The Things You Should Know About Landscaping

As a homeowner, you are certain to be very interested in landscaping. Not only does it give your home that much needed upgrade in its curb appeal, it also provides you a fresh environment and living space. There really is no downside involved in landscaping and landscape design. But it’s a kind of work that will have to be taken seriously should you want to achieve success.

(photo credit: SabinesHomes.com)

In this article, we will be providing you the information you need to know about landscaping in general. The objective is for you to have a complete understanding of the project you hope on carrying out, whether you’re doing it yourself or you’re hiring someone else such as landscaping pros.

Let us begin with a post by Jamie Wiebe, titled “Dirty Secrets: 9 Things Your Landscape Designer Wishes You Knew” for Realtor.com. As the title suggests, these are the secrets that a landscape design contractor wouldn’t normally tell you.

1. They don’t deal just with flowers

A landscape architect or designer will work with you to create a grand plan that encompasses your whole property, from installing a new driveway to adding a porch to grading your lawn. If you’re just looking for someone to arrange your flowerbeds, you want a garden designer.

2. You should research the relevant regulations

A landscape architect’s job is significantly easier when you, the homeowner, know the relevant regulations that govern your property. Are there any homeowners association rules you need to follow? What are the local guidelines designating how close to the property line you can landscape? (These are called setback regulations.) And make sure you know where those property lines are.

“It’s great to get this stuff out right at the front of the project,” Reed says. “If they’re not known, then the designer will do things and then discover that they’re not allowed.”

Correcting the error(s) means extra time and money for you—and a serious headache for your landscape architect.

3. Understand your property’s major problems

Before hiring a landscape architect, make sure you know the basics of your yard—and its problem areas. Does one sloping hill drain water onto your walkway? Can guests never find their way to your front door? Landscape architects can’t fix a problem they don’t know about.

4. Know how much maintenance you’re ready for

Yardwork is hard work. While some people consider pulling weeds to be meditative, you might find it tedious. Let your designer or architect know how much maintenance you expect to do on a weekly or daily basis. Otherwise, he or she will end up with an unhappy and overworked client (you).

“How much time you can spend will affect the nature of the design,” Reed says.

Eager gardeners might enjoy an elaborately landscaped yard, whereas the less-enthused might want “watering the grass” to be the only requirement. Be realistic about how much work you plan to put into your space—biting off more than you can chew is a surefire route to a dilapidated yard.

5. Know what you want, but be open-minded

A great landscape is a collaboration between the designer and the homeowner.

“If we can find something that satisfies the longings of everyone in the home, then we’ve done the right thing and made the right choice,” Moir Messervy says.

“The main quality I ask for is open-mindedness to new ideas they haven’t thought of—or even already rejected,” Reed adds. “Often the landscape architect can show them how the idea has multiple benefits they might not have thought of.”

Want more of this article? If that’s a yes, then click the link.

You see, there are a lot of things a landscape design company can do for you, not just flowers and plant arrangement. But in order to be successful at building your yard into something attractive and remarkable, you need to work with them by doing your own research in advance. Know the stuff that needs to be known and that alone will give landscaping company a more convenient time working with you.

For do-it-yourself landscaping on the other hand, here’s a very good set of tips from DIYNetwork.com in a blog post called “10 Things You Must Know About Landscaping.”

Tip 1: Install a Strong Edging
It’s very important to have barriers between your lawn and your garden. You want to have a strong edging that can be of any material (and price) from cheap plastic all the way up to steel or stone.

Tip 2: Install a Simple Irrigation System
A big mistake people make is not watering enough. Get a simple drip-irrigation system that can be attached to a spigot with a timer. Simply set the timer and it gives the plants all the water they need.

Tip 3: Add Some Mulch
Mulch is primarily used to help maintain the soil, but it’s also decorative. The darker the mulch, the more the color of the plants will stand out.

Tip 4: You Need Good Soil
If the roots of a plant can’t penetrate the soil, then it simply won’t grow. If your soil is really poor quality, you may need to remove it and bring in new soil.

Tip 5: Keep Things in Groups
Try to group things in threes or fives as a general rule. This way, from a distance it will always look full. It’s a good idea to get a variety of colors that will bloom at different times of the year.

Find out the rest of the tips in this article by visiting the link.

Once you start building your own yard, you will realize how satisfying and fun it is. But don’t forget all the things you’ve learned in this post since they’ll come in handy whenever you get stuck with something. Again, landscaping design can be done with you alone or by hiring someone else to do it for you, and your choice depends on the question of whether or not you have what it takes to do it DIY style.