Landscaping your yard can be a daunting task if you are completing it yourself as there are numerous types of landscaping styles, ranging from oriental to woodland. Important factors to consider include the maintenance uptake of your future landscaped yard. Three popular landscaping ideas are desert landscaping, formal landscaping, and country garden landscaping. These three do-it-yourself landscaping ideas range from being low-maintenance to high-maintenance to ordinary-maintenance.
Desert Landscaping
Desert landscaping revolves around low-maintenance plants which do not require fertilizers and specific soil conditions. A benefit of this type of landscape is that the plants do not need as much water to survive as other landscapes. This is especially helpful for not only those who are often too busy to water plants, but also for those who live with restricted water or in near-drought conditions.
The plants generally used include the cacti, which are found in various sizes and produce flowers, as well as being nearly impossible to kill. Along with cacti, you might want to consider planting periwinkles and heather as these plants can grow lushly in dry places and look great along custom fences. You may also plant aloe in the desert landscaping. Other flowers good for the desert landscaping include the longwood blue bluebeard and the autumn joy. Longwoods will provide you with fragrant blue flowers and autumn joy will give you butterfly-attracting colorful flowers.
Formal Landscaping
Formal landscaping focuses on creating a landscape that is symmetrical and makes use of geometrical shapes, including straight lines and circles. This landscaping idea is very time-consuming to take care of as the lawn needs to remain trimmed and shrubs need to be carefully pruned.
Top plants for formal landscapes include the boxwood shrub. This shrub can be molded into hedges in whichever geometric pattern you want it to be. Boxwood shrubs are easy to prune into the shapes of your choice. With flowers, you will want to stick with a single color theme per flowerbed to produce dramatic effects and a balance of colors.
For paths, you may decide to use geometric cut stones and ornament the path with terra-cotta planters. The planters allow you to create focal points if there is a certain area you wish to draw attention to and give that home remodel feel. Typically evergreens are planted in the center of the stone pots and surrounded by tulips as these complement the larger evergreens.
Country Garden Landscaping
Country garden landscaping involves more maintenance in the beginning