Landscaping Ideas

Front Yard Landscaping Ideas | Landscape Design For Front Yards

admin — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 15:07:44 +0000

Before going through these pictures of front yard landscaping ideas, you should already have a clear focus on the functions you want your landscape to address. Besides the obvious of being unique, creating curb appeal, and providing access and parking, what else should it have and do?

Being the front yard where everyone comes and goes, the landscaping will almost always need to be designed around some type of parking areas, walkways, and entryways. And with these needs clarified and designated in the plan, the type of front yard garden design that you need should be clearer and easy to find.

About your design. It’s unlikely that you’ll find the exact perfect match front yard garden design for your property. Who knows? You may get lucky but it’s doubtful. So as you look through the pictures, try to find different design ideas and shapes that will work in different areas of your landscape and piece them together. Most folks usually find this works for them with a lot less frustration.

Picture, Plans, And Tips

The best and biggest list of designs for front yards is actually completely free. See front yard landscaping ideas for several hundred design pictures from almost every theme style you can imagine. There are also many other picture categories which include backyards, ponds, walkways, rock gardens and more.

While we don’t have quite as large a collection on this site, we do have a nice collection of videos and some pictures. See front yard pictures and videos for a hand picked collection of some of the best landscape design videos online.

This is a good read. While not actually pictures to look at, the principles of landscaping front yards will help generate some good ideas in your head by giving you the why, what, and how behind making a front yard look good.
Access And Parking

As I pointed out before, landscape designs for the front will most always need walkways, paths, and sidewalks for access and entry to the home as well as driveways for parking. And once it’s established where they go, much of the design can simply be placed around them.

The style of the home as well as budget allowed for front yard landscaping ideas will generally determine the types of hardscape materials used. Regardless of type of materials used to create them, the garden paths and walkways that provide access to the home and other areas will be highly visible and possibly used a lot. So from a design standpoint, it’s often helpful to treat them as a primary element in the design. Make sure that your materials are the best match for your style of home that meets your budget.

For most homes, a driveway or some type of parking area is necessary. And once again, once the driveway areas are marked, it’s often possible to design a lot of your front yard landscape around them. Who knows? Maybe the whole thing will just come together.

Return From Front Yard Landscaping Ideas To Home Page

Landscaping In A Changing Climate

admin — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 16:54:25 +0000

A successful landscaping plan or garden will take all factors of the plan into account before deciding on the different materials and components of the design. This includes the climate and weather which is so often not even considered into the plan. Whatever design style you choose, it must work with your weather and climate. Adverse climate changes can really do a lot of damage to your landscaping, materials, and your plants. Landscaping and gardens will feel the effects of these seasonal changes even moreso in areas that go through all four seasons. So with that in mind, here are a few tips to help you design a landscape or garden that will work in an ever changing climate.

It should go without saying that your planting choices should be pulled from a list of what works and what’s available in your area. Used quite common in Desert and Southwest landscape design ideas, planting adaptive and native plants is a good way to ensure that the plants survive and thrive in any climate. Using native plants as much as possible will make your landscaping more beautiful and maintenance free year round. Native plants are already adapted to your local soil types so there’s usually no problem from changing soil types. Because they grow in your area, they should also be adapted to the climate of your region. Regardless of where you are, it’s a good possibility that there are lots of decorative native plants that will work in your landscape.

Another way to adapt your landscape to what kind of climate you have is to incorporate some tropical or Mediterranean landscape plants into your plans. A good thing about some tropical plant varieties is that they actually do very well in colder climates. Look around and see which tropical plants are doing well in your area well and you’ll have even another planting option. For most areas, there are enough tropical plant choices to make your landscape stunning with every season.

Another key to an all-climate landscaping design is diversity. Try using plants with different bloom times and patterns. This way, even when one type of plant dies at the end of the season, you’ll still have more stuff blooming in your yard or garden. The key here is knowing the different seasonal bloom schedules of your different plant choices. Choose at least one or two plant types that bloom in each season.

And of course, along with the plants, you can also use other decor and ornaments in your landscape design to add even more visual interest. Trinkets, ornaments, and other decor items are good since you generally don’t have to worry about them getting damaged because of climate changes. For the most part, many different elements like ponds, pavers, pathways, sculptures and other hardscapes can be added to your landscaping and garden to make it more inviting and appealing.

