Creating A Lush and Welcoming Landscape

If you have grown tired of looking out over your property only to see grass, you may have decided to create a beautiful oasis of color and texture by sprucing up your landscape. However, when you start planning out where you want to place all of the design elements, you may be stuck. If so, use the following tips to help you get started with creating a design plan for your home's landscape.

1.  Make Note of Existing Design Elements You Can Use

Before you start thinking about what flowers, bushes, trees, and hardscaping elements you want to add to your landscape, first take a look at what is already there. Unless you want to completely pull up and demolish everything in your yard, you are going to have to take into account anything that is already present.

For example, if you already have a few trees in your yard, you need to decide whether or not you want to keep them. If not, you need to contact a service to remove them. But, if you decide to incorporate them into your design scheme, you need to mark their position on your plan so that you do not inadvertently plan to put a pond underneath one of them, which would require you to constantly clean out leaves and seed pods.

Also, if you have a pile of rocks at the edge of your property, make note of them and decide whether you would like to decorate them with rock-climbing vines or camouflage them by placing a large bush in front of them.

2.  Observe the Sun's Path Across Your Property

Once you have made note of any existing design elements, the next thing you need to do is observe the sun's path across your property. On a sunny day that you are home, get up before the sun rises. Then, every hour until dusk, mark down how much sun each area on your property is getting at specific times of the day.

Knowing how much sun each area of your property receives can help you plan what to plant. For example, you would not want to plant flowers that prefer shade, such as impatiens, in an area that receives direct sunlight for more than a few hours of the day or during the hottest part of the afternoon. 

For those areas that receive full sun, however, you have a couple of options for what to do with them. You could plant a flower bed that includes annuals that love full sun. Then, since they only come up for one year, you can switch them out each year to create interest and different color schemes.

3.  Consider the Terrain When Planning Your Design

Once you know where the sun hits on your property, turn your attention toward the terrain of the property. Make note of any hills, gullies, and slopes that could help or hinder certain design elements.

For example, if you plan to have a pond without fish, you should try to place it in a small depression to allow rainwater to fill it up. This will help you save money on refilling the pond with water.

However, if you plan on trying to raise koi fish in the pond, you will need to place the pond on a level surface to keep the rainwater from carrying dirt into it. Since you need to keep the water free from dirt and bacteria so that it does not adversely affect your fish, you want an area that will not result in runoff.

Using the tips above can help you come up with an eye-pleasing, functional landscape design for your home's property. If you need further guidance or help with making your plans a reality, contact a company that offers residential landscaping services.