Designing a Swimming Pool Landscaping by Yourself

A swimming pool landscaping is quite different from an ordinary landscape. Unlike an ordinary landscape, a swimming pool landscape has some limitations in the planting area. Aside from the fact that you cannot plant directly on the ground when you’re planting in and around your pool, you also need to put up with some width and height limitations that wouldn’t otherwise have existed. Here are some tips that you can follow if you are planning to design your swimming pool landscaping ideas

Pool Landscaping

Your end result will work out better if you do some research before you proceed with landscaping. Aside from looking for swimming pool landscaping ideas online and in magazines, you should also look into which kinds of plants you want to include and what kind of soil you’ll need as a result. If you know someone who has a swimming pool landscape then make sure to chat with them as they can probably give you some more great tips.

Know your Flower Beds

You should also have a clear picture of how you ant your flower beds to look before you begin. First, you should know the measurements you want for them – their exact length, width and depth. If they have some curved areas, you should also take note of that and make an estimate measurement. Additionally, measure your desired distance between the fence or screen and the flower bed. Do this for all the flower beds in the pool landscaping area.

Plan the Landscape

Now that you know the exact measurements of your flower beds, it is time to plan your landscape. By now, you should have some ideas on which plants can grow near your pool. You should now plan which plant species will go in your flower beds and how you’ll arrange them. If you can, make a rough drawing of how the plants will look.

Know your Plants

It may help to research the background of each plant that will go into your landscape before you begin. Aside from knowing how to maintain them, you should also know how big they can grow. Many do-it-yourself landscapers are surprised to learn that plants which look good in pictures grow too big or don’t work with the shape of the pool when they’re full sized. Don’t let this happen to you.
In the same way, you should also take note of other things that may harm you or your landscape. Does it constantly shed leaves? This can clutter your pool. Does it have thorns or spikes? This is not good if you are going to have children around the pool. Does it multiply on its own? This can be a problem if you have limited planting space. Always research your plants before you use them in your landscape.

Decide on a Landscape Dressing

Once you have decided on your plants and have planted them based on their size and growth habits, it is time to finish the landscape with some dressing. Decide if you will use lava rocks, plain dirt or lava rocks to cover the soil. Some creative landscapers may even want to use shells.

If you’ve done all this then congratulations, you’re done! You have just successfully designed your own swimming pool landscape.…

Landscaping  Around Trees – Things to Keep in Mind

Trees offer lots of benefits in any given area. It can do loads of good if you have many of them within your property. And to add more charm and design, you could have some landscaping around trees. This way, you can spend an afternoon sitting under a tree completely shaded from the heat of the sun.

Landscaping  Around Trees

I’ve seen many landscaping ideas around trees of different designs. Each offers beauty and charm of its own. And if you want, you could also add a flower bed to surround the tree. Talk about getting the most out of a good landscaping idea. Building a wall or block around a tree has to be done cautiously. Otherwise, you could be harming the tree.

Here’s a practical steps to guide you with this project:

1. Mark the outline of the area where you’re going to set the blocks. In this step, you have to make sure that you provide the roots of the tree adequate space for its nourishment. A good 3-6 feet from the trunk would be good enough but you also need to keep in mind the relative size of the tree.

To make sure the block is built at an even distance, you can tie a rope at the base of the trunk. Then you can simply use this as a guide to mark the area where you’ll be setting the landscaping around trees.

2. Once you’ve defined the circle where you’re going to set the blocks, you need to dig 2-3 inches down. Make sure the roots of the tree is not harmed when you do this. After digging, you need to level the area where you’ll set the blocks. You can use a plate compacter if you have this tool to make this process easier.

3. Set the foundation of the block. For this step, you need to select the most even blocks that you have. set the blocks in its place. In some instances, you may have to adjust the blocks, use a rubber mallet or even remove it to retamp the soil. This is done to make sure that the foundation is evenly built.

4. Stack the blocks to build the wall around the tree. Make sure that the bricks or blocks are stacked in such a way that makes it very sturdy and durable. One good way of ensuring this is to alternate the joints the way you see most bricks are stacked. This is done to make sure that there are no continuous seams that makes it likely for the whole structure to collapse easily.

5. Prepare and plant a bed or add some embellishment. Some tree allows for a plant bed added within the wall blocks while other trees like oak trees releases acidic secretions which makes it virtually impossible for any other plant to grow within the ring. In such case, you can add some designs to the blocks to make it nice to look at even when it is on its own.…

Landscaping Rock Can Make Your Yard Look Great

The good thing about landscaping rock is that people are able to have depth and texture to the design of their landscape. There are few different forms of landscaping rock but there are two, which are commonly used. And it that case, let me introduce you good information about it.

Landscaping Rock

These forms include the different colors of rock that are used for landscaping and there are also stones of different kinds that everyone can use to add some highlight to their yard. There is a need to have different kinds of rocks for every landscaping design. It may be large or small depending on what is best suited for your yard landscaping

The best way of using landscaping rock is to apply it with its full significance toward your design for your yard. Rocks should be used to actually add some accent to your yard and not just to cover up some ugly spots or some parts, which you do not want to be noticed.
Putting them in random parts will only be useless and that will not do anything good to your yard. It will instead cause an unbalanced look of the yard. Landscaping rock should be put in such a way that it will add beauty to the design of the landscape.

It will be better if you bury these rocks to where they will be placed. Not only that it will prevent disposition, they will also look like it is where they are supposed to be placed and not look like they are just put there for no reason.

Spot Depending

The depth of the rock to which it will be buried matters a lot depending on the size that you choose for your yard. The larger the landscaping rock, the deeper it should be buried and shallower for the small ones. A depth of four to six inches is good enough for a rock.
Landscaping rock will not give you a hard time. You just have to dig a spot depending on the size of the rock then place it there. Fill up the surroundings of the rock with some soil and you are done!

Imagine how great these rocks and boulders will look like if they were placed in your yard and still look as natural as they do when they are out in nature. So if you are hiking or maybe just taking a walk, take your time to stop by and take a look at some rocks that you think will be good for your yard.…

Top Mid Century Modern Landscaping Ideas You Need To Know

Getting a neat and well-kept garden is something that a lot of homeowners want. But this is not an easy work to do if you are going to do all these improvements and renovations by yourself. If you want your garden to have a newer look and feel soon, here are some mid century modern landscaping ideas that you should remember:

Know How Much Are You Willing To Spend

The issue of cost is something that you need to consider when you are planning to come up with ways on how to update the look of your garden. It can go as minimal or expensive as you want, it depends on how much are you willing to assign as a budget to give this particular space a modern look. So as you plan this needed renovation, set a budget to work on. This will also help you adjust your preferences. Another advantage is that you can easily provide this information to the company who will implement the mid century modern landscaping design plans based on the budget you set at the onset of the project landscaping ideas

Go Online To Find Landscape Inspirations

If your garden only consist of potted plants and Bermuda grass all over, then it is time to make a change. Go online today and search for some home improvement blogs with some posts about landscape management and how they go about changing the look of their garden. Most of the time you will find out the story behind those improvements, including a summary of costs and a list of people who helped them in that project.

Finding these inspirations is a very accessible way of knowing the types of modern landscaping ideas that worked for them. This can inspire you further to come up with an original concept on how to do this for your own garden.

Decide On What You Want To Achieve After The Renovation

Do the same thing just like what you have done before when you improved the overall look of your home interiors. What is the purpose of this project? Is it to provide a greener look on your garden? Do you want to have more space in this area without sacrificing the number of plants that you already have? Or do you want to minimize the volume of plants so you can place a sofa set for your outdoor reading pleasure? These are just examples of questions that you might want to ask yourself before you finally call your garden landscaper today.

Place Elements That Will Add Character To Your Garden

Most homeowners realize that this is just what they need to add character to the old, plain look of their garden. If you want to add water element in this area, you can add a fountain at the center or just in one corner of the garden. You can also add a pond below it if you wish.

How about a bigger space for your next garden barbeque party? If this is what you want, then you can assign a safe area there to place a fire pit. Your family will surely be excited about the idea. You do not need to look for a bigger space to hold your next barbeque party if you already have a space in your garden to do this with your family.
These are just some of the mid century modern landscaping ideas that you can use to improve the overall look of your garden. Give some time to think about these and see the difference it brings in the way you manage this part of your property today.…

Tips Using Lowes Landscaping

One method of providing light outdoors is solar lighting. Though not as big in the marketplace as lowes landscaping  working with 12V of electricity, they nevertheless have a place in this marketplace.

Lowes Landscaping

These will be extremely useful to someone living in an area which has a good number of sunny daylight hours. If your light absorbs a good amount of sunlight for 8 hours you would get nearly twice back in light, i.e. around 15 hours. These lights require virtually no wiring and that makes them easily installed by everybody. They can be used in all the areas that other types of lighting would be used landscaping ideas

Using Low Voltage Landscaping Lights Will Make You Money

Obviously if you do not live in a really sunny area you will probably opt for the regular type of lowes landscaping. You may want to jazz up your outdoor patio or decking area so that you can make better use of it. You would want to install them inset flush around the perimeter of your deck or patio so they don’t get in the way and they are perfectly safe to step on.