Front Yard Landscaping Basics

admin — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 14:17:26 +0000

Front yard landscape designs are based on an entirely different set of purposes and needs than designs created for backyards. A front yard will almost always have to address the need for access and entry into the home. Also, the front yard is the first part of the property that visitors and friends will see so this usually creates their first impression of the home. Front yards are where everyone enters and leaves the home but don’t usually spend a lot of time there.

For some, front yard landscapes can be very easy to design. In many instances, a front yard plan can get all or a big part of its design by simply designing the necessary hardscapes like walkways and driveways where they need to be and then creating a landscape design that surrounds that.

Planting ideas for front yards are often dependent on placement, position, and other aspects of the house. Just as the other landscaping elements like fences, walkways, and driveways, it’s important that the plants around the home also complement it. By softening the hard lines of the home, trees and shrubs have the ability to create unity between the house and its surrounding by helping the building seem more a natural part of the landscape.

The corners of the house and the front door are two areas that need special consideration. The door is actually a focal point of the house and it’s often a good idea to place shorter plants on either side of it so as to frame it but not block the view of it. For the corners however, tall plants are a great choice since they help soften the corners as well as lead the eye toward the front door and the plants that are framing it.

A few trees in the right locations usually works well in front yard landscaping ideas also because trees are one of the few elements large enough to proportionately frame the home. They can focus visual interest on the home making it the most outstanding feature in the landscape. Generally, you should grow trees that have a mature size that is within the same scale of the house. Take care when planting shade trees that they’re tall enough to create shade but not so tall that they dwarf the house. On the other side of the coin, planting shorter trees can make the house appear taller and possibly out of proportion as well.

Consider the different tree shapes and then select the ones with a shape that will accent the style of the home. A house with a steeply angled roof line and dormer windows normally call for pyramidal trees, like birch and spruces. For homes that are in the ranch style, horizontal or round shaped maples and dogwoods work very well.

Aside from the other plants and trees, an open lawn area is also important in most landscaping design styles as it can create a good setting for the house. Front yards with an area of lawn surrounded by uncluttered planting beds and shrubs can create the illusion of being a bigger space than it really is. When planting shrubs, keep in mind that they may seem to be out of place if not planted in designated planting and flower beds.

The most important step in creating beautiful front yard landscaping ideas is to start with a complete and finished design. Even if your plan is to build your landscape in steps over a period of time, a finished design plan is important just as blueprints are important to building a home. Without direction, you’ll probably end up with an obviously pieced together landscape design. Take a little time and research all the information in this article and begin drawing your design plans.

In a nutshell, front yard landscaping is about designing a creative and inviting entry while also framing and accenting the home. And creating an awesome plan can really be as easy as creating the walkways, driveways, and entries and then designing the plants and landscaping around them.

Landscaping Design Styles

admin — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 13:04:10 +0000

While there are a lot of gardens and landscapes that don’t go with any certain design style, there are a lot of specific characteristics that do create the make up of landscape design styles that are matched to certain home styles and geographic locations.

Different locations and areas are generally represented in landscape design styles by the different plant types used that area or country. So often you can change the entire theme and style of a landscape simply by changing the foliage and vegetation. However, architectural style of homes and buildings often determines geographic location which helps determine the plants that will be used.

Again, landscaping and garden design styles can be specific as well as neutral. Many gardens are based on themes that are independent of the style of home or location on the map. Mainly, these landscapes are designed with plants and decor that represent a specific theme or personal preference. So while you want to choose a design style that is stable to the climate, it doesn’t necessarily have to look like its surroundings.

Landscaping For Outdoor Christmas Yard Decorations

admin — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 18:40:00 +0000

So what does Christmas yard decorations, decorating, and lights ideas have to do with your landscaping and garden design? For some, nothing. For other folks who love to decorate for the holidays like the folks in Carlsbad, NM who decorate for Christmas On The Pecos, it should be a consideration. Things to consider when designing and creating landscaping and garden design ideas vary from person to person. And while decorating for the holidays may not be a priority for everyone, it should be considered into the landscaping plans for those who it is a priority.

Power Access For Your Decorations

When it comes time to decorate for Christmas or any other holiday, having access to plenty of electricity is a main consideration. It’s also the main setback of not being able to decorate the way you want to. While most modern homes have plenty of outlets at the home itself, very few have electricity in the yard. Some Christmas yard decorations and displays can use a lot of electricity and outlets. Having access directly at the point of use is so much better than having extension cords stretched out all over the lawn. So having electrical outlets installed strategically throughout the landscaping is the obvious solution.

