Lawn & Garden
Natural Alternatives to Pesticides
LANDSCAPING BASICS
Year-Round Interest
Provide interest in all four seasons. Start with the perfect, researched plant selection. Choose flowering trees and shrubs throughout the spring and summer, colorful fall foliage in the autumn and structural elements in the wintertime.
Plant in Layers
Layer your planting beds in 3 rows: a back row (facing north, preferably) with the tallest plants, a middle row with the next tallest, and a front row composed of your shortest plants. Use repetition, both in the planting bed and elsewhere in your yard, to provide harmony.
Use Evergreens and Shrubs
Don't forget evergreens and other plants to add lush greenery to your design. This will provide continuity and fill in any sparse areas.
Annuals Plump Up The Picture
Perennial flowers are wonderful for your planting beds, but they bloom for only so long. You may have perennials blooming in your bed in May, then nothing until July. Incorporating annuals into a do-it-yourself landscaping plan will "plug the gaps," giving you continuous color in the yard.
Add Structures for Design Interest
Don't restrict landscaping to plants. Include hardscape features, too. Walls and fences make an essential design statement, as they frame your property. Arbors and decks are other important features. Patios and decks provide transitions from indoors to outdoors.
Soothing Water Elements
Good landscape designs are anchored by focal points. One of the hottest trends is to use water features as focal points. This is one trend with "sound" reasoning behind it: water features are not only visually appealing, but emit soothing sounds. Using pre-formed rigid plastic liners, durable pumps, flexible tubing and cheap fountains, they're also a lot easier to install than you think. Once you've experimented with ponds, you may even decide to advance to the next level: simple waterfalls.
Keep it Low Maintenance
Besides giving your yard a pleasing appearance, you must also be sensible in planning for its maintenance. Beautiful or not, you'll resent your yard if it causes you too much work. Unless you don't mind spending hours each weekend on upkeep, plan your design for low maintenance.