You may have found a system which includes a sensor which will turn the lights on when it becomes dark and turn them off when it is light again. Plus there are timers which let you set the time for the lights to come on and for how many hours they should remain on. Typically preset timers are set for 4,6 and 8 hour schedules.

If you buy online you are going to find plenty of help with your installation, text instructions and possibly more useful, video instructions. They do say a picture is worth a 1000 words and that could well be true in this case. Residential outdoor lighting is the ideal way to use lowes landscaping to good advantage. They can used to highlight your home and/or your garden to good effect.

Outdoor Lighting

The point with this outdoor lighting is that you can have it hidden as much as possible if you have chosen a very plain design or you can have it stand out as a feature in its own right. If you have chosen something really spectacular then you are going to want to show it off, not bury it in the undergrowth. You could well have chosen a combination of plain and decorative dependent on where you intend to use them.

Whatever your needs you will easily find just the right product to suit you by design and price.…

Things to Consider in Having an Edible Landscaping

Edible landscaping has been a part of daily living way back in ancient Egypt and other seed civilizations. Royal palaces and laymen abodes had gardens adorned with flowers, grape vines and fruit trees combined with sitting areas. But throughout time as architectural designs became more modern, edible plants lost their way in becoming a part of most gardens. Bring back the glory days of edible landscaping right in your own home with simple steps below landscaping

Edible Landscaping

As was said, edible plants had little or no presence at all in most home gardens. Such type or landscaping or gardening has been typically associated nowadays with large industrial farms. Actually, you can have your own source of varied produce fit for human consumption. You have a wide range of promising and exciting choices of tasty plants regardless of the space you have at home. If you have a huge backyard, enjoy making expanse plant beds. And even if you live in urban spaces, you can still have your edible landscaping via containers.

Do a prior research about edible plants suitable for the soil and weather in your area. Either do an online search from numerous home gardening websites or approach the agency in your area that focuses on horticulture program. You can also seek assistance from garden shops. List down the plants once you have been familiarized which ones could thrive in the environment in your area.

There are hundreds of species and varieties for each category of vegetation. Pick at least one from each category of fruit trees, shrubs, berries, common vegetables, vines, herbs and flowers. Typical choices include apples, apricots, figs, blueberries, currants, cabbages, onions, grapes, mint, oregano, thyme, daylilies, scented geranium, roses and the list goes on. But be cautious in picking edible plants, shrubs or trees that attract pests or insects. What you can do is to include flowers that are known to ward off pests and rather attract healthy bugs, which are also known healthy soil boosters. Some samples of ornamental and medicinal flowers are yarrow, zinnia, cosmos and daisy.

You must also take note of the costs involved in this project. Since you already have your list, scout for their respective prices. Decide whether it would be more cost-effective to plant seeds or to sow baby plants. Include in your calculation the implementation costing that would comprise of labor fees (for creating a huge garden) and gardening materials. Try to project the costs for fertilizers as well. Of course, to have healthy edibles, you must as well employ organic fertilization rather than having pesticides or chemical sustenance. Thus, you should also budget for a composting system.

Now that you have prepared your plants list and costs, lay out the final design. Either make your own free hand drawing plan or have a professional make the illustration for you. Some design ideas are as follows:

For wide spaces:

– use anti-pest flowers or berries for borders
– incorporate dimensions by planting small soft looking vegetables like asparagus in contrast to taller shrubs or trees
– boost visual impact of the entire garden by placing plants of the same color or type in one concentration, such as designating all yellow colored fruit vines or climbers and flowers at the center or borders of a lush green landscape

 For container gardening:

– establish dimensions by placing taller shrubs at the center of the container and herbs with expanse growths at the borders (use big tubs or huge baskets to achieve this effect)
– create depth by situating potted plants in a layered holder
– increase visual impact by painting the pots in different colors, using baskets or pots in different sizes and styles or gathering same colored plants on one side

Take advantage of the benefits edible landscaping can give you. From having your own farmer’s market to creating aesthetic enhancement for your entire property, such landscaping option can be really productive.…

Simple Front Yard Landscaping Ideas

Designing a simple front yard landscaping ideas for your front yard will greatly differ from the backyard, because they serve two completely different functions. The front yard is where people come in and leave; it should thus be the most striking and most accessible area.

Landscaping – Simple Front Yard Landscaping Ideas

What makes a front yard extremely interesting is walkways and pathways with features and designs around it. It seems intriguing and inviting. The front yard should not be elaborate, but simple front yard landscaping ideasand uncluttered. Invite people in by letting the main walkway lead straight to the front door. It could be soft and curvy, but not too elaborate as to confuse guests. Frame the front of the house and door by placing smaller plants next to the entrance. You can also try and “soften” the front view by using vertical shrubs and plants and by pruning plants regularly to keep it neat. Grass can add immediate texture to a garden and there are many varieties and colours of grass that are bound to compliment your overall design.

You can also create a “container garden” at the front door with different coloured flowers flanking out in different directions to compliment the colour of the front door and house. Use evergreens that are low maintenance and that will create a year-round welcoming atmosphere. If you have a long driveway or cul-de-sac, create a successful transition between driveway and front door. Pocket gardens with flowers, as well as boulders will break the monotony and create this transition.

Garden Furniture

Garden furniture is not restricted to the back yard; you can easily incorporate small aluminum or wrought-iron tables and chairs near the front door with umbrella. This will look welcoming and even festive. Adding coloured gravel or mulch underneath will add character. The best option regarding plants and flowers is to use one type of shrub throughout and to stick with one colour, but in different shades when choosing flowers. You can also use arbours, trellises and even a garden sculpture to break the single height of plants and create a second focal point.

Connect the front and back yards with flowing shrubs and flowers on the side of the house. This will lead guests in a specific direction. You can easily create an interesting “island” in the middle of a large front yard by placing mounds of dirt, ground and gravel on large pieces of newspaper (which keeps weeds down). Add shrubs and perennials and create a perimeter with old bricks and stones. You should definitely incorporate trees in all sizes, but take care to not go overboard. Large, dense trees can easily hide or overwhelm a house when it should actually be framing the house.

Light up the house and yard with solar-powered simple front yard landscaping ideas lights. These will provide security and are perfect for creating a welcoming, secure atmosphere if you decide to entertain guests at night. These are easy to install and require little maintenance.…

Tips for Choosing Landscaping Rock Near Me

The good thing about landscaping rock near me is that people are able to have depth and texture to the design of their landscape. There are few different forms of landscaping rock but there are two, which are commonly used. And it that case, let me introduce you good information about it.

Landscaping Rock Near Me

These forms include the different colors of rock that are used for landscaping and there are also stones of different kinds that everyone can use to add some highlight to their yard. There is a need to have different kinds of rocks for every landscaping design. It may be large or small depending on what is best suited for your landscaping near me

The best way of using landscaping rock is to apply it with its full significance toward your design for your yard. Rocks should be used to actually add some accent to your yard and not just to cover up some ugly spots or some parts, which you do not want to be noticed.
Putting them in random parts will only be useless and that will not do anything good to your yard. It will instead cause an unbalanced look of the yard. Landscaping rock should be put in such a way that it will add beauty to the design of the landscape.

It will be better if you bury these rocks to where they will be placed. Not only that it will prevent disposition, they will also look like it is where they are supposed to be placed and not look like they are just put there for no reason.

Landscaping Rock

The depth of the rock to which it will be buried matters a lot depending on the size that you choose for your yard. The larger the landscaping rock, the deeper it should be buried and shallower for the small ones. A depth of four to six inches is good enough for a rock.
Landscaping rock will not give you a hard time. You just have to dig a spot depending on the size of the rock then place it there. Fill up the surroundings of the rock with some soil and you are done!

Imagine how great these rocks and boulders will look like if they were placed in your yard and still look as natural as they do when they are out in nature. So if you are hiking or maybe just taking a walk, take your time to stop by and take a look at some rocks that you think will be good for your yard.…

River Rock Landscaping Ideas

A moderately sized brook can do wonders as far as adding class to your back or front yard. To give it the most natural look, you can finish it with river rock landscaping. Most people are unfamiliar with how river rock landscaping works, however, so a few suggestions will be useful.

River Rock Landscaping

If you decide to put a brook in your river rock landscaping, keep in mind that it’s a more difficult process than digging a trench and filling it with water. You need to install a water circulation system to prevent the water from stagnating. Stagnant water is the perfect place for insects and algae to converge. Professionals usually install the best water circulation systems landscaping ideas

Before commencing on a brook building project, check with your local zoning laws to make sure everything you’re doing is in line with local laws. Some communities have strict rules about fencing around water. You don’t want to go through all the hard work of getting a brook built only to have local authorities shut it down.

After the brook’s water is flowing, start planning out your river rock landscaping. You can put them in the brook’s channel or you can place them along the edges of the brook.

Faux river rocks may be the better option if you are not putting them under the water. They are cheaper and easier to find and essentially look the same and serve the same purpose.

