Creating A Backyard Landscape With Gardens

Not only do landscaping and gardening add to the beauty of your home, they can become a very fulfilling hobby as well. What could be more satisfying than filling your home with vases full of fresh flowers from your own garden landscape, or feeding your family fruits and vegetables that you have grown yourself? There is something tremendously peaceful about spending a morning in your beautifully landscaped garden, tilling the soil and reaping your harvest. Of course, gardens don't appear on their own – they require much work to plant and maintain. But with a few tips and hints for creating a beautiful garden landscape, you will be on your way to growing your own amazing plants.

How Do Gardens Fit Into Landscape Design?

Landscape designs should include zones for various outdoor activities. These can include areas for play, entertaining, and (yes, indeed) gardening. Gardening adds to the beauty of landscaping by providing a variety of plants and flowers that will bring color and texture to your yard. But before you haul out the hoe and shovel, you will need to prepare your garden area for seeds. Soil is the most important starting point for a healthy garden landscape. Your garden soil should contain three key ingredients: nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium. Most bagged soil at your garden centers will provide you with the proper balance of these nutrients, but if you are in doubt there are test kits available so you can check your soil content for yourself.

Once your garden has been planted, you will be faced with the dreaded "need to weed" issue. There is actually a simple solution to your weed problem. Pre-emergent herbicides can be safely used in gardens once your seedlings have reached a height of at least three inches. These herbicides can be applied to the garden once current weeds have been removed, and should keep new weeds from cropping up.

Pests are another problem that can appear in your garden landscape, so keep an eye out for any signs of distress on your plants. If you do finds a potential problem, taking a leaf from your infected plant to a local nursery will help you to diagnose and treat any diseases or pest infestations. Taking action at the first sign of a problem will increase your chances of saving the infected plants as well as the rest of your garden.

Gardens can be a beautiful addition to a landscape design. They can also provide many hours of pleasure for a gardening enthusiast. By preparing your landscape properly for garden beds, you can enjoy the additional color and plants that your garden will provide.

For more about gardening and landscaping, go to http://www.LandscaperBasics.com

Avoiding The Pitfalls Of Do-It-Yourself Landscaping Projects

Do-it-yourself landscape projects can be a fun and rewarding way to enhance your outdoor living space. There are few things more satisfying than relaxing in an outdoor oasis that you created and built with your very own hands. However, most landscaping projects will require the "do-it-yourselfer" to do some research and investigation before embarking on a trip into the unknown world of gardening and lawn care. To make your journey a little easier, here are some common mistakes that many new do-it-yourself landscapers have run into.

Planning Is Paramount For The Do-It-Yourself Landscaper

Yes, indeed. A landscape design that has not received any forethought or planning will look hodge podge and disjointed. A plan for your do-it-yourself landscape projects will ensure that your outdoor space will have a flow and a uniformity that will be pleasing to the eye. Think about how you will use each area in your yard and design for functionality as well as beauty. While you want to select a variety of plants for your landscape, a pattern of size, color and texture will be easier on the eye than a complete mix of many different images. Don't just consider what your yard will look like in the summer, either. Include some early-blooming plants for spring color and trees and bushes that will offer plenty of splendors in the fall. Even your winters can be attractive with the proper plan.

What To Do With That Lawn

A lawn is usually the centerpiece of a yard, but the landscape do-it-yourselfer will want to consider how much lawn he wants to be responsible for irrigating and maintaining. Mowing a large yard every week can be quite time-consuming, and the amount of water necessary to keep it healthy can be expensive. A wise do-it-yourself landscaper will incorporate a lawn into the overall design that will add beauty while not overwhelming the caretaker.

Keep Those Tools Organized!

Any do-it-yourself landscape project will become a frustrating and time-consuming venture if tools are not easily available. Take a weekend away from your yard to spend some time organizing that garage or garden shed. Your projects are guaranteed to go much more smoothly when the right tools are at hand.

