Posts tagged landscaping pictures
Landscape And Garden Design For Changing Climates
Jul 6th
For a functional, beautiful, and long lasting landscape design, you should first consider the different functions and needs of your landscaping before deciding on the different components and elements that will make up the design. One very important and often overlooked consideration is the climate. Whatever elements or design style you go with, the elements and materials you use should work well with the climate in your area. Having severe climate changes that you’re not aware of can affect your landscaping and your plants. In areas that go through all four seasons, landscaping and gardens will feel the effects of these seasonal changes as well. This is probably one of the better reasons for paying close attention to your landscaping plans and ideas. Here are some considerations that might be helpful in designing landscapes or gardens that will work in most any climate.
Plant choices should be backed by a little knowledge 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 thrive in any climate. Planting natives in your gardens or landscaping in all areas where they will work can do a lot to make your landscaping more beautiful and maintenance free year round. Native plants adapt well to their native soil so soil compatibility is good. Also, because they grow and propagate locally, natives will already be climatized and adapted to your climate. It is almost guaranteed that there are a lot of decorative and eye-pleasing native plants in your area that you can choose from.
You can also plant for climate by using plants for Mediterranean landscape designs or tropical areas. Tropical flowers have vibrant colors that would surely give life to your landscape. Unknown to most folks, some tropical plant varieties actually grow well in colder climates. Do a little research on tropical plants and you may find a few that will thrive in your area. Some of the tropical plants that often work well in non tropical climates are Bougainvillea, Agapanthus, and Hibiscus. The Lantana, which continuously blooms and is available in a variety of colors, from cool lavender to bright yellow, is one of the prime choices too. Mandevillas, which have beautiful trumpet shaped flowers on long vines are also a great choice. There are most definitely enough possibilities of tropical plants to give your landscaping some interest for all seasons.
Diversity is another important element for multi climate landscaping or gardens. If you want more bloom time than just having annuals, then you can use plants with different blooming times and patterns and combine them throughout the landscaping or garden. In this way, when one type of plant finishes its season, you’ll still have something blooming to look at in your landscaping or garden. The trick here is to know the different blooming schedules of the plants that you choose. Know which ones are at bloom for each season and choose one or two for each season that you would like to include in your design.
Besides plants, you can also use other ornaments in your landscaping to add more aesthetic interest. Ornaments and garden decor generally make good placements since they aren’t really effected by changes in the climate or weather. You can also use elements like statues, stone pathways, and other hardscapes to make your design more interesting.
Piecing Landscaping Ideas Together
Jan 6th
As you get started with your landscape design project, you’ve most probably noticed a lot of extraordinary landscape design plans and ideas. You can’t help but wonder how some designers think up these beautiful designs. Researching for the right plants, creating design shapes, choosing materials, and countless other details are usually too much for the first time do it yourselfer.
More experienced designers may rely on their years of repetition and experience. For others, it’s vision. Or it may be necessary to go through a bunch of different concepts until something works. Most home owners and do it yourselfers fall into this last group. Without a clue about landscaping, most folks search through books of pictures of landscaping and yards searching for different ideas and plans that might work well in their own yards.
With as many books and online landscaping pictures to look at, it should be easy to find a design that could at least be copied. And it just might be If every yard was shaped the same.However, most yards and lots are not the same size and shape. So even with the endless landscaping ideas and examples out there, it’s a slim chance that you’ll find an exact match to the shape of your property.
Since this is where most do it yourself home landscapers find themselves, designing their landscaping simply needs a different approach. Don’t waste a lot of time looking for the perfect plan that will just fit your yard or property. When looking through different landscaping pictures and ideas, try to identify the things that are alike in most or all of the landscaping ideas. Look for the design ideas that are repeated over and over by different architects and designers. And because they are almost always based on basic principles of landscaping and art, these are the design elements that are most often appealing. These design elements will generally work for most designs and plans no matter what path the rest of the design takes.
Observe different forms and shapes and how they’re repeated in the landscape. And also look at the placement of plants and how their colors are used in the garden. Pay close attention to the little details of plant colors and groups, decor, decorative rocks, and other elements being placed together in groups. Try and look beyond just the shape of a landscape design and try to understand the details of what makes a landscape design what it is. Your own ideas will come together as you dig into the mechanics of landscaping and landscape design.
Other peoples ideas, designs, and even landscaping pictures can be a great design tool to help you generate ideas for your own design. You’ll have better luck piecing different ideas from different plans together instead of trying to find the exact perfect design shape for your landscape. Besides saving yourself a lot of frustration, you’re more likely to come up with a design that is creative and unique to your own yard.