Finding the Right River Rock For Your Garden

There is essentially no difference between using river rocks and ocean rocks. They both give yards a rustic natural appearance. They also look good when bordering manmade brooks, but make sure to wait until after the brook has been built to add the rocks.

Environmental restrictions may keep you from gathering natural rocks at nearby rivers or streams. The rocks offer protection for the wildlife that lives near the river and many river ecosystems are in fragile condition.

Your garden supply store should have river rocks that you can purchase. They are selective in the types of rocks they bring in, so you can have confidence that you’re getting good-looking rocks that were taken from non-threatened areas.…

DIY Landscaping Tips

DIY Landscaping is undeniably one of the best methods that you can use if you want to improve the overall appearance of your house. The problem is that there are a lot of people who are not aware of the things that they need to do in order to be successful with landscaping. Today, I will be showing some of the best tips that you can take if you want to be successful with landscaping, even without spending a lot of money. Reading this article will also help you learn the dos and don’ts of landscaping ideas

DIY Landscaping

If you are going to place colorful flowers, choose them wisely. There are a lot of people who wanted to place flowers in their landscape. There’s nothing wrong with this idea, but you should remember that you need to choose the colors of the flowers that you will be purchasing. There are a lot of people who think that for as long as they have flowers in their landscape, everything will be perfect. The types and colors of the flowers that you will be choosing should complement each other well.

If there are bushes in your DIY landscaping , make sure that you trim them regularly, and prevent them from blocking the view on the window. This is a very important factor, because you, as a homeowner, wanted to have a great view when you look outside the window, and if the bushes are blocking the view, you won’t find your landscape very attractive.

There are also borders in the bushes, right? So you need to make sure that you will be doing everything to keep it visible. This will add up to the overall appearance of your landscape, and will allow you to enjoy more of it. As always, regular trimming is the key in keeping the border more visible.

The last tip that I will be sharing with you can be used to increase the overall value of your house. If you are going to place plants on your landscape, make sure that you choose those that are mature. Younger plants tend to die easily, and do not cost as much as those that are mature, even if their price in stores don’t have much difference.
Always remember that you don’t have to contact a DIY landscaping service every time, especially if you are already familiar of the most important things to do. Remembering these tips will help you save a lot of money in the future, since you won’t be needing much service from them.…

How to Find a Landscaping Fabric

The front garden is often overlooked because people might not see it as a sitting area – unlike the back garden. But the reality is that the front garden is visible, run and used every day of the year. You should add landscaping fabric to add to the beauty of your home. A well designed garden space will not only make your daily life easier but will also add value to the property because it gives a first impression of the property and is a huge selling point for every potential buyer.

Landscaping Fabric

The main focus of any front landscaping fabric will be the practical requirements for the space. This might include how many cars you need, where the property is positioned, or an area for the rubbish bins. But equally as important is to consider how the garden will look and feel. Factors include how it will look when viewed from the road, or what materials will best work with the style and age of the house landscaping

It is extremely important to examine what plants will provide structure throughout the year and some colour or interest in each season.
A garden full of weeds is unappealing to any potential buyer – and an effective way to deal with this is to use landscaping fabric.

How to Add Value to a Property by Having an Front Garden

Driveway and patio weed control fabric is specially designed for use under patios and driveways. Its unique bonded fibre design provides unbeatable drainage performance whilst it’s high strength provides excellent ground stabilisation with high puncture and tear resistance.
Careful planning is crucial if you are to create a functional and attractive front garden.

Both heavy duty and light garden weed membranes will help turn your front garden into a desirable property. Heavy duty weed control fabric can be used under gravel, slate, decking, landscaping fabric and garden paths or trails. By contrast, a lightweed suppressing garden membrane can be used under organic mulch, decorative gravel, bark or for simply lining planters in the garden.

Weed control fabric only lets water and nutrients through to your plants, whilst suppressing the growth of nasty unwanted weeds.
Using weed control membranes also helps to keep the ground moist and protects from extreme temperatures, whilst reducing the need for watering of plants.…

Top Modern Landscaping Ideas You Need To Know

Getting a neat and well-kept garden is something that a lot of homeowners want. But this is not an easy work to do if you are going to do all these improvements and renovations by yourself. If you want your garden to have a newer look and feel soon, here are some modern landscaping ideas that you should remember:

Modern Landscaping

The issue of cost is something that you need to consider when you are planning to come up with ways on how to update the look of your garden. It can go as minimal or expensive as you want, it depends on how much are you willing to assign as a budget to give this particular space a modern look. So as you plan this needed renovation, set a budget to work on. This will also help you adjust your preferences. Another advantage is that you can easily provide this information to the company who will implement the modern landscaping ideas design plans based on the budget you set at the onset of the project.

Go Online To Find Landscape Inspirations

If your garden only consist of potted plants and Bermuda grass all over, then it is time to make a change. Go online today and search for some home improvement blogs with some posts about landscape management and how they go about changing the look of their garden. Most of the time you will find out the story behind those improvements, including a summary of costs and a list of people who helped them in that project.

Finding these inspirations is a very accessible way of knowing the types of modern landscaping ideas that worked for them. This can inspire you further to come up with an original concept on how to do this for your own garden.

Decide On What You Want To Achieve After The Renovation

Do the same thing just like what you have done before when you improved the overall look of your home interiors. What is the purpose of this project? Is it to provide a greener look on your garden? Do you want to have more space in this area without sacrificing the number of plants that you already have? Or do you want to minimize the volume of plants so you can place a sofa set for your outdoor reading pleasure? These are just examples of questions that you might want to ask yourself before you finally call your garden landscaper today.

Place Elements That Will Add Character To Your Garden

Most homeowners realize that this is just what they need to add character to the old, plain look of their garden. If you want to add water element in this area, you can add a fountain at the center or just in one corner of the garden. You can also add a pond below it if you wish.

How about a bigger space for your next garden barbeque party? If this is what you want, then you can assign a safe area there to place a fire pit. Your family will surely be excited about the idea. You do not need to look for a bigger space to hold your next barbeque party if you already have a space in your garden to do this with your family.
These are just some of the modern landscaping ideas that you can use to improve the overall look of your garden. Give some time to think about these and see the difference it brings in the way you manage this part of your property today.…

Landscaping Ideas for Front of House

Many people dream of having a low maintenance front yard. It is really the thought of the maintenance cost that deter many people from realizing their dream. There are many professional landscaper in your area and it is very easy for you to find landscaping ideas for front of house. That reminds me of the saying. Where there is a will there is a way. If you have the will, then the rest is easy.

Cheap Landscaping Ideas for Front of House

If you get a professional landscaper to do the job for landscaping ideas for front of house, be sure to inform him that your goal is to have a front yard landscape which is agreeable and will not take exorbitant amount of work to maintain it. I feel that if you have that interest for having a good landscape, then you should be engaged in the making and maintaining of it without any problem. It should not be taken as doing a work but as a hobby which entertains you.

If you like a lot of grass, then be aware that it takes extra work and time mowing the lawn. I don’t forget the fact that there are many people who love the lawn. This is also an important information which should be given to your landscaper before he starts planning it.
If you are tight on money and time, clover will be an alternative to the grass. You can choose your colors and types to make your landscaping beautiful. A clover lawn is good for landscaping ideas for front of house even in areas which are prone to droughts. Since bugs hate clover, such lawns are good for those who like to go out and enjoy the front yard landscaping

Watering the yard is an important issue for the plants. If you enjoy doing it, it is fine, else incorporating an automatic irrigation system into the front yard landscaping design should do a great job. This will save you time and money and the yard will look much healthier. This should do a wonderful job especially during the hotter months of the year.
You can without difficulty find a professional to install one of these systems for design quickly and easily. Irrigating correctly is a key issue to the good look of the front yard as less or more water can do damage to the plants and yard.

Cheap and Easy Front Yard Landscaping

Finding the proper plants that will suite your climatic and soil condition is very important. You will have to find out what plants will thrive in your climate round the year. Some of them will do fine during certain months and not during others. So the best place for you to find out the information will be your local garden center. They should be able to answer such questions and guide you well to choose your plants and trees. In addition, you then take a trip to the library and check out some books on local flowers and trees.

Another good landscaping tip is to layer all of your planting beds. This will bring a sense of unity and balance to your entire yard. Choosing the right colors and spreading them well is also important.
To conclude this is something worth trying, and you will definitely enjoy the result when it is completed and the plants start to bloom. Good Luck to you for your beautiful front yard landscape.…

Mixing Roses With Other Landscaping Plants

Once upon a time, the rose was kept separate from the rest of the garden. It is conventional wisdom that roses need to be separated from other landscaping plants so that valuable nutrients, water and fertilizer will not be lost. Of course, this has since been disputed, and the opposite has been regarded as the gardening gospel. One tip of a growing rose is that combining your rose with other flowering plants can actually have enormous benefits, including improving the general health of roses.

