Unless you haven't heard about natural landscaping, it is a relatively new term that is also called native gardening. Natural landscaping is about the use of grass which are endemic to the geographical area in which the garden is located. It is an opportunity to re-establish diverse native plants, thereby inviting the butterflies and birds back home. Natural landscaping is good for your health and it is an aesthetically exciting, ever-changing tapestry of hardy, primarily native plantings well adapted to the local climate and soil.
Landscaping is one of the most cost-effective tools for improving and sustaining the quality of life, whether in the city, the suburbs, or the country, however it is usually a significantly big task, requiring much time and energy. It implies the physical change of outdoors to serve the needs of people by planting, altering the contours of the ground, and building structures and amenities such as paths. landscaping is one of the few improvements that adds more value to real estate than it costs to install. Some people often associate landscaping with garden apartments that boast acres of land and rolling hills decorated with towering trees, bountiful flower gardens and lush courtyards.
Philosophers in the 17th century debated whether visual beauty was a necessary goal of landscaping. A good landscaper understands the elements of nature and construction, and blends them accordingly. Landscaping refers to any activity that modifies the visible features of an area of land, including but not limited to: living elements, such as flora or fauna or what is commonly referred to as gardening - the art and craft of growing plants with a goal of creating a beautiful environment within the landscape.
Whatever you may call it: beneficial landscaping, environmentally friendly landscaping or sustainable landscaping, is a way of designing and maintaining beautiful yards, gardens, and larger landscapes to:
- Have healthier places to work and play - Save time and money with lower maintenance - Reduce harm to the environment
Landscaping is art and science, and requires good observation and design skills. In do-it-yourself landscaping are many variables such as the climate of your region, your personal design tastes, what you want to do with your yard, budget, skills.
If you didn't think about it, landscaping is one of the most cost-effective ways to customize a home to meet your needs and tastes. If done well, one receives the added benefits of beauty and increased real estate values. Landscaping can increase the value of your home while making your surroundings more attractive and enjoyable.
While landscaping can reduce direct sun from striking and heating up building surfaces it is a natural and beautiful way to keep your home cool in summer and reduce your energy bills. The tough part about landscaping is coming up with unique landscaping ideas and landscaping designs, but looking at the designs of the other houses in your neighbourhood can make it easier for you.
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Because landscaping ideas are so hard to come up with on your own, visit our house landscaping ideas blog for more information which is constantly growing.
How Landscaping Can Increase Your House Overall Value by Boris C.
Evergreen Landscaping Trees Improve The Beauty And Longevity Of Your Garden! by Neelima Reddy
Planting and caring evergreens requires a considerable investment of time and money. Therefore, it is important to make the right decision when choosing these plants for your yard.
Evergreen landscaping trees and shrubs are more expensive in general than deciduous trees. But you can prefer such trees because they are worth their cost because of their year round beauty, hardiness and longevity.
Evergreens range from the broadleaved shrubs like rhododendron and laurel to the tall needled cone bearing pines and stately spruces.
You must be aware that pine is the most commonly known as evergreens. Red pine as well as white pine is splendid for backgrounds and windbreaks. Ponderosa pine, a broad, compact tree is used for protection and ornamental landscaping tree.
Potted evergreen is a substitute to a cut tree
An alternative to a cut Christmas tree is a potted evergreen that may be planted outside after the festive season. If you want to add to your landscaping trees or celebrate a milestone occasion, you can favor this concept.
Just as with the cut trees, you can choose your own variety of evergreen and you should also consider landscaping trees before embarking on the plan. Potted trees tend to be much smaller than cut trees because of the weight of the root ball and the difficulty of moving tree from indoors during the winter.
Potted trees require extra care for successful replanting. You can keep the tree indoors for only five days. If you are planning to plant a tree, dig a hole in the ground before it freezes.
Landscape design
The initial plan of your landscaping trees is the most important phase of the entire plan. The first step of planning should be serious consideration and doing so will save needless removal and transplanting of ornamental plants at a later date, which would further delay the desired end result of your plan.
Before you design for your landscape, you must decide whether you would like to screen areas for wind, noise or unwanted views.
Whenever you put some thing together yourself, you are engaged in designing, however humble the plan is and so it is with landscape design. Do it your self and thus you can learn the basic designing elements that underline the discipline of landscape design.
Landscaping for energy efficiency
Saving energy has become a goal for all of us. There is a way to save energy right in your yard by planting landscaping trees and shrubs.
They not only make your home, neighborhoods and communities more beautiful and add value to real estate, proper landscaping can also help to reduce energy costs by providing shelter from the wind and sun.