It’s best and safest to have a licensed electrician do this project. Regardless of where you are, it’s probably law anyway.

The amount of power you’ll need will depend on the extent of your decorating habit and possible future growth of your displays. And over planning for too much is always better than not enough. Cost wise, there won’t be much difference. Consult with your electricians and they will create the right size power supply and network for your decorations. And have them place outlets where you know you’ll have Christmas yard decorations as well as for other holidays and possibilities.

A possible problem when adding electrical outlets to your yard and landscaping will be the visibility factor. Nothing is worse to a landscaping project than the presence of utilities. Along with others like utility poles, transformers, and meters, outlets can’t be avoided and so creative ways of hiding them or blending them with the landscaping is necessary. Generally, the easiest way to hide outlets is to place them in planting beds nearest to the areas where you’ll have Christmas yard decorations. There are also weatherproof outlet boxes that can be set directly into lawns and flowerbeds as well as artificial landscaping rocks. Regardless of how you do it, hiding the outlets will help keep your landscaping looking clean in the off season when there are no decorations and displays being used.

Garden Decor Ideas

admin — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 19:37:40 +0000

Most gardens are decorated with whimsical decor or displays that have personal meaning. And the majority creating the personality of so many gardens and landscapes is generally of a recycled or antique nature. New, modern, and purchased garden decor like gazing balls has its place. However, there is a lot to be said for the atmosphere and mystery that the antique and unusual can add to gardens and landscaping.

Whether purchased, found, borrowed, or recycled, personal garden decor can be almost anything. From decorative pots to old bicycles with baskets filled with flowers, it’s simply a matter of meaning, preference, or theme. So while some folks have a clear vision of theme and direction of their gardens, others may still need ideas to decorate. For those folks, we’ve created a directory at garden decor ideas that has pictures and ideas for decorating gardens and landscaping with common elements and antiques.

Generally, garden decor and decoration is more noticeable in small garden ideas than in large landscapes. In most instances it’s not that there is more of it but rather in small areas like patio design and courtyards there is more of a concentration where more pieces of decor can be visible at the same time.

Look through the directory, get some ideas, and be creative. The final touches of decorating your garden or landscaping should be something personal. And the pieces you need may just be laying around.

Landscaping Going Green

admin — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 14:59:48 +0000

By now, most everyone has heard the terms “sustainability” and “green” in reference to being environmentally conscious and responsible. Even still, a lot of people see green and sustainability like a new age environmentalist movement that doesn’t apply to them. Fortunately, most folks realize what green means and the importance of shifting our lives in that direction. For those who don’t, maybe a better definition will create a better understanding and urgency.

Sustainable green living has actually been practiced by certain groups and communities for a long long time. It’s remained a way of life for serious organic gardeners and even a few talented farmers. My grandpa’s farm was like that because that’s just the way it was back then. Natural methods did a better job of doing what all the harsh chemicals simply can’t do today.

Just as misunderstood, Xeriscaping or low water use landscaping, is a form of green or sustainable living. Xeriscaping principles are an efficient and conservative use of natural resources as well as natural control of insects, soil diseases, and weeds. And while the word “Xeriscaping” hasn’t been around all that long, the practice has been around for quite some time. Because of its extended use in dry desert climates, Xeriscaping is also often refered to as desert landscaping or Southwest landscaping.

While agriculture, gardening, and landscaping is only a small part of the green and sustainable lifestyle, it’s what comes to the mind of most people when you mention the words green, sustainable, or environmentally responsible. Green gardening and landscaping is a great place for most folks to start to get an understanding of what it’s all about. Green has become an important consideration in landscaping and garden and should be a part of all future design plans.

The “living green” movement is here to stay because the survival of this world depends on it. And while it may seem like a lot of trouble to some, it can actually make life easier and save you some money. And like I said, one of the easiest places to start is in your own landscape and garden so in the coming weeks we’ll look at that and then we’ll look at ways sustainable, green, and environmental responsibility can fit into the rest of our daily lives. See best green blogs and you should start to get an understanding of how big and important this way of life is.

Xeriscaping Ideas | Xeriscape Design Ideas

admin — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 16:32:28 +0000

While xeriscaping ideas minimize the use of natural resources and the need for a lot of chemicals in landscaping and garden, it does not have to minimize or sacrifice beauty and character. In some xeriscape designs where using few plants is either necessary or desirable, a little creative thinking will add interest to an otherwise dull and oftentimes monotone landscape.