Landscaping Plants

Let’s look at that one first. Flowering plants, by and large, are hardy and fragile and roses are no different. They can survive most anything, yet the wrong thing at the wrong time can knock them out of the loop and out of life. A monoculture garden (specifically, a garden with only one type of plant, i.e. roses) encourages insect infestation and disease, two problems roses are especially prone to. Planting other types of flowers landscaping plants around roses can serve to attract beneficial insects as well as improve the nutrient levels in the soil. They can also serve to protect roses in the winter and summer months from extremes of temperature and weather landscaping

Aesthetics

Aesthetically, there are so many rose types and colors that blending them with other flowers in your garden is recommended. By themselves roses, no matter how colorful, can look stark. Blending them with other flowers, other colors, can really make your garden pop with life and color and make it pleasant to look at. Other flowers can help you camouflage the defects of your roses as well, hiding bare stalks or crooked stems.

Blending Colors

You can blend roses with other plants in a number of ways that are both healthy and pleasing to the eye. Consider placing glossy green foliage plants where there’s room in the background – a background of green really makes duller roses appear more vibrant. Plant irises, gladiolas or bedding dahlias (all plants grown from bulbs) in between roses for a splash of color and the added beneficial insect attraction. Plant low-growing bedding plants in front of your roses to provide a splash of color and texture to things.

Compatible Plants

There are several things to bear in mind when selecting plants to blend with your roses. Firstly, use plants with similar horticultural requirements to your roses, namely, lots of sunshine, abundant water and plenty of fertilizer. When you tend your roses, tend the other plants at the same time. Avoid using plants that may form competing root systems, and also avoid plants that might smother the base of a rose’s stem. Keep these elements in mind, and your blending will be a success.

You might even find that you are pruning rose bushes less by mixing them with other flowers. While originally thought to be a taboo of proper gardening, blending roses with other plant types has since become an essential tool in every gardener’s arsenal in choosing landscaping plants. Blending roses can keep your roses happy, healthy and looking beautiful.

Blending can keep your roses from falling prey to insects or pernicious diseases, and can also liven up a stark garden, adding a much needed dose of contrasting color to make your roses look even more vibrant.…

Woody For Down to Earth Landscaping

Fall is coming! This is the absolute perfect time of year to consider all the wonderful woody perennials and assorted plants native to the mid-western states. The abundance of superb, lucious plants to choose from is so vast; it is close to being limitless! It’s definitely a good time to think down to earth landscaping.

Down to Earth Landscaping

There is a huge selection to choose from – from wetland plants to an amazing array of the finest woody perennials you’ll find anywhere in the Midwest – all right at your fingertips via our website. One right after another you’ll find gorgeous plants and flowers everywhere on our site – Great Blue Lobelia, Sweetflag, Monkey-flower, Phlox, and Groundnut are just a few of so many, many more to choose from! These and a variety of other woody perennials provide fantastic options for any type of landscaping project you are sure to have planned for the nearing fall planting season landscaping ideas

One of the most fabulous plants you should consider for your next outdoor planting job would be the Crossvine (Bignonia Capreolata). This woody, climbing vine will generally grow to reach 50 ft. long. Most consider this a very showy vine as it flaunts orangish-red flowers that grow to approximately 2 inches long and 1 1/2 inches across that hang in little bunches of 2 – 5 and are shaped in a trumpet-like form.

Woody Perennials For down to earth landscaping

These hardy vines are occasionally seen high up in the trees, climbing their way up by use of the plants’ tendrils. The Crossvine has leaves that grow to 4 – 6 inches long and are usually about 2 inches wide; there is also a third leaflet which is modified into a tendril. Changing from a deep, dark green in the summertime to a gorgeous reddish-purple in winter, the Crossvine has semi-evergreen leaves that are persistent and glossy. This is a gorgeous choice for any luscious woodsy area.

Numerous native grasses and plants, which can be used in restoration and pond planting, are available as well. Among the more popular is many a landscaper’s favorite, Chairmaker’s Bulrush (Scirpus Americanus). This native midwestern grass is a perennial with long rhizomes and part of the sedge family. The seeds of the Bulrush are a favorite of many species of shorebirds and waterfowl, as well as many types of songbirds. Geese and beavers will munch delightedly on the rhizomes of this shoreline grass and the dense growth of some species of this plant will offer comfortable cover for various wildlife species, making it one of the best solutions for your sometimes-difficult down to earth landscaping need for a water-edge plant.

There are so many more native, midwestern woody perennials available, you are sure to find whatever you need and desire to plan your next big down to earth landscaping job. Look no further; the perennials you’ve been searching for, no matter how large or how small, how simple or how luxurious, are close at hand! Order today!…

Evergreen Landscaping Ideal

This may sound like a strange concept. You are probably thinking to yourself, “Isn’t all landscaping green?” Actually not all landscaping is green, there are some things you need to watch out for when planning your evergreen landscaping and the plants that you want to put in.

Evergreen Landscaping Ideas

1. How much rain does your area get each summer? Will you need to water often or do you need to try and find drought tolerant plants?

2. Try to find species that are native to the area you live in. If the species are native to the area that means they will need less maintenance than plants that are not native.

3. If the plants you want to use are not native, are they invasive? Invasive means will they spread if not contained.

4. Do you want annuals or perennials? Do you want to have to replant each spring, or do you want a garden that comes back each year?

5. Is the area you are landscaping sunny or shady most of the day?

6. Do you want to add hardscaping to the yard? Hardscaping means patios, walls, or pathways.

7. Do you want a water feature in the landscape landscaping ideas

Evergreen landscaping takes all these things into consideration. Landscaping that uses mainly native materials, whether plants or types of stone, is usually considered to be “greener”. This is because landscaping with materials that are native to the area makes less of an impact on the surrounding land. For instance if you live in a hot dry climate, planting species that take a lot of water to survive is going to be harder on the surrounding land, and will take more resources, not to mention work on your part.

Evergreen Landscaping

This does not mean that you cannot have a beautiful landscape. You just need to plan ahead. Consulting a landscape specialist in the area is usually a good idea. Most landscapers will be happy to talk to you about your plans even if you are going to do the work yourself. They can help you find plants and materials that do well in your area and provide a beautiful outdoor setting.

Let’s go back to that hot, dry climate for a minute; this would be a good area for hardscaping. Adding an outdoor patio with a pergola would be perfect in this area. It would not only add usable outdoor space that is shaded, it would also help to keep the interior of your home cooler. Spaces like this that reduce the inside temperature of your home are considered green because they help reduce the amount of energy it takes to cool your home. They usually increase the value of your home as well. This can be an excellent idea even if you do not live in a hot, dry area.

When you are planning your evergreen landscaping, think about your lifestyle and how much time you will have to maintain it. Many people just do not have the time to replant each spring, and some just do not want to have to mess with replanting. Not all of us are avid gardeners. I usually suggest a combination of annuals and perennials, just because it is nice to be able to change the look of your outdoor space from time to time.
For those that want a beautiful space with almost no work involved though, perennials are the best solution. These are plants that will grow again each spring with very little effort on your part. If you still want to add some different colors you can always use planters for a few annuals.

Beautiful outdoor spaces are in demand all over the world. Ensuring that your space is also green is just an added bonus.…

Tropical Backyard Landscaping Ideas

When we think of vacations, we automatically think of white sand beaches and palm trees. If you want to have a piece of this relaxing ambiance, then you should be on the lookout tropical backyard landscaping ideas.

How to Have a Relaxing Backyard Landscaping

It’ll be very dandy if you can take the tropics with you. It’ll make for a very refreshing environment. If I may say so, it will even feel like you are taking a vacation all year round if you have this kind of landscape right in your own backyard landscaping ideas

There are major considerations to achieve this kind of landscape. And whether you will hire a landscape artist or you design your own, fact remains that you still have to go through every aspects of backyard landscaping you get the kind of landscape that’s perfect for your home. Some of these are:

Plants Play

Plants play a very essential role in achieving the tropic feel of your backyard. The choice of plants you are going to feature in the backyard landscaping is one important thing you need to focus on. In choosing the plants, you need to think of those kind which is easily associated with the main theme of your landscape, which, in this case is the tropics.
For example, when you think of tropical vacation, you can immediately picture out palm trees. The same goes when choosing which kind of flowering plants and ground covers you’re going to use.

Fixtures Pathways

From pathways to stones to outdoor furniture, each of these fixture must complement with the overall theme of your landscape. Due attention should be given when selecting the furniture and fixtures found in your backyard.

Pathways for example, are important for you to enjoy thoroughly the lush greeneries in your backyard. You can complement it with shells or tropical stones scattered around the whole place. If you are deciding on furniture, it is best that you go for wooden ones or at least those that complement the surroundings.

Water Features

Water is one of the key feature in tropical backyard landscape ideas. Most landscape of these types include a pool as the focal point of the whole landscape. If a pool is out of the question, have at least a fountain or a pond included.

ater is both refreshing and very stimulating. There’s something definitely relaxing when we get to hear splashes or even the gentle sounds made by flowing water. Thus, this feature helps enormously in achieving the look as well as the feel of your backyard landscape.…

Ideal Small Backyard Landscape Ideas

With funds tight these days, maybe buying a large jungle gym or swing set for your child isn’t feasible. However, it doesn’t mean that your backyard needs to remain a vast wasteland either. Below you will find a few ideas to transform a piece of your small backyard landscaping ideas.

