Success in home landscape design is clearly realizable for home handymen or women, but there are some pitfalls that must be avoided if maximum satisfaction is to be achieved. Thus the necessity for this list of 10 mistakes to avoid in home landscape design. The blunders covered range all the way from miscalculations that have practical consequences to more sophisticated errors that adversely impact your enjoyment of your home landscape design.
1. Random Planting: Failure to Have a Plan
Many home landscape designs develop helter-skelter. A plant is planted somewhere in the yard simply because there's room for it there at the time. Ideally, it is often best to start from ground zero, draw a plan for the entire yard, and stick fast to it. Short of that, try at least to sketch a coarse plan for one huge area of your yard, and put all your energy into implementing that plan this year.
2. Having a Lawn Just Because "Everyone Else Does It"
Many homeowners make the gaffe of assuming that having a grassy area in the yard designated as "the grass" is somehow a compulsory part of home landscape design. But traditionally talking, the turf as we all know it is a relatively late introduction to landscaping. For those not interested in that rather monotonous "green carpet" look or who detest having to mow grass each week, it is important to know that other satisfactory options exist, especially for small spaces. Whose yard is it, anyhow?
3. Inadequate Fall Colour in Your Home Landscape Design
1. Random Planting: Failure to Have a Plan
Many home landscape designs develop helter-skelter. A plant is planted somewhere in the yard simply because there's room for it there at the time. Ideally, it is often best to start from ground zero, draw a plan for the entire yard, and stick fast to it. Short of that, try at least to sketch a coarse plan for one huge area of your yard, and put all your energy into implementing that plan this year.
2. Having a Lawn Just Because "Everyone Else Does It"
Many homeowners make the gaffe of assuming that having a grassy area in the yard designated as "the grass" is somehow a compulsory part of home landscape design. But traditionally talking, the turf as we all know it is a relatively late introduction to landscaping. For those not interested in that rather monotonous "green carpet" look or who detest having to mow grass each week, it is important to know that other satisfactory options exist, especially for small spaces. Whose yard is it, anyhow?
3. Inadequate Fall Colour in Your Home Landscape Design
Spring and summer receive most of our attention when it comes to planting. Lamentably, it is easy to forget to plant for fall. Yet the autumn season holds great promise for those landscaping enthusiasts ready to prepare plans for it. Don't allow your home landscape design to lose out on the palette offered by autumn's bounty!
4. Shortage of Winter Interest in Your Home Landscape Design
If the fall season is typically neglected in home landscape design, matters stand twice as bad with the winter season. Yet in the North, it is in wintertime that we most need a yard decor which will bring us cheer.
5. Failing to Irrigate
Many folks face a dilemma: we enjoy having plants in our yards, but we also like to travel in the summer. So how do the plants get watered while we are gone? Occasionally a mate or relative can come to the rescue, but why chance it? There's a lot tied up in your home landscape design, both in terms of money and sentimental value. But don't ditch your travel plans! Just install an automated watering system in your home landscape design.
6. Planting on a Hillside Prone to Erosion
Have you got a sheer slope in your yard? Is it difficult to keep your topsoil there during a heavy rain? Have you tried growing your favourite plants there pointlessly? The problem is that you failed to fix your erosion problem prior to planting. Build a retaining wall first, then do your planting afterwards.
7. Failing to Work With What You HaveGot a rocky yard? A yard with a lot of shade? Or perhaps your yards problem is a punishing summertime heat that scorches all in its path? Often you can successfully fight the terrain you inherit in your yard, as in the case of building main walls for slopes to combat erosion. Other times, rather than fighting it, it is better to go with the flow and work with what you have. The key's to know what you are up against and what options you have.
8. Failing to Incorporate Deer-Resistant Plants in Your Home Landscape Design
You might think you have arrived at the best home landscape design. You carefully drew up a plan and stuck to it. The soil is productive, you've installed automatic irrigation, you've followed directions faithfully in planting your specimens, and you've applied a generous layer of mulch around them. But you come out of the house one day" and find your plants in shreds! What occurred? You forgot one thing: deer can make a snack of your plants faster than you can say, "Bambi goes to market."
9. You Never Get Anything Done in the Yard Because Tools Are Never Convenient
The most certain way to get almost nothing done in the yard is to realise you need a tool" only to realize that you can not find it! If you don't have enough space for storage, chances are your tools will all be jammed into one small area (maybe a corner of the garage), making it tough to keep the area accessible and the tools organised. What you want is a storage shed. The more you put off getting sufficient storage, the longer you'll be disorganized" and the further you may fall behind in your yard work.
10. Forgetting Functionality in Home Landscape Design
When
4. Shortage of Winter Interest in Your Home Landscape Design
If the fall season is typically neglected in home landscape design, matters stand twice as bad with the winter season. Yet in the North, it is in wintertime that we most need a yard decor which will bring us cheer.
5. Failing to Irrigate
Many folks face a dilemma: we enjoy having plants in our yards, but we also like to travel in the summer. So how do the plants get watered while we are gone? Occasionally a mate or relative can come to the rescue, but why chance it? There's a lot tied up in your home landscape design, both in terms of money and sentimental value. But don't ditch your travel plans! Just install an automated watering system in your home landscape design.