Using fake dry riverbeds in desert landscaping ideas to fill up space and add xeriscape design interest is quite popular in the yards of many Southwest, Santa Fe, and Arizona style homes. Most often for just interest and curb appeal, still many of these dry river beds are actually functional for drainage or water harvesting in times of rain or flooding.

The following pictures show a few examples of using different sizes and colors of gravel to create fake dry rivers in xeriscapes and low water use gardens.

Dry Riverbed Idea
As you’ll see in all the pictures in this post, this xeriscaping idea shows how simple this is to make something beautiful and environmentally friendly with some gravel, rocks, and a few plants.

Fake River Bed
Another angle of the previous picture.

Xeriscaping With Two Color Gravel
Designing and creating designs with different color gravel is also a popular way of dressing up areas that won’t be using any plants or other hardscapes.

This type of design isn’t just limited to xeriscaping. almost any landscaping style can benefit from the different textures, colors, and interest of using two or more types of gravels.

While this example isn’t quite like the others in terms of rock size and definition, it is still suppose to represent a dry riverbed.

Dry River Xeriscape For Drainage
This xeric idea is actually functional for channeling water during heavy rains and flooding.

Other than the design created to channel drainage, these ideas are as simple as clearing an area, laying down a landscaping fabric, and laying two different types, sizes, or colors of gravel next to each other. No need for dividers or edging. The riverbed created for drainage has to be calculated for elevation, flow, and a channel trough cut underneath the gravel.

Plants and planting ideas can easily be planned for by creating more curves and pockets for plant displays or trees.

While these examples can be used to design xeriscapes, it’s important to remember that xeriscaping isn’t a design style but more of a set of methods or principles. See xeriscaping principles for a detailed outline of the practices and principles of drought tolerant water wise landscaping and gardening. Also see xeriscape design ideas for more plans, shapes, and plantings you can use to create an environmentally friendly landscape.

For further reading and ideas, see:

Xeriscaping Wikipedia
Xeriscape.org

Landscaping Ideas

admin — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 17:25:35 +0000

Using The Ideas You Find

Landscaping Ideas

Before we get into a list of landscaping ideas resources, I want to make a few points of consideration that will help you use the resources in this directory.

Finding landscape and garden design ideas that are perfect for your property shape or exact situation can be a frustrating task for most do it yourselfers. Even with all of the plans, ideas, and pictures available on almost any landscaping or garden design situation, it can still seem impossible. So many times, it’s possible that most folks and even you are looking for the wrong thing.

Whether creating a new landscape or upgrading an existing property, finding the exact complete design you need is highly unlikely. However, finding bits and pieces from different design ideas that will work together is a strong possibility. Besides the entire design, there are a few things to look at in the plans, pictures, and designs you’ll see.

1) Look for the elements, principles, placements, and shapes that are repeated and used in different design ideas by different designers.
2) Stop trying to find the perfect design. Look for different parts of different landscaping ideas to fit certain areas of your landscape or garden. Even though they may consist of different elements and materials, these can be changed to universal elements to create continuity and consistency when you reach the final stage of the design.

Landscape Design Ideas
Pictures

After several years of being a consultant, designer, and running a few do it yourself sites, I have a good idea of what folks are looking for when they’re searching for design ideas. Pictures, plans, more pictures, and more plans. So along with a lot of good do it yourself information, Landscaping Videos and our main Landscaping Ideas Site are both a majority of pictures.

Because we have some of the largest collections online, let’s start with pictures.

Our first directory of pictures started out on The Landscape Design Site as a list of links pointing to the design portfolios of other professional landscape designers and contractors. However over time, we have added a lot of our own on pictures. See landscaping pictures for a very large list of links and pictures with design explanations.

Our second directory is strictly on-site. See landscaping idea pictures for a large directory of pictures with design ideas and explanations for each photo. And of course, let’s not forget this directory. See landscaping pictures for a huge collection of photos search-able by keyword and style.

Plans – Blueprints

While those last links should keep you busy for hours and possibly days, there is more. Besides a collection of my own plans and completed designs, there is also a directory of over 100 garden plans and design blueprints for you to take advantage of.