Small Backyard Landscape Ideas

The sunflower fort is a great idea for people who have a relatively flat and grassy backyard. When the sunflowers have finished growing, your children will have a secret garden to play in that allows for both shade and sunshine landscaping ideas

Sunflower Fort

Germinate the seeds 3-4 days prior to planting by placing seeds between a few damp paper towels. The seeds that have started to germinate after 3 or 4 days are ready to be planted. Outline a square in a sunny area of your backyard, preferably on flat land, at least 5 feet on each side. You could also outline a rectangle.

Create a 2 foot wide space on one of the sides of the outline. Plant sunflower seeds in a straight line. Water the seeds as necessary.
Tips: Plan in advance, as you’ll need time for the sunflowers to grow. When the back of the sunflower turns brown, harvest the flower for seeds!

Reader’s Corner

If your child likes to read and the weather is amenable, creating a shady little reading nook for your him or her would be a welcome surprise. A simple set-up such as a child sized blow-up chair, some bottles of water, a tin of cookies, and a blanket are a perfect set-up. Complete the area with some of her favorite books and let her know that is her space for reading.

Hammock “Tent”

Usually the space beneath your hammock is much good for anything except for grass. A 6-7′ foot pole can be used to transform your favorite napping place to a wonderful “tent” for little ones. It’s a simple matter of securing the pole into the ground in the middle of the hammock, then gently letting the hammock fall on top of the pole. This works by itself for a canvas hammock, but if you have a net hammock, use a pillow between the hammock and the pole.

Tree House

The ultimate in childhood fun has become more rare these days largely due to homeowners insurance regulations. However, if you have a sturdy tree worthy of a house for your little ones to safely play in, nothing beats a tree house. A quick search on the net will provide you with loads of blueprints and plans to build your child’s dream “tree” home.

You may pay a bit more for a tree house, but the rewards are certainly worth it, and a well-made tree house has a lot more character than an assembly line jungle gym/swing set.…

Backyard Landscaping Ideas

There are so many ways to spruce up your home nowadays. If you haven’t already noticed, countless residential homeowners are always searching high and low for interior decorating tips, as well as backyard landscaping ideas. Anything that will make their humble abode look more appealing and desirable is sought after. Furthermore, you want to be able to make your house your home. It needs all of those quirky little details and customizations that reflect your personality and preferences. Fortunately you don’t have to look far to get a few backyard landscaping ideas these days. There are countless ideas provided n television shows, as well as online.

Top Backyard Landscaping Ideas

A few websites that are sure to assist you with backyard landscaping ideas are , , and . It is a good idea to check all of these out and start brainstorming a bit. Consider your piece of property. How large is your yard and what all do you have to work with? Maybe you have toyed with the idea of putting a fountain or gazebo out back. You can acquire all sorts of equipment and supplies at local home improvement stores. After all, you may need a variety of materials like bricks, stones, pebbles, sod, mulch, plants, and even trees to get started. Once you have an idea in your head, you can run with it.

Backyard Space

There truly is no limit to what you can do with your backyard space. If you can dream it up, you can likely make it happen. However, you need to keep in mind your budget. How much are you actually willing to spend? You may have to consider both the cost of materials, as well as the cost of labor. If you plan on having someone else, such as a professional landscaper, come in and do all of the work, this can really add up to a lot of money fast landscaping ideas

herefore you should get quotes from a few different landscaping professionals before you actually go ahead with any backyard landscaping ideas. This will help you save money. Consider tackling the Top backyard landscaping ideas plans on your own. This way you only have to worry about the cost of supplies.

Although mulch, rock pebbles, and gazebo materials can cost some money, it is a lot cheaper to only buy them, and not have to deal with the cost of labor. There is nothing better than making your home the home you want to live in. Therefore you should really explore any backyard landscaping ideas you have in mind. Once you create your own little private oasis, you will be much more satisfied with the abode overall. You should also keep in mind resale value, which will go up if you landscape the yard nicely.…

Hillside Landscaping Ideas

Do you have sloped land in your yard? Does it make an eyesore to you and to the neighborhood? Well, you can create a beautiful and outstanding scene out of it by the art of landscaping. Hillside landscaping is such a creative but challenging work to be accomplished. And it will be more challenging if the landscape is to be done in sloping land. It needs some extra effort and devoted time because the problem regarding soil erosion is needed to be solved and the inability for the water to be held.

Hillside Landscaping

Using your creative and imaginative minds can transform the bare hillside into an eye catching and attractive hillside landscape. Just do not be afraid to try out new ideas to make your hillside landscaping ideas a great work of art! And of course, just have fun! This is important so that you will not get bored as you create your personal design.
But how to transform the bare hillside into a haven getaway?
Here are some hillside landscaping tips.

First is to clean and manage your area. Unnecessary things such as garbage and weeds must be taken away before you start landscaping your sloping land. This is important to make sure that redundant works are eliminated.

Great Backyard Landscape Ideas

Second is to solve the soil erosion problems. Since you are about to landscape an area which is very susceptible to soil erosion, you need to deal with it first to avoid the damage once you get your hillside landscaping started. You can do this by planting shrubs and covering the land with mulches. Mulches are not only functioning to reduce soil erosion but to protect the plants as well when cold weather approaches. It also helps in maintaining good level of moisture in your land.

Third would be to bring features that would interest you and the passersby. Bringing in interesting elements in your hillside landscape will give a different impact in your hillside landscape. In addition, this will be used as your personality reflection.

Fourth is to set up retaining wall. This is done to put extra security to the sloping land. However, the wall that will serve as a security wall must not ruin the entire looks of the hillside landscape but rather add first-class looks and styles to it. On the other hand, additional resources and help should be applied when needed.

Fifth is to have a list of all things that you will need in starting your project. This will eliminate the chance of having difficulty of getting this and that once the actual landscaping has begun.
And finally, when designing your hillside make it an attention grabber. Make sure that the features and designs are visible even at some distance. In this way, member of the public who happens to passed by would think greatly of the scene that they have viewed form garden even from afar.

It is really a good thing that you are able to transform any rough and bare land into a beautiful and most rewarding surrounding for you, your family and your neighborhood by just making use of your imagination, originality and innovation. In addition, commitment and time will make the best out of your landscaped garden.…

Designing a Above Ground Pool Landscaping

Above Ground Pool Landscaping

An above ground pool landscaping is quite different from an ordinary landscape. Unlike an ordinary landscape, a swimming pool landscape has some limitations in the planting area. Aside from the fact that you cannot plant directly on the ground when you’re planting in and around your pool, you also need to put up with some width and height limitations that wouldn’t otherwise have existed. Here are some tips that you can follow if you are planning to design your swimming pool landscaping ideas

Do your Research

Your end result will work out better if you do some research before you proceed with landscaping. Aside from looking for above ground pool landscaping ideas online and in magazines, you should also look into which kinds of plants you want to include and what kind of soil you’ll need as a result. If you know someone who has a swimming pool landscape then make sure to chat with them as they can probably give you some more great tips.

Know your Flower Beds

You should also have a clear picture of how you ant your flower beds to look before you begin. First, you should know the measurements you want for them – their exact length, width and depth. If they have some curved areas, you should also take note of that and make an estimate measurement. Additionally, measure your desired distance between the fence or screen and the flower bed. Do this for all the flower beds in the swimming pool area.

Plan the Landscape

Now that you know the exact measurements of your flower beds, it is time to plan your landscape. By now, you should have some ideas on which plants can grow near your pool. You should now plan which plant species will go in your flower beds and how you’ll arrange them. If you can, make a rough drawing of how the plants will look.

Know your Plants

It may help to research the background of each plant that will go into your landscape before you begin. Aside from knowing how to maintain them, you should also know how big they can grow. Many do-it-yourself landscapers are surprised to learn that plants which look good in pictures grow too big or don’t work with the shape of the pool when they’re full sized. Don’t let this happen to you.

In the same way, you should also take note of other things that may harm you or your above ground pool landscaping. Does it constantly shed leaves? This can clutter your pool. Does it have thorns or spikes? This is not good if you are going to have children around the pool. Does it multiply on its own? This can be a problem if you have limited planting space. Always research your plants before you use them in your landscape.

Decide on a Landscape Dressing

Once you have decided on your plants and have planted them based on their size and growth habits, it is time to finish the landscape with some dressing. Decide if you will use lava rocks, plain dirt or lava rocks to cover the soil. Some creative landscapers may even want to use shells.

If you’ve done all this then congratulations, you’re done! You have just successfully designed your own swimming pool landscape.…

Ideas for Green Thumb Landscaping

Green thumb landscaping is landscaping without the use of dangerous chemicals or harmful methods that will destroy the environment. Green landscaping helps to restore all the natural resources back to the earth that has been taken away by misuse.

Green Thumb Landscaping

Most of us have become aware of the damage that chemical products have done and are now trying to do our best to use only natural products. We have also started using less water on our gardens for conservation. We also realize that many of the chemicals we use are probably a big cause of the climate changes around the world. Now is a good time to research ways to help and creating a green landscape would be a great start.