6. Planting on a Hillside Prone to Erosion
Have you got a sheer slope in your yard? Is it difficult to keep your topsoil there during a heavy rain? Have you tried growing your favourite plants there pointlessly? The problem is that you failed to fix your erosion problem prior to planting. Build a retaining wall first, then do your planting afterwards.
7. Failing to Work With What You HaveGot a rocky yard? A yard with a lot of shade? Or perhaps your yards problem is a punishing summertime heat that scorches all in its path? Often you can successfully fight the terrain you inherit in your yard, as in the case of building main walls for slopes to combat erosion. Other times, rather than fighting it, it is better to go with the flow and work with what you have. The key's to know what you are up against and what options you have.
8. Failing to Incorporate Deer-Resistant Plants in Your Home Landscape Design
You might think you have arrived at the best home landscape design. You carefully drew up a plan and stuck to it. The soil is productive, you've installed automatic irrigation, you've followed directions faithfully in planting your specimens, and you've applied a generous layer of mulch around them. But you come out of the house one day" and find your plants in shreds! What occurred? You forgot one thing: deer can make a snack of your plants faster than you can say, "Bambi goes to market."
9. You Never Get Anything Done in the Yard Because Tools Are Never Convenient
The most certain way to get almost nothing done in the yard is to realise you need a tool" only to realize that you can not find it! If you don't have enough space for storage, chances are your tools will all be jammed into one small area (maybe a corner of the garage), making it tough to keep the area accessible and the tools organised. What you want is a storage shed. The more you put off getting sufficient storage, the longer you'll be disorganized" and the further you may fall behind in your yard work.
10. Forgetting Functionality in Home Landscape Design
When
7. Failing to Work With What You HaveGot a rocky yard? A yard with a lot of shade? Or perhaps your yards problem is a punishing summertime heat that scorches all in its path? Often you can successfully fight the terrain you inherit in your yard, as in the case of building main walls for slopes to combat erosion. Other times, rather than fighting it, it is better to go with the flow and work with what you have. The key's to know what you are up against and what options you have.
8. Failing to Incorporate Deer-Resistant Plants in Your Home Landscape Design
You might think you have arrived at the best home landscape design. You carefully drew up a plan and stuck to it. The soil is productive, you've installed automatic irrigation, you've followed directions faithfully in planting your specimens, and you've applied a generous layer of mulch around them. But you come out of the house one day" and find your plants in shreds! What occurred? You forgot one thing: deer can make a snack of your plants faster than you can say, "Bambi goes to market."
9. You Never Get Anything Done in the Yard Because Tools Are Never Convenient
The most certain way to get almost nothing done in the yard is to realise you need a tool" only to realize that you can not find it! If you don't have enough space for storage, chances are your tools will all be jammed into one small area (maybe a corner of the garage), making it tough to keep the area accessible and the tools organised. What you want is a storage shed. The more you put off getting sufficient storage, the longer you'll be disorganized" and the further you may fall behind in your yard work.
10. Forgetting Functionality in Home Landscape Design
When one thinks about home landscape design,. It is esthetic considerations that instantly are evoked. Functionality , however , takes priority over aesthetics. There is not any reason you shouldn't be able to have both; but when push comes to shove, one needs to be more interested that a home landscape design is safe, convenient and usable.
Now you know a few of the problems and what to avoid, you need to decide if your landscaping is a do-it-yoursef project or whether it would be best to hire a professional landscaper.
About the Author:
8. Failing to Incorporate Deer-Resistant Plants in Your Home Landscape Design
You might think you have arrived at the best home landscape design. You carefully drew up a plan and stuck to it. The soil is productive, you've installed automatic irrigation, you've followed directions faithfully in planting your specimens, and you've applied a generous layer of mulch around them. But you come out of the house one day" and find your plants in shreds! What occurred? You forgot one thing: deer can make a snack of your plants faster than you can say, "Bambi goes to market."
9. You Never Get Anything Done in the Yard Because Tools Are Never Convenient
The most certain way to get almost nothing done in the yard is to realise you need a tool" only to realize that you can not find it! If you don't have enough space for storage, chances are your tools will all be jammed into one small area (maybe a corner of the garage), making it tough to keep the area accessible and the tools organised. What you want is a storage shed. The more you put off getting sufficient storage, the longer you'll be disorganized" and the further you may fall behind in your yard work.
10. Forgetting Functionality in Home Landscape Design
When one thinks about home landscape design,. It is esthetic considerations that instantly are evoked. Functionality , however , takes priority over aesthetics. There is not any reason you shouldn't be able to have both; but when push comes to shove, one needs to be more interested that a home landscape design is safe, convenient and usable.
Now you know a few of the problems and what to avoid, you need to decide if your landscaping is a do-it-yoursef project or whether it would be best to hire a professional landscaper.
About the Author:
Jim Bextermueller is the owner of HomeServicesLink, a Cincinnati, Ohio firm that connects house owners to landscaping and renovation contractors and repair service suppliers they can trust to do the work and trust in their home.