Some small landscaping trees and shrubs are the best suited for shading when planted in certain areas, while others work well to create natural windbreaks during strong winter winds. You should select and plant with care in appropriate locations so that you can gain the full benefit of energy savings. Visit {a href = http://www.thegardencentral.com}Gardening Tips Blog
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{a href = http://www.thegardencentral.com}Garden Central blog helps you learn everything you need to know about gardening. Know more about various important gardening tips for taking care of your vegetable garden, fruit garden, flower garden, landscaping, etc. Visit http://www.thegardencentral.com
Tips on how to design a long thin garden by housetohome
Find out how to turn a long, thin plot into a perfect garden that meets all your needs
A long, narrow plot offers you lots of garden design options, from relaxed to formal. You'll be able to fit in everything on your wish list, with plenty of space for fabulous plants. There are a number of clever garden design tricks you can use to stop your plot looking too long and thin. Here are some of the best:
Divide the space up into smaller areas, giving each section a different purpose. This can be a useful technique if your garden is on a slope, too.
Use simple but distinctive shapes -- circles, curves and squares all work well -- and mix hard and soft landscaping to help break up the 'corridor' effect and make the garden seem wider. Another good idea is to vary the planting and colour schemes.
Masking the far end of the garden with plants will fool the eye into thinking it's shorter (and wider) than it really is. We asked garden designer Katrina Wells of Earth Designs to come up with three great designs -- what you pick will depend largely on how you use your garden. But if you choose a style that reflects your home's interior, and materials that complement your garden's natural surroundings, too, the results will be much better. As for budget, we've suggested where you can make savings. Now all you have to do is pick the plan that's best for you.
Low maintenance garden on a thin plot
This simple design breaks up a long garden with short pathways, each one leading to a shapely plant, such as a standard box or New Zealand flax, or a curvaceous pot. The pergolas -- two wide ones and a smaller one -- give the impression of width, help provide the garden with privacy and shade, and screen the secluded seating area at the end of the plot. Will it take much looking after? This design is ideal for anyone too busy to garden regularly. The all-paved approach means there's no grass to cut, and the borders, planted with a variety of low-maintenance shrubs, such as Hebe and Euonymus, will need only an occasional trim. How can I cut costs? It's important to choose good-quality, attractive paving, so if that's too expensive, replace with gravel or decking. Buy younger -- and cheaper -- shrubs as they'll fill out in a couple of years. Pruned box works well as a focal point at the end of a path.
Secluded garden on a thin pot
Circles are brilliant for creating the illusion of width. In a long, thin garden, it's best to link them with a curving pathway so you can create distinct zones, each with its own function and style. We've dedicated one circle to dining and relaxing, left one as a lawn, and put a bench and water feature in the last, sheltered circle. Plant small trees to the side of each circle for privacy.
Will it take much looking after?
By filling the flowerbeds mainly with easy-care shrubs, and only planting annual flowers in the main patio, you can keep gardening time down. A fan-shaped mini Chusan palm adds interest and is maintenance-free. How can I cut costs? Simply replace the paving of the pathways and the circle at the back of the garden with bark chippings (which can extend into the beds) to save money and give the garden a woodland glade feel.
Family garden on a thin plot
Dividing up a family garden with informal, sweeping curves gives you flexibility to fit in all those extras, like a bigger shed and a play area. Use trees and shrubs to blur the boundaries between each area and hide anything you don't want to see; climbers such as clematis will quickly screen the shed. Sunflowers are a great favourite with kids, and can form a fun summer screen. And don't forget to pick accessories in natural materials for the play area.
Will it take much looking after? You'll have to trim loose branches from trees to protect children, and the lawn needs mowing up to once a week in summer. You can cut down on other tasks by choosing low-maintenance plants.
How can I cut costs?
Increasing the size of the lawn to replace or reduce some of the borders will work out cheaper. Using bark chippings in place of paving will cut costs, too.
About the Author
house to home is a great source of garden design ideas and a helpful resource for buying and creating looks for your home. Search by room or by project to find the style you like for your home
Tips for Landscaping a Garden by Carol Stack
You do not need to spend a fortune making your garden look beautiful. Follow these landscaping tips and your yard will be admired and appreciated by all.
Start by drawing up your plans of how you want the garden to look based on the layout of your home. Consider where the sun is at various times of the day in relation to the walls and foundations of your house, and any trees or other structures in and around the neighborhood which may affect your garden planning.
Set up a budget for the project after you find out how much it is going to cost to finish the project. The expected expenditure should include both softscape and hardscape items such as plants and trees, walls, fountains and rockeries.
It may be a good idea to hire someone who provides this service on a professional basis and knows a great deal more about it than you do. Even if you choose to create your own landscaping plans you can still ask someone who is more experienced what they think about the plans. This may well save you both time and money in the long run.
