Thursday, January 29, 2009

Three Things That Make or Break Your Backyard Landscaping Design

By Michael Aral

If you love to garden, working on a backyard landscaping project can be one of the most enjoyable landscape designs youll ever get to create. The backyard gives you plenty of room for creativity and its pretty forgiving of mistakes, too. That said, there are a few things you should know ahead of time to avoid costly, headache-inducing mistakes.

A plan is important

While it is possible to go at your backyard landscaping project one plant and one garden feature at a time, by doing so you're more likely to end up with a mess than an attractively landscaped yard. Before you get started, spend a little time browsing for backyard landscaping ideas and designs, whether in gardening books or online.

Collect some ideas that appeal to and will work well in your and suit your tastes and at least and make a sketch of you backyard to . And don't be afraid to keep re-working your plan until you get something youll really love. If you really want to get organized, pick up some landscaping software.

Large features come first

Before you get too wrapped up in choosing just the right flowers for the planters on the patio, there's something else you need to deal with first: the large, permanent features in your backyard. These could be things like tall trees, brick walls, and more mundane objects like garden shed. It also includes features you planning to put in, like a pond or large statue.

Whatever it is, if it cant be moved, youll need to decide how you're going to landscape around it before you move on to your other plans. Often these large features are the focal points of your backyard landscaping design, so its worth investing some time in making sure they stand out in a good way. In other cases, they're more eyesores than anything else, which means looking for creative ways to make them a little more attractive.

Plant choice matters

You dont have to be a green thumb to know tropical hibiscus probably wont fair too well in Alaska, but unfortunately (or fortunately, if youre botany fan) most of the decisions youll need to make about which plants, trees, shrubs, vines and other green things to incorporate into your backyard arent so straight forward.

To save yourself headaches, read up on every perennial, vine, shrub, and tree youre considering adding to your backyard landscaping design. Learn about its care requirements, growth pattern, and any unpleasant characteristics it may have such as the tendency to attract bugs or grow roots through septic tanks. - 15432

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