My own design plans and ideas are listed on both this site and The Landscape Design Site. On this site, see landscape design plans for a simple list of design layouts and pictures of designs. See landscaping plans for a more detailed list of plans with explanations and pictures of finished designs.

Videos

Last, and the main highlight of this site for getting landscaping ideas is the videos. The collection of videos on this site is hand picked to only include good how to information, tutorials, and ideas. See our landscaping videos collection which cuts out all the worthless videos that teach you nothing and leaves only the best ideas and tutorials for you to use.

With all the landscaping and garden design resources listed here, your chances of finding some good ideas that you can use and put together in your own design are pretty good.

Getting The Most Out Of Pre Planned Gardens

admin — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 01:19:15 +0000

Professionally Designed Pre Planned Garden Plans

While an unlimited budget would be nice when it comes to doing your own landscaping, a limited budget is usually a main factor in doing it yourself. And so it’s necessary to get the most out of your materials which would include your planting choices as well.

For the folks that are totally horticulturally challenged. And for those who simply don’t want to put the time and study into creating a planting scheme, there are some design aids that may be helpful. Kind of a design in a box sort of thing.

From a designers point of view, the only downside to these plans is not getting the knowledge from creating your own plan. It’s like that saying “give someone a fish and they’ll eat today or teach them to fish and they’ll feed themselves”. From a do it yourselfer point of view – Just give me the easiest and fastest way.

Either way , I’d give them a pretty high mark as a resource that will save you a lot of time and frustration. If you should want to know at least a little about plants and placement, you can learn a lot from article Planting Ideas and theory.

Pre planned gardens aren’t a new thing. I’ve seen them around for a while but I never considered them for any my own designs.

Our first experience with them was through a client who created her own design and wanted us to put it to the ground. I thought her design was pretty cool and was also impressed that she had her entire planting scheme figured out. That part rarely happens.

The plants were good quality and healthy. I’m not use to planting plants that aren’t somewhat more mature than these. But I guess as far as mail order plants which I knew little about, they were actually good size. And as I also figure, that’s not their selling point. The point is that it was easy to figure out and do it yourself.

If you choose to look into these for your landscaping ideas, you can get a little more mileage and economy from them if you “stretch them out a bit”.

The plants that come in these packages are perennials that are regionalized for each individual area. Your area. This means they will seed or divide. Which means that you’ll end up with more free plants that will fill in more area.

Instead of using the plans in the square footage that the vendor recommends, spread them out a little more. The plant choices in these packages are created to compliment and accent each other. So it doesn’t matter if they’re all on top of each other or spread throughout the landscape. Spread out, they’ll actually help create the balance and unity that you may be looking for.

Don’t feel that you have to use them throughout your entire landscape. That could get expensive. You can use one or two plans to create the framework and unity of your design. With that in place, you then have the freedom to experiment with other stuff you get locally without losing balance and unity. And like I stated earlier, you’ll have more free plants next season that will fill more space.

Other than the size of the plants when they arrived, I think they’re a great idea for a lot of applications. They can be used for single areas, to simply spruce things up, or entire landscapes.

You can experiment for your own area and ideas. I think it would be difficult to mess this kind of thing up too bad.

Click For Professional Garden Plans
Professionally designed pre-planned garden designs are some of the greatest tools for do it yourself landscapers and gardeners to come along in a long time. Besides shape, choosing plants and planting ideas is generally the most difficult part of designing and planning landscapes and gardens. And these plans make it so easy.

And For Even More Garden Plans
As my own landscape consulting and websites demand more of my time, pre planned garden plans have become quite an asset to me as well. And especially within the last year as they have become more regionalized to more areas. Once we come up with a few landscaping ideas for clients, I can simply send them to look at two different vendors for their planting schemes.

Professionally Designed Garden Plans

Or…
Professional Landscaping Planting Plans

Landscaping Ideas

Front Yard Landscaping Ideas | Landscape Design For Front Yards

Landscaping In A Changing Climate

Front Yard Landscaping Basics

Landscaping Design Styles

Landscaping For Outdoor Christmas Yard Decorations

Power Access For Your Decorations

Garden Decor Ideas

Landscaping Going Green

Xeriscaping Ideas | Xeriscape Design Ideas

Landscaping Ideas

Using The Ideas You Find

Landscape Design IdeasPictures

Plans – Blueprints

Videos

Getting The Most Out Of Pre Planned Gardens

Landscape Design Ideas
Pictures