There are a few things to consider before thinking about any green landscaping ideas. The first to consider is the climate in your part of the country. Temperate climate zones will tolerate a wide variety of plants but an arid climate zone will only support a smaller variety. In either climate zone you want to conserve water and it is better to select plants that drought tolerant and still be able to handle their own climate environment. The second consideration is the elevation such as high mountain areas, rocky areas or marshy areas with heavy water content in the soil. Whichever area you reside, it is best to purchase drought tolerant native plants.

In most cases it is how you water the landscape not how often to water. The majority of sprinkler systems spray water way too high and the water ends up on the sidewalk or driveway and not on the landscape. This water gets wasted and finds its way to the sewer. The best way to water your landscaping is by using a drip irrigation system where the water spray is low to the ground and goes right to the plants’ roots. Another good way to water is by using soaker hoses, these hoses sit on the ground and seep water directly the plants’ roots. Both these irrigation systems work very well on individual plants, trees, shrubs, and lawns in your green thumb landscaping.

If your family uses environmentally friendly shampoos, soaps, and detergents you can hook that gray water to your drip irrigation system; this will save you money on your fresh water usage. Another green thumb landscaping tip is to use collected rain water to water your green landscape and to conserve water usage for your home. Many people collect rain water from their roofs each time it rains by directing their gutters directly to one or two rain barrels. You would be surprised how much water comes off a roof and how much money you can save.

There are a number of components that will help with green landscaping namely compost or natural fertilizers, mulch, native plants and ornamental grasses. Your grassy landscape can become very dependent on water unless you water less often; keep the grass at an optimal length and mulch. During hot weather the length of the grass should be a little longer in order to keep the soil cool and to retain moisture. Even better start mowing with a push reel mower, this way you will keep harmful pollutants out of the atmosphere; you not only will be cutting down on noise but will maintain your muscles.

Natural Materials

Another way of using natural materials on your lawn is to use a mulching lawn mower that will chop up grass clippings; by leaving the chopped up grass clippings on your lawn it will begin to decompose and fertilize your grass. If your grass is long just bag the clippings and add to the compost pile. Another way to conserve water, prevent weeds and cool roots is to use organic mulch around the plants. These are just a few things you can do when creating a green landscaping.…

The Best Options For Desert Landscaping

You can not just pick any plants because died plants cannot do much for your property. Spend a while to think carefully about your desert landscaping plan and confirm that everything is suitable for the climate of your area.

Desert Landscaping

Using a better irrigation might keep your plants alive but its time consuming and also cost you a lot. It will be much better if you just stick to an easier plan which includes only plants with high survivability under the hot climate.

The best thing about desert landscaping friendly plants is that the plants will survive under the hot tempered sun and adapt to the bad characteristic soils. Do not look down to those abilities because the areas under the hot sun usually have bad soil too. You do one thing, but you get two results. Here are the list of beautiful plants that you can employ in your desert landscaping ideas

Longwood Blue bluebeard

This is a shrub, it is deciduous and it will grow back each and every spring. Its capability to restore health and happiness makes it very great for desert landscaping. It is a big shrub; it can grow up to three and four feet high and two feet wide. You will love this shrub in your desert landscaping because it has beautiful blue flower clusters and silver foliage. Furthermore, it also spread a very nice fragrance.

Autumn Joy

Autumn Joy is a lovely evergreen that perfect your desert landscaping with its great amount of leaves which twist beautifully. It has many leaves colors which can fit with any plant in your garden. It is also suitable for any desert landscaping plan. If there is a plant that should always be used in any desert garden, this is that plant. It grows easily anywhere, even on the rocky gardens. It also has beautiful flowers that you have never seen anywhere before.

The flowers have different colors and shades, mostly are red, pink, yellow, and orange. One thing for sure; this plant attract butterflies which give even more peaceful nuance to your garden.…

A Sense of Welcome – Front Yard Landscaping Ideas

One of the key decisions when drawing up a garden design is how to approach the front yard landscaping ideas. Behind the house, in the backyard, you can hide a million things that nobody sees, but the front yard is your home’s ‘public’ face as it were. So this begs the question – how do you want others to see it – and therefore you? Another consideration is value adding. Quality landscaping can 5% – 10% value to your property – and this can benefit you if want to borrow against accumulated equity or, more importantly, if you are putting the house or property up for sale. Good landscaping doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg – even if the front yard is quite large. Trees can fill up large spaces when combined with lawns. They also can add a touch of serenity or elegance landscaping

Front Yard Landscaping Ideas

By their shape and foliage trees can also add be an extra architectural feature in their own right. This can also be true in small front gardens if you use trees like silver birches or Japanese maples or flowering cherries or almonds. Some simple beds of cottage flowers are easy to construct and inexpensive – and with all the color you can obtain from annuals like marigolds, foxgloves or petunias and the like – you add both a sense of welcome and enhance the front yard with beauty. The main aim is to create a sense of invitation and accessibility. As we don’t use the front for much else, it doesn’t have to cost a lot. A simple design front yard landscaping ideas usually works best.

DIY Front Yard Landscaping

Anyone can do their own front yard landscaping ideas if they need to save the expense of professional landscape architects. If you do not know what to choose, simply look around at the better gardens in the street and neighborhood – to see what you like – and if they look healthy, then you know they will also work in your garden. Good gardeners love to talk about plants and garden owners will identify the names of the plants if you don’t know them. They will also pass on tips if you need them. You also can take a leaf from a plant or a digital picture, and your local nursery should be able to identify the plant from that.

Care And Maintenance

All plants prefer good well drained soil, mulching and occasional feeding with manure and other targeted feed from time to time. In the heat of summer keeping up the mulch will conserve water and keep your plants happy. Having said that, many plants will grow in soils and conditions that are not optimal. I have grown roses will in the tropics – with a constant fight against fungal diseases! But I deemed it worth it as I can’t live without roses! The better the growing conditions the better the plant will be of course.

Soils can always be improved and mulching helps be more water wise in dry regions. Clays can be broken down with gypsum and sandy soils can be built up with regular mulch and manure. If you need information on how to plant (soil, mulch etc), the local nursery will always provide free advice. They will also tell you what plants are drought resistant, tough, not delicate and how fast they grow and what maintenance they need.

Quality comes from balance and careful placement of what plants you choose for your front area. Simplicity works well, as do more complex designs that incorporate a wide range of plantings and features like cottage garden beds, hedges, trees, bushes, arches, fountains and so on. Add to that a perception of order (in the sense of tidy, not necessarily formality). Finally, adding subtle landscape lighting can heighten the beauty of your garden and make your front yard landscaping an asset at night as well as in daylight.

Keep an eye open for “The Backyard: Trash-heap or Treasure?” (Landscaping For Beauty And The Environment – Part 4)… and later a dirty story (Soils ain’t dirt!)…

Tips Desert Landscaping Ideas

Everyone tends to think of the desert areas such as the area around Phoenix Arizona as being hot. While its true that the desert is hot, the characteristic that is most defining about the Phoenix area is that it is very arid and lacks the humidity of many of the other areas. In fact, the desert can be, and often is very cold. To qualify as a desert, it is necessary that your area has a rainfall total of under ten inches each year. Most of the state of Arizona meets that which is why it’s often difficult to get the kind of desert landscaping ideas that you might want in this type of an environment.

Desert Landscaping Ideas

Regular kinds of desert landscaping ideas in this dry environment isn’t going to be functional. The reasons why normal landscaping techniques for regular environments isn’t a viable solution is that it would require a vast array of energy and water and resources to make normal things bloom in the desert. Yes, you can accomplish it but the reality is that you’re going to be using a wide array of things that you could live without and still get that blooming desert.

Water and power are not infinite resources. Using them unwisely is simply not the right way to go. Yes, you can do those things but the reality is that they are no longer fashionable or smart. The desert has it’s own kind of beauty and a relatively knowledgeable desert landscaping artist will be able to help you to find that beauty, to offer you splashes of color, even help you to get a water feature that is useable in the desert without eating away at resources.

Your quality landscaper knows the inherent beauties that can be found in the desert and how to offer the color and the textures that you want without sacrificing the precious resources that are found in the desert. He or she will be best able to advise you about how to use native plants or plants that are well suited to the quality of soil and the arid environment that is found in the desert.

Desert Landscaping

sing native plants instead of imported plants, using plants that are well suited to the desert and the wildlife there means that you’re going to be well able to enjoy natural beauty, beautiful flowers and brilliant colors without using up vast resources, vast energy, and paying out major amounts of money and time to keep and maintain your landscaping properly landscaping ideas

Among the many plants that you can use which are brilliant in color and texture are cacti, succulents, yucca, agave, and even mesquite trees, as well as flowers like the Arizona yellow bell, the desert daisies and others which offer you those splashes of color that you want. The best kind of desert plant life will be the native plants. Your Phoenix area or Arizona landscaping professional can help you to select the best type of plants for your desert landscaping ideas project.…

Home Depot Landscaping Rocks Project

It is a well-known fact that if you want to improve curbs appeal of your home depot landscaping rocks and property is through landscaping. This has made many home owners to have an interest in starting a home landscaping project. In this article tips which are useful in helping one complete the project successful are outlined and discussed in detail.