Landscaping a garden takes both time and discipline. In order to save your whole garden from looking like a building site, it is best to do your landscaping in phases. This will result in both keeping the cost down and allowing you to make any changes as you go along.
You can save money by buying the materials you need during the off seasons. Just as wood costs less during the winter months than in the summer, soil and shrubs cost less late in the season.
Landscaping your garden is carried out with the long term view in mind, so it is not always a good idea to buy the cheapest products on the market. Paying a little more is likely to provide you with materials which are less easily damaged and will not need to be regularly replaced.
There are many places where you can buy your garden supplies. Look at the local stores and what they have to offer as well as surfing the net for your gardening equipment and make some price comparisons of what is available.
Once your landscaping is completed, it does not end there. You will need to properly maintain your garden throughout the year. This you can do by yourself or by taking on a gardener to give you a hand.
About the Author
Lots of gardening information can be found at http://www.howtogarden.info . Visit to discover lots of tips on vegetable gardening, landscaping, house plants, organic gardening and more.
Landscaping Ideas for Creating Your Own Beautiful Garden by Sharon Langston
If you are as passionate as I am about spectacular landscapes and flowers and want more than anything else to create your own, this article is for you.
Nothing is more fun and rewarding than carefully choosing your favorite flowers, trees and plants and then using them in the creation of the most incredibly inspiring and breath-taking gardens and landscapes imaginable right outside your door.
It does take planning, patience, and some work, but there's no better "therapy " than to completely lose yourself in the physical, emotional, and creative outlet it provides. This more than anything else you can do, will bring you years of satisfaction and pride, as well as a wonderful respite from the pressures unpleasantness the outside world can sometimes bring.
Proper planning is important because your landscape will be around for years to come and will grow and evolve, becoming more and more beautiful with every season. Here are some of the most important things to consider before you start:
Consider your resources ( funds, time, materials) before beginning your plan.
I probably approach it a little differently than some people. I "segment" my plan and do one area of a landscape at a time, and then tie them together for great flow, texture, and color. Here's how to start:
# The first thing to do is to go to local nurseries and familiarize yourself with every plant type you intend to use. Then decide (and write down) the items you can't live without. Note their size at maturity, and other important details such as which trees will flower in the spring or give spectacular fall color (and thus lose their leaves every winter).
When it comes to flowers, you also need to know which will come back every year (perennials) and those that will only last one season (annuals). Also note which type comes in your favorite colors.
Once home, you can find these plants online to if you want to learn more. You can also purchase them online, often at a very good savings if you plan ahead.
# The next step for me is to walk the property and start visualizing my plan . (I do that every day in my own garden because I love it, and I am always looking for ways to improve it as well).
It's useful when doing the work yourself to break it down into segments, as I mentioned before, such as the entrance near the front door; maybe a corner where the fence meets your house; the parkways, etc. I only buy the plants, mulch, landscape mix, etc. I need for one area at a time.
One example is one area of my home I designed on my corner lot between my house and the street. It was fairly wide, so I put in a beautiful curved brick walk, and inside that I planted slash pine trees, ivy, and azaleas. It then created other spaces to design by giving me a couple of naturally formed beds between the walk and my fence and the walk and the house, as well as a very nice corner to work with. The corner now has a backdrop of ivy and a birdbath with an angel on top and small hedges and a flowering hot pink sage bush behind. Think "layers".
# Keep in mind how you want your home to look in every season. Think of things that would make your garden look fresh and unique, no matter what time of year. Also keep in mind your colors. Example: you might not want a brilliantly colored flower that blooms every spring to come up behind your winter pansies which would result in an unattractive color combination.
# Get ideas from the internet, other people, magazines, and by driving around in your community (especially the higher end areas where the residents have unlimited funds and therefore, often the most spectacular landscapes in your area). Take pictures to help you remember the ideas you like best, but do be discreet about possibly invading peoples' privacy.
# Be aware of the color and style of your home as you do your planning. You wouldn't want a tropical landscape design with an English cottage-type home for example.
# Plan your landscape around your intended uses for it. You might want shaded areas to sit and read, or a koi pond with a bridge for your family and visitors to enjoy, or maybe even a special area set aside for gardening chores, your family dog or growing a cutting garden. If you're on a tight budget, concentrate most on the areas where you'll be doing most of your outdoor living. Be sure to consider the space required for each area.
# Finally ... don't allow yourself to feel overwhelmed. Take your time, enjoy each and every new thing you do in your garden, and before you know it, you'll have neighbors coming over or stopping in their cars to compliment you on your new, breath-taking landscape ... all of it done by you!
About the Author
Sharon has almost 20 years experience in planning and designing the different aspects of her own landscape and that of others. She has a life-long passion for beautiful landscapes & gardens & she is skilled in the use of landscape software to transform the most unattractive landscapes imaginable into inspiring places of beauty that lift your spirits and transport you to another world.