Do-it-yourself landscape projects can become a fun and rewarding hobby for the homeowner. Fortunately, there are multitudes of resources available so that the landscape do-it-yourselfer can see success in his undertakings.

For more about do it yourself landscaping, go to http://www.LandscaperBasics.com

Garden By Number: Garden Landscaping Made Simple

If you are like me, until very recently, I was unaware that there was even a thing called garden landscaping. I didn't know a garden could be landscaped. To me, a garden has always been a thing to grow fruits and vegetables, but that wasn't that attractive to look at. Apparently, however, I have been mistaken. Garden landscaping is a very real and very active pursuit. Your garden can be a work of art.

How Can A Garden Be A Work Of Art?

It's simple: everything that you look for in a painting or a piece of art you also want to look for in your garden landscaping. For example, how does the color work? You might want to explore some color theories to further broaden your horizons on how colors work. What flowers and plants should you have in your garden to get the colors to work for you?

But also, there are lines to consider—like how do the lines work? Do they run parallel or perpendicular to the house from your garden? Where do you want your garden placed to make the lines do what you want them to do? These are all questions one needs to ask if they want to a truly superb garden landscaping experience.

In addition, one needs to consider form in their decisions on their garden landscaping. Do you want just a square garden, or something a little less traditional? Should it wrap around the house, be on a corner, or just be something completely off the wall? Form encompasses all of these things, and even more. There are a variety of different aspects to any gardening project that be chalked up under the all encompassing label of "form."

Perhaps one of the easiest aspects of gardening landscaping to notice is the texture of the garden. Really, how do you want the texture of the garden to look? Large and leafy, small and plain, flowery, do you want vines? All of these aspects of texture factor into what kind of garden landscape you end up with—and luckily, there's a large database of resources to explore the different kinds of plants and forms and textures and colors you can use you make your garden landscape uniquely your own, and entirely what you want.

Again, the internet or your local bookstore are the best places to find these resources and most likely the best resource for you is going to be about.com, which has a menagerie of every information on just about every subject, and that includes garden landscaping.

For more about garden landscaping, go to http://www.LandscaperBasics.com

Planning A Beautiful Backyard Landscaping Design

There are few things in life more enjoyable than relaxing in a beautiful outdoor living space that you have created. This scene can be easier to attain than you might think. With some planning and research, your backyard landscaping design can become an outdoor oasis for your entire family to enjoy.

Before you start working that soil, you need to plan your backyard landscaping design by what your family will use the space for. Will you need an area for the kids to play? Do you intend to do much outdoor entertaining? Or are you mainly planning to use the space for relaxation and quiet family get-togethers? Perhaps you want space for all of these activities, and your backyard landscaping design can incorporate areas for all of them.

Don't simply formulate your plan in your mind however, draw a sketch of your backyard landscaping design, or invest in a computer program that will allow you to create a backyard landscaping design similar to what professional landscape architects will construct.

Plant Selection For Your Backyard Landscaping Design

Once you have an idea of the areas you would like to include into your backyard landscaping design, it is time to begin researching the types of plants you want to bring in. Find plants that will do well in the area you live in, so that maintenance will be minimal. Your local nursery or extension office can be a valuable source of information to learn which plants are guaranteed thrivers in your area. Don't be afraid to include a variety of trees and shrubs, but maintaining some consistency or symmetry to the size, color and textures of your plants will make your backyard landscaping design pleasing to the eye.

You also want to consider each area that you will be planting in. Do you have a shady corner, or an area that gets unusually windy? Constant, harsh sunlight will require plants that are more drought tolerant. Perhaps you will find that a shade tree in a strategic spot will cut down of air conditioning costs within your home. It is a good idea to evaluate a location for a few days to see what the conditions of that spot might be. This will ensure that your backyard landscaping design will include plants that will grow well.

A beautiful backyard to enjoy begins with a comprehensive backyard landscaping design. Spend some time dreaming about the yard you would like to live in, get your ideas on paper, and then let the planting begin!

For more about backyard landscaping design, go to http://www.LandscaperBasics.com