by Debra on Monday, September 7, 2009
When people come to your house, almost all the time the design landscaping that surrounds your house and defines the areas of your garden are the attributes that give people the first impressions of your property. The landscape design that you use is one of the most significant elements in determining how the people who visit you will feel once they arrive at your home. Additionally, the landscaping around your house will also have a significant impact on what your house and property will be valued at.
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There are many different kinds of ways to improve the landscape surrounding your home. There are some people who are worried that in order to improve their landscape design properly, they would need to hire landscape contractors or landscape architects. This can be a very helpful option if you have the ability to afford it, however there are many people that successfully undertake landscaping design of their houses on their own.
If you as a type of person that is interested in taking on the challenge of completing design landscaping for your home and garden, then one of the first things that you need to do is educate yourself on some of the basic landscaping design principles. There are basically four main aspects to all good landscape design and if you combine them with your own attention to detail and sense of style, then likely you’ll be well on your way to creating a landscape environment around your home that is unique. for more please visit Landscaping maintenance
Balance
One of the first components of landscaping is the concept of balance. If you concentrate the majority of your new plants in one area, then the rest of your garden landscaping area will appear to be rather neglected. You need to distribute the plants around the yard or garden at least to some degree in an even manner and with a sense of flow. This will help to draw the eye through the entire landscape design and help to engage your visitors.
Proportion
The second element of good landscaping is that of a proportion. The concept here is to make certain that any landscape design feature that you select fits in appropriately, in terms of its size, the surrounding areas, structures as well as fixtures. For instance if you try to wedge a huge gazebo into a very small backyard it will end up looking almost comical and will not give you that superior effect. While at the same time, if you have a very big front lawn, then the addition of larger elements in features or plantings will be required so that they will be noticed and not as overwhelmed. for more please visit Landscaping design
Transition
The third principle is that of transition and you will need to have some knowledge of this for your landscaping project as this element is closely related to proportion. Despite your landscape design including large shrubs and flowers, plants, bushes and even some trees, the way to really make them work in a graceful beautiful way is through the use of transition. It is the smooth flow from one kind of plant and size to that of another. Your goal is to lead the eye from delicate plants to larger types with some size variation in between. Transitions of color can also be a very effective element of your overall landscape design plan.
Unity
One of the last of the four concepts of landscaping is that of unity and it is this ultimate sense that you’re attempting to express with your design. All of the different selections that you make and how you balance, proportion, transition of the various sizes, colors as well as textures of landscape elements should be principally governed by a unifying theme. This is what actually brings a landscape design together to make it work in harmony in creating a unique home and garden. for more please visit Landscaping installation
One thing that can make design landscaping much simpler and also more cohesive is to determine on the type of scene that you want to use and then be certain to stay true to that theme. Having a specific idea in mind can help make any future decisions much simpler when it comes time to add furnishings, plants or any type of accent pieces to your landscape.
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by Debra on Saturday, September 20, 2008
Improving your home’s Curb Appeal is one change that you can make that can greatly affect how much you can make if you decide to sell your home. Ranch style homes with courtyards in the front will make your house stand out among other ranchers in the neighborhood.
Anyone who knows about architectural styles knows that ranch style homes are simple, one story houses that have a low profile. There’s very little decoration to them, inside or outside, so they appear plain and non-descript. Consider creating a courtyard for your ranch house to make your landscape more beautiful.
Many ranch style houses are rectangular and asymmetrical. You can change the appearance of your home by adding solid walls to create a courtyard at the entrance. The difference will be amazing, especially if you take as much care with landscaping in front of the wall as you do within the courtyard.
People generally won’t use their front yard much because they don’t have the privacy they desire. Not only will creating an entryway courtyard increase your curb appeal, it can also give you that privacy. Of the exterior of your home will determine the type of courtyard walls you build, so try to match them as closely as possible, or paint the house and wall to match.
Be sure to keep the style of garden appropriate to the style of your home. For example, if your house has a rustic style you don’t want to plant a formal English garden in the courtyard. Keep in mind the temperatures in your area and plan your courtyard garden with plants for your hardiness zone.
Don’t be afraid to include water features within your courtyard if it is in keeping with your home’s style. You may even decide to create an outside seating area around the fountain or small reflecting pool. What could be more relaxing on a warm summer evening than to relax outside with the beauty and sounds of nature around you?
Remember to landscape in front of the courtyard wall that faces the street to make it appealing from the curb. Plant flowers along the walkway to draw the eye to the entrance even though it’s behind the wall.
Some ranch style homes with courtyards have them in the back yard. Many were designed in an L- or U-shape which creates a courtyard area. If this is the case, they probably have an open floor plan with sliding glass doors that open up into the courtyard. By incorporating the courtyard you’ll increase the beauty and curb appeal of your home which could bring you monetary rewards when and if you decide to sell.
photo credit: ZeePack
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by Debra on Tuesday, July 8, 2008
FAR be it from a mere, and comparatively untraveled, gal to question an experts statement. Nevertheless, as I read in a mid-winter issue of one of the news magazines… the subject of landscaping in America came up.
I am always interested in 1950’s Ranch Landscaping… so I thought I’d read on….
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The theory is that if you don’t see America soon, you’ll soon only find an entire country that is perfectly matched. I could not help wondering how much of her time she has spent in the gardens of different parts of the country?
For, notwithstanding the standardizing influence of what are called garden styles or fads—such as the amazing popularity (for a time) of rock gardening or water gardening or Japanese gardening or what have you—and the inevitable tendency of many landscape designers with sheep like tendencies to follow in the footsteps of a few trail-blazing pioneers, it is practically impossible to bring Mother Nature under control as to permit identical gardening developments across the widely differing regions of this continent.
One thing in common in all the best examples of skillful and successful garden design (or landscape architecture, if you wish to give it that title) is that the “best” garden is that which gardens have local color, regional distinctiveness, and most closely merges individuality.
photo credit: Travis Isaacs
Until one had observed their effect upon their owners and their guests; until one had heard at firsthand the stories of how they came into being, and had noted with what degree of personal interest they are watched over and cared for as season follows season, each with its miracles of life and growth and death—and the rebirth that is always springtime.
It is, of course, one of the joys of garden planning that there are different types and styles to match all kinds of architectural design, no less than there are combinations of plant materials to meet the requirements or exigencies of different latitudes and elevations and degrees of humidity or aridity. But that is not only
There may be half a dozen kinds of plants with which a certain effect can be obtained; on the other hand, there may be but a single variety or strain, and one that calls for as untiring exploration and as careful mothering as is needed to bring a giant panda from its native Orient to its adopted home in the Western Hemisphere.
Anyway… I can see that 1950’s ranch landscaping can be varied… and does not need to follow tradition. Ranch Home Plans
And so, as gardens change from season to season even under the eye of those who live with them the year around, so do they vary from place to place during any one term or month or week. In gardens, monotony is a factor conspicuous by its absence; nor is there uniformity or identical similarity. And therein, as I see it, lies one of the chiefest and never ceasing delights of beautiful American gardens—East and West.
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