Please visit www.landscaping-your-own-beautiful-garden.com
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Urban Garden Design With Wall Fountains by Elizabeth Jean
Garden and landscape design is a relatively recent art form in a modern sense that dates back to the 14th century Italian villas of the Renaissance for its cognomen and spiritual center. Designing a good garden requires knowledge of several disciplines, including topography, land usage, horticulture and architectural elements.
Designing for a small, urban space requires focusing a design on one or two aspects, and aiming for the overall goal of a harmonious composition of topographic, architectural and horticultural elements. Because an urban garden lacks the space to subdivide it into "natural rooms", and may have several competing elements from the surrounding city, wall fountains are a popular choice for any urban garden design. Get more information about incorporating wall fountains with your unique space at http://www.witch-crafted.com/garden8.htm.
Wall Fountains As A Design Element
Fountains are stand alone design elements (or abut the side of a building) that cycle water from a catch basin to the top, creating a sheet of water over a desirable surface - many designs include Indian slate for their backdrop, or granite, and even pebbled concrete fountains are used in some areas. The design goal of wall fountains in urban garden design is to provide the visual and auditory focus of the garden. They offer people visiting the garden an opportunity to listen to the sound of water rather than the bustle of traffic, honking of horns and the interminable chatter of cell phones carried by strangers.
Areas leading to wall fountains usually include a few key design elements - a walkway through the garden, and a leading tie in with trellis bushes and shrubs, which generally frame the garden. Planting beds, and regularly cycling through which bulbs get planted when, is a great way to keep your urban garden fresh in appearance and scent. And gardening and planting is a worthwhile hobby for many people. For a great resource on landscaping and wall fountains check out.
Choosing good wall fountains means choosing one that can stand up to the elements of your current climate. It needs to be able to handle sunlight. If you're in a northern climate, it needs to be able to handle being shut off and drained in the winter. It's very important to drain your fountain before it gets too cold. A frozen pump or water line can shorten the life of fountains so you should therefore make sure all the water is drained and removed from the fountain prior to temperatures dipping into the 30s.
Water Fountains For You
Fortunately, buying and installing wall fountains in your garden is affordable and a reasonably simple process. Hooking up the water and getting the pump started does not take that much time and before you know it, your new water feature will be the eye catcher of your garden design project. Make sure you take into account details like the lay of the land, drainage patterns, the placement of planting beds, sunlight, wind path and shade trees (or surrounding walls) when setting up your garden as well as setting up your wall fountains. Learn more about wall fountains at http://33isthenew23.blogspot.com/2007/11/looking-for-fountain-to-spruce-things.html.
Fountains offer the burbling of running water creating a nice peaceful atmosphere to your garden. Consider wall fountains as part of your next home and garden make over and so you'll be sure to be adding design elements that are appealing and enjoyed by all who take a stroll in your urban garden.
About the Author
Elizabeth Jean writes water fountain and related topics for Garden-Fountains.com, the Internet's premier destination for wall fountains, indoor fountains and distinctive water features for your home and garden.
Natural Landscaping - it's easy for you by Groshan Fabiola
Looking for a good way to improve the appearance of your yard and become a little more clean in the process? There is a new and popular movement in the landscape, which is known as natural improvement. Natural landscape is the art of organizing the yard with native plants and natural and leaves. One of the best results of this type of landscape is to reduce the impact that it has on the environment. Introducing foreign species of plants, can sometimes have disastrous consequences for the local ecosystem. Some plants are quite "territorial", that is any area where they are growing that they fully commit themselves at the expense of other plants.
Natural landscapes attempts to move away from the traditional "immaculately manicured lawns and gardens to preserve." They really unnatural for this area. Manicured lawns and gardens, in fact imitate stations, which are traditionally kept in the UK and Europe. These areas are fantastic for the distribution of short grass, but this is not the case in North America. Our continent is inclined to the natural spread of flora and more herbs. Natural landscapes using these plants for the creation of local yards and gardens, which are in accordance with what grows naturally in the area. This practice is very good for the local environment as a whole, as alien species that have not implemented it, and through the use of natural plants, we practicing good stewardship and taking better care of our environment.
Another useful aspect of the natural landscape is the decline in health care that it requires. Like most local plant species they support themselves quite well. Gardening and maintenance weeding is a strategic rather than a full-scale garden and lawn care. The natural landscape creates an atmosphere that is very different from the traditional courtyard, and recalls the beautiful field. This is a fantastic way to improve the curb appeal of any home.
About the Author
If you are looking for more resources about landscaping ideas, commercial landscaping or even about landscaping we advise you to visit this links.