Home Depot Landscaping Rocks

This should be the first thing you should do before the start of any home depot landscaping rocks project. You should be aware of what you have in your home yard. You should make notes of the features that interest you in your yard. Some of such features may include trees and so on. They you can go ahead and create a landscaping design which is based on the features that interest you.

Have a look at you neighborhood

You can do some online research about the best available landscaping designs. The designs should incorporate the style you prefer your yard to be set at. If you like something about your neighborhood you can have a copy of it. If you come across a home with an amazing, you can have a picture of it. You should drive your inspiration from everyplace.

Have a look at your home style

It is important to understand that when it comes to landscaping design, the style in which your home depot landscaping rocks was built matters a lot. For instance, you are living in a home built with old Victorian style it would not match with tropical Hawaiian theme. If you decorate your home with non-matching style, it is likely to have a ridiculous look. Therefore ensure that your home matches with a given landscaping rocks theme.

Have a look at your final design needs

What is the main purpose of the landscaping design project you are undertaking? Are you after creating an outdoor room or increasing the entertainment space, creating an ideal place for children to play. Your final design needs determine a lot of how you want your landscaping design to be.

Hire a professional landscaping company

A professional landscaping company will play a big role in ensuring that your project is successful. The main advantage of hiring such a company is that they have a wealth of experience in home landscaping projects.

To ensure that your home landscaping project adds value and appeal to your property you should ensure that it is carried out by professionals and it is completed in a functional and attractive manner.…

Evans Landscaping Projects For Spring

As Summer grows nearer for the residents of Arizona, we begin to think about those tasks that we would ideally do prior to the arrival of the real heat to Arizona. The next two months will be ideal to carry out those changes that you’d like to make to your garden and evans landscaping prior to the more heated days of the summertime.

Evans Landscaping

Your garden and landscaping in Phoenix are a big deal to you because the outside is where we choose to spend a great deal of our time in the summer. Not only does it offer a greater amount of comfort to us in the evening, but spending time cooking outdoors means that we don’t heat up the kitchen and the entire home when we make a meal.
The cooler spring days such as are arriving now are the ideal time to begin taking out lawn furniture and other items that you may have stored for the season. Arranging the items on the patio, beginning plants indoors that you will transfer outside in a few weeks should also take place.

Herbs may safely be planted outside now and achieve full growth early on when you’re dealing with Phoenix weather and landscaping. In addition to these tasks, now is the perfect time to assess the things that you want to add to your yard or garden and to begin planning with your Phoenix area landscaper. Phoenix weather is perfection and spending the time outside to take advantage of it means that you’re going to want added features in your garden landscaping near me

If you’re considering an outdoor kitchen or a grilling area off the patio of your Phoenix home, there is not a better time than now to get that accomplished. Likewise that pizza oven outdoors that you’ve always wanted will be easily accomplished in the springtime months and be ready for your use when the real heat rolls into your evans landscaping

Phoenix landscape

With the ground truly thawed now, excavation can begin for your raised bed planting, as well as for any water features that you’ve been considering. Consulting a Phoenix landscaper to assist you in the planning as well as the implementation of any new items that you’ve been considering is in your best interests.

You will want to add your home improvements to your Phoenix yard before the summer heat makes it harder to work outside. Likewise you’re going to want them to be ready to use when those summer evenings are in full swing.

Consulting a landscaper and beginning to plan your Phoenix area evans landscaping projects now means that you’re going to be ahead of the game and ready to relax in your outdoor paradise well before summertime.…

Create a Creek Bed With Landscaping Rocks

How many times have you looked at your beautifully landscaping rocks and felt there was something missing. An empty area that just needs to be spruced up a bit to make it look just right. Or, have you ever had a perfectly imagined yard only to see a trail of washed away topsoil and vegetation after a long storm. If that is the case then a creek bed just might be the answer to your woes.

Landscaping Rocks

These beautiful features can liven up a landscaping project as well as facilitate drainage in your yard. Using a creek bed can reduce erosion and keep your lawn looking great. While these are great reasons to get a creek bed nothing beats the fact that like anything you do with landscaping rocks if you install it, you can leave it be and it will keep looking great without any up keep. That is the greatest benefit to any landscaping rocks project, no maintenance landscaping

Now that we know what a creek beds can do and what they bring to your landscaping project, let us get down to how to put a natural looking creek bed on your property the right way. The first decision that must be made is where you want to place the creek bed. The right location is key to a well executed creek bed. The best spot would be along a natural drainage path.

Landscaping Project

If you live in an area with a lot of rainfall many times these areas will have substantial erosion due to the excess water flow. Other locations that are excellent for a creek bed are below a rain gutter or by the drainage area for a hot tub or above ground pool. Find a place where water will flow and that enhances the look of your landscaping project.
Once the location is selected you will need to dig out the path you wish your creek bed to follow.

In some cases the erosion from the water flow has already done this job for you. The path should be from one to two feet deep and have a slope of around 30 degrees. The slope is essential as it will give the water a channel to flow through when it is needed and create the look and feel of a natural creek bed when it is dry. It is also important not to forget to add some curves and bends to the path to make it look more natural. For there is nothing more boring than a straight creek or less natural.

Landscaping Fabric

After the trench is dug and the path laid out the next step is to lay down landscaping fabric or a weed barrier along the path you plan to use. This is one of the most important steps for if you continue without the landscaping fabric weeds will begin to grow between the rocks and ruin your creek bed. Not to mention increase the amount time you will have to spend pulling weeds, when the landscaping fabric would have eliminated that issue from the start. So, do not forget the landscaping fabric or you will regret it in the near future.

Finally we get to actually installing the landscaping rocks. It is important to use a heavy rock when you are creating a creek bed. The best bet is naturally a type of river rock. River rock great because it is easy to find and relatively inexpensive, I guess it is called river rock for a reason. But, if you are set on something else, other forms of landscaping rock can work as well as a good river rock.

It must be stressed that it is best to stay away from lava rock and other lighter landscaping rocks as they can get swept away by any water flow through your creek bed. This will force you to replace your rock regularly, so make sure you are using a heavy rock for your project. Now it is time to install the rocks evenly through out your creek bed. It is best to make the rocks form a smooth channel without any obstructions that could block the flow of water while still making the bed look natural. In other words, do not pile the rocks up, but do not line them up in rows either.

Now that the rocks are laid your creek bed is finished. You now have a beautiful accent for your landscaping project. You can now enjoy your hard work and know that while grass needs to be cut and shrubs trimmed, your creek bed will remain the same without having to maintain it. Now that is what I call a day well spent working in the yard. So, congratulations on finishing you project and remember a well …

Your Guide to Brightview Landscape 

Brightview Landscaping lights are a great way to light up paths and walkways around your residence or business at night. These lights come in all different styles and are made by many different manufacturers. They are environmentally friendly and require no electricity to operate.

Brightview Landscape

hese sources of landscape lighting need to have the sun’s full light during the day in order to operate well. Solar landscape lights use small solar cells to charge their batteries which are built into the actual light fixture. You do not have to run wires for solar landscape lights since they operate from their own batteries. By receiving a full charge from the sun all day, the battery is able to provide enough of its own electricity to illuminate the lighting after the sun goes down. Most of them can stay powered for up to twelve hours.

Brightview landscaping lighting can be set-up in the ground, but they can also be installed or mounted on walls, fences, decks or patios. They can be placed on a hanging post along your walkway or path. Along the walkway or sidewalk, they help to light a safe walkway path. They can be used to light up parts of your garden as well. The key factor in purchasing any type of solar landscape light is the PV panel.

Landscape Features

This is what charges the battery and needs to be in a spot where it will receive the most sunlight. If there is too much shade surrounding the PV panel by trees or buildings or maybe landscape features, the battery will not charge properly if at all. The winter time can change the number of hours of sunlight you will have during the day by up to fifty percent. The battery’s life will be reduced if there is not enough light in the day time to power the lighting landscaping ideas

Before you purchase any type of brightview landscaping, find out from the store sales clerk or the manufacturer of the lighting if you are able to buy replacement bulbs and batteries. Solar lights have come a long way from when their earlier versions. They still do not produce lighting that will be as bright as a traditional lighting with low voltage. The best types of solar landscape light are durable, stainless steel and weather resistant. They have advanced battery cells that store more energy more efficiently.

Solar landscaping lights provide added security to your home by brightening darker yard areas. They accent your garden by adding charm, especially in rock gardens or flower beds. They add beauty and style and can be incorporated into any landscape design. Solar landscape lighting can decorate any yard. They come in colors like red and green for Christmas, and pastels for Easter. You can also get party lights in solar form for evening gatherings to use around the yard. Solar landscaping lights are easy to put together and easy to install and do not require any type of maintenance. These make a great way to show off your yard.…

Awesome Back and Front Yard Landscaping Ideas

Most amateur front yard landscaping ideas include some grass, a tree or two and maybe a flower bed. And sadly, a lot of people completely ignore their backyards outside of the grass, the pool or a vegetable garden. But the benefits that come from adding professional landscape to your back yard or front lawn are incredible. Everything from the worth of your property to the condition of your neighborhood can change when you commit to professional landscaping. Your front yard and back yard will not only look great, but the improvements have some terrific additional benefits, too landscaping ideas

Front Yard Landscaping Ideas

Energy Conservation: You can actually cut down on your utility bills with professionally landscaped front yards. If your home sits on a corner property, or faces an intersecting road, you probably get the full force of the sun and wind. NJ landscapers take those elements into account when they create designs, and as such might plant trees that will provide shade (keeping A/C costs down), or construct hardscapes that will protect your home from the winter winds (keeping heating costs down.) Some front yard landscape designs even help absorb the heat of the sun by working like a natural form of insulation

Bio-Diversity: In the interest of honesty, it has to be said: bugs are pests. Grubs and beetles will eat your plants, and mosquitoes are both annoying and dangerous. But when you have someone professionally landscape your backyard, you get a person who knows which plants will attract which insects or birds, and which are more likely to attract bugs or rodents. Certain flowers will attract butterflies, who will take of pollination, saving you money on expensive “flower food” or fertilizers. And while birds might be a problem when you first seed a yard, they also eat the bugs that may destroy your plants later.

Additional Living Spaces: Most people want to get the most use they can out of their outdoor spaces. When you landscape your backyard, you can create an additional living space for you and your family to enjoy on nice days. You can have a design team build the perfect outdoor kitchen, or create a peaceful Zen garden. You can even incorporate such elements into your front yard landscape designs, too. If you have a large front lawn, why not add a reading corner or a water fountain? Professionals who create landscaped front yards for a living know how to make private areas for you to use, so that you can utilize all of your space without feeling exposed to the neighborhood.

Curb Appeal: Landscaping your front yard adds monetary value to your house – period. Landscaped front yards look better, encourage sustainability and water conservation, and promote the value of the neighborhood. In fact, studies have shown that people searching for their first home believe good landscaping is indicative of better housekeeping – a fact NJ landscapers will willingly share. So by landscaping your front yard, you’re showing the world that you devote time and energy to maintaining your house. Think about it: who on earth would dedicate so many hours to pruning the trees and mowing the lawn if the roof leaked or the foundation was bad, right?

Continuing the Landscape into Your Backyard

There’s a lot to be said for continuity, and having your front yard landscape designs flow into the back yard is a good idea. Hiring a design team is the easiest way to do this, because they’ll know exactly how to create beautiful front yard landscape designs that become useful and practical in the back yard.

Need an example? Let’s say that while landscaping your front yard, you decide you want to add a natural stone wall to set off the plants and shrubs that have already been planted. When it comes time to design the back yard, you need to reconsider that stone choice: will it be strong enough to double as pavers? Will you need to double the amount you purchase because your back yard is very large – or will they look out of place because your back yard is small? Will it break your budget?

Hiring professionals eliminates these issues, because they’ll already know which materials will work best for both beauty and utility. They’ll have a specific budget with which to landscape your backyard and your front yard, and can choose plants, stones and trees that are both pretty and sturdy. They’ll keep costs down, too, because all of the guesswork will be eliminated.

J landscapers make it a point to know which materials can be purchased locally, so that the natural environment of the area will flourish – and so that you won’t pay a fortune in shipping costs, either. Overall, it makes more sense to hire a contractor to …

Landscaping Ideas For Front Yard

We all want pages that are stylish, beauty is in the eye of the viewer with landscaping ideas for front yard. You see the truth, so it’s important that whatever style you choose pleases you. Here are five unusual view suggestions for pages.

Turn Your Home with Landscaping Ideas For Front Yard

This can be a variance on the style known as the Belgium doublet. Grow young trees a foot or two apart, however position the trees toward one another. Weave the trees under and over, connect all of them where they cross, cut just a little start barking away and they’ll grow with each other.

Lose the lawn, grow some food. These days increasingly more property owners take a look at their yard and understand that it’s the perfect time for something new! Originally the yard would be a symbol loved by nobility who needed individuals to know they were rich enough they might just grow lawn instead of veggies in their back yards front yard landscaping

Veggies are back, tear out the yard and put some fresh fruit in your desk. Same amount of water, absolutely no mowing and trimming. Make your declaration. Arborsculpture – the art of framing live sapling trunks With its origins in middle ages alchemy, this talent is actually spreading across scenery globally. Youthful trees are merely curved and trimmed into preferred designs landscaping ideas for front yard. Seats, garden shelters, bridges, boats, or perhaps a drive through archway where two saplings come to be one sapling across your drive.

Landscaping Ideas For Your Front Yard

There isn’t any limit to the selection of designs one can develop from living trees. The special moment of the artwork is incorporated in the fact that trees may grow with each other when grafted as with the lattice instance. Additionally whenever a sapling is locked in spot for a couple of years the brand new shape is forged completely. Uncommon sapling designs landscaping ideas for front yard that capture the attention may be easily developed.
Rocks – no water, no weeding

Landscape Supply

Rock work is available in every size and design. One inventive method to use rock would be to take a truck with lots of buckets to some landscape supply and fill up all of them with various coloured gemstones. Organize the stones into a mandala, or attempt to duplicate the Zen rock garden thought. For reduced upkeep yards, rock is hard to beat.

Fruit – less work than veggies but still saving you money
Apples and pears are a few of the simplest to grow. You might prefer to attempt some of the multiple variety apple trees, where as many as six various apples may develop on a single tree. For those who have a tree such as this become familiar with what type you like best as well as what type of apples may develop the best in your local weather.…

Decorative Large Landscaping Rocks

One of the best ways to add a special touch to your yard and flower beds is by using decorative large landscaping rocks. Using these rocks you can achieve a classy look that does not have to cost much. The uses of landscaping rocks are almost endless. You can use them to make borders or rings around trees. The latter can be a great way to keep both animals and people away from tree trunks to prevent damage. Rocks can also be used to make paths in your yard. This way you will not have to walk through the mud when the weather gets rainy. Steps can also be made using rocks as can walls, railings and even seats and tables.

Large Landscaping Rocks

One way to use large landscaping rocks is by stacking them around the edges of places where you don’t want people to walk. This is not only effective, it also looks great. You can use large stones for this and put them in the ground when the earth is slightly wet. Smaller stones can also be used. These should be stacked on top of each other. You will find that when stacking you will have to dig down into the ground a bit to anchor the bottom stones into the ground landscaping rocks

Landscaping with Rocks

Doing landscaping with rocks can be quite a bit of work and you should also be careful as it is easy to injure yourself when working with them. Before beginning your work it might be a good idea to do some research online on how to safely handle rocks and how to protect your hands and toes while working. If you will be using very large landscaping rocks you will probably need to rent equipment to move them around. This is why it is very important to plan ahead when using big rocks. Once they are in place you will not be able to move them easily.…

All Seasons Landscaping

Now that the fall has passed and the winter is in full swing in Arizona you’re starting to look forward to those milder temperatures that are headed into our direction in February and March. Starting the planning of your landscaping begins in these more temperate climates before the temperatures start to kick up into the mid-nineties. Before you begin to order those all seasons landscaping and to begin too many new projects you’re going to want to take a long look at what you can do during different times of the year in Arizona and climates like it.

All Seasons Landscaping  Maintenance

This time of the year, the late winter and early spring is the time when you’re going to want to really start looking at projects for early spring and summer and to begin projects that will bear fruit in the later summer and fall. This is the perfect time for you to be considering plants and planting all seasons landscaping that are going to be flowering and offering their best look months away from now in the late fall of next year.

Believe it or not, the coming two or three months are the best time for you to be considering, ordering and even planting things that aren’t going to really show up until August or September. If you want to have blossoms during the fall months, ordering them now and getting the beds ready, then planting in March is about the best time for you to be accomplishing these things if you live in a more arid climate such as Arizona.

Planting Plans

ou will plant early in the spring so that they are in the ground for a long enough time span prior to blooming in the fall. Along the way you might want to consider adding some trees or flowering shrubs such as the Arizona yellowbells or the African sumac to your planting plans all seasons landscaping at this time of the year. If you plant those during the early portions of the spring time when there is no danger of any type of frost, they will have time to really set their roots well and to get well set up prior to the high heat of the summer months and the very cool winter temperatures so they will avoid damage.

In addition to ordering bulbs and other items this time of year and planning your beds for springtime planting, you will also want to start your cacti inside if you’re planning on adding new succulents to your garden this year. The cacti or succulents can be a very brilliant addition to a desert garden and offer you a great way to give blooms while saving water and avoiding using plants that are not native to the desert area. Late winter and early spring garden chores do exist, even in the desert areas.

ake sure that you’re doing what you need to, or ordering those things that you are going to want to add to your summer and fall garden, now and in the next few months so that your garden is a blaze of color in the late summer and early fall.…