper proportions.

For instance if you are creating a small courtyard garden, an enormous seven foot garden statue placed in the center would be way out of proportion and a little tacky to say the least. Or a small four foot waterfall and pond placed in the center of a large open yard would get lost in the expanse.

Don’t misunderstand this to mean that if you have a large yard you can’t have smaller features or garden decor. Proportion is relative and elements can be scaled to fit by creating different rooms in the garden. The goal is to create a pleasing relationship among the three dimensions of length, breadth, and depth or height.

A small water feature can be proportionate if placed in a corner or on the edge of a large area and becomes a focal point of the larger area while creating its own distinct atmosphere. An entire room, sitting area, or theme can be created around it. Other rooms and themes can be created as well. See small gardens for ideas on creating rooms and creating illusions.

Also, special consideration and study should be given to proper plant selection to avoid using plants that are out of proportion.

Repetition is directly related to unity. Its good to have a variety of elements and forms in the garden but repeating these elements gives variety expression.

Unity is achieved by repeating objects or elements that are alike. Too many unrelated objects can make the garden look cluttered and unplanned.

There’s a fine line here. It’s possible that too much of one element can make a garden or landscape feel uninteresting, boring and monotonous.

However, unity can still be created by using several different elements repeatedly. This in turn keeps the garden interesting.

Help with your front yard landscape design or back yard landscape design!  Check it out!

Good garden design starts with thinking before digging.

Garden design takes time. It’s too late to plan your garden when you are standing in the nursery eyeing every new plant that tempts you. Spend some time looking at your garden site, either during the off season, when you can really view it objectively or during the growing season, when your successes and failures make themselves known.

Once you have an idea of how you are going to use your garden, come back to reality and take an objective look at the site before you come up with your garden design. This is of utmost importance in determining which plants and trees you use to achieve the desired effect.

Monitor it during different times of the day and year:

1. How many hours of sun does the site receive?
2. What times of day is it sunny?
3. Does sun exposure change with the seasons? Do trees allow sun in the spring and shade during summer?
4. How is the soil, as far as pH and texture?
5. Are there structures or large trees that will affect plant growth and selection?
6. Are there structures nearby that you would like to camouflage?
7. What plants are already growing there?

You know what you want to use your garden for, what you are working with and what resources you can devote to it. Now, what do you want it to look like?

Formal or informal? Wild?
Should it complement your house?
Do you want it to flow with the natural landscape?
Do you favor soft pastels or bold tropicals?

All these things might seem overwhelming, but you’ll be saving yourself a lot of time and a considerable amount of money if you take this advice and you’ll find that each step gets easier and more fun. Plant selection should be one of the last things you consider, or you may be overwhelmed trying to create a garden design to accommodate the dozens (or hundreds or even thousands) of plants you crave.

Know your planting zone

Before you buy that first plant, you have to know what your planting zone is. Without that knowledge, you can end up ordering all sorts of wonderful looking plants and shrubs only to find that they are not suitable for your planting zone and they will die. You will have spent time and money needlessly. If you’re buying by catalog or online, every plant and seed catalog or online merchant should show a planting zone map and each plant depicted should have an indication of the zones in which that particular plant (or tree, etc.) will thrive. You can also contact your local garden clubs or your county’s Agriculture Extension Bureau with your questions regarding the suitability and care of plants for your particular area. This knowledge is of critical importance, particularly if you have moved from one zone to another. Not only will you save money, but you will avoid countless hours of frustrating work in your garden.

Keep in mind what your garden will be used for and when. This is important in your plant consideration. If you plan to entertain a lot and don’t want to spend all summer on chores, look for lower maintenance plants that don’t require constant deadheading and staking to look good and, if you are planting for small children, choose plants that will bloom at their eye level, with interesting textures and scents and non-poisonous flowers and seeds.

Make a list of the plants you like and group them by color, texture and form – the garden design triumvirate. Also chart them by season of bloom and/or interest. Consider both flowers and foliage. There are more and more plants being bred with colorful foliage that will provide interest in the garden all season.

Be sure to include some large anchor plants that will look good all year. These are usually shrubs and often evergreens. Most small to average gardens can only accommodate 1 or 2 trees or shrubs, but they are important for providing the good bones of the garden and you want to choose wisely at the beginning. Trees and shrubs can be very difficult and heavy to move around.

Planting bulbs for added beauty

A wonderful way to use bulbs effectively is to naturalize daffodils in a wooded area or group them for colorful accent around evergreen shrubs. High quality Dutch flower bulbs can be ordered online from reputable catalogers and merchants who will advise you as to what’s appropriate for your zone.

Plan ahead when planting bulbs; i.e., for spring flowering you plant in the Fall. Follow directions accompanying your bulbs regarding depth (usually six inches) and fertilizer (there are special bulb fertilizers that should be put in the planting holes). An important reminder – again: Know your planting zone before ordering any bulbs. They all look so beautiful in the catalogs,but what grows well in the midwest, in most instances, will not grow in South Florida! Special tools for planting bulbs are also available online. They make digging holdes so much easier than using a simple trowel. Check them out.

Information Courtesy of Landscape Ideas and Developing Landscape Plans

To be sure, drafting landscape plans is no child’s play; creating landscape plans requires thorough site analysis and needs assessment and may demand more than a rudimentary knowledge of landscaping. But its benefits, such as its potential to avert possible hazards or costly last-minute changes, make the task of developing landscape plans well worth the effort. When embarking on the project of developing landscapes, it is best to follow a step-by-step approach. Following a step-wise process when developing landscape plans allows you to break down the endeavor into easily manageable tasks and minimize mistakes along the way. Furthermore, creating landscape plans allows you to stay within budget and stick to a reasonable timetable.

To See the Steps, visit Landscape Ideas and Developing Landscape Plans

Landscaping Business Startup Ideas

Below is a list of items you need to be aware of and things you should seek help.

• Choosing a name -Tips and ideas to get you started with that professional name.
• What equipment to purchase - Vehicle, trailers, mowers, trimmers, blowers, edgers, and other items for starting a lawn care business.
• Equipment maintenance - How to and when to service equipment.
• Upselling other services - A must. If you’re not doing this, you’re losing major cash.
• Grass types -Learn which grasses exist in certain parts of the country.
• Fertilizers - Valuable knowledge of fertilizers.
• Aeration - It’s like pulling money from the ground. Most customers need this service.
• Cutting Efficiency -Save loads of time with these tips.
• Landing corporate accounts - Don’t be afraid of the big businesses. It’s easier than you think.
• Residential accounts - Build your business fast.
• How to bid residential and commercial accounts -Tactics for establishing rates.
• How to get the best commercial accounts – They’re right around the corner.
• How to keep customers - Opening up the lines of communication.
• How to properly bill your customers - Don’t waste too much time collecting your money. Do it this way!
• Advertising - Business cards, door hangers, flyers, classifieds, websites.
• Insurance - Learn what types you need and don’t need.
• Accounting - Choosing the right professional.
• Legal issues -Know this before you start any business. It could save you.
• Trade magazines -Keep up to date with equipment and articles. Subscribe to these!
• Lawn equipment suppliers -Buy as little as possible from the dealers. Magazines you should know about.

Landscape businesses, if done right, can be very profitable and are pretty much recession proof.  Builders, commerical property managers and home owners are always looking for landscape ideas and labor to complete the job.  Why not you?  I work with some local companies and they do very well.  One of the keys is to start off on the right foot.

If you don’t already have a mentor or someone in landscaping already, I recommend you look at ‘How To Start a Lawn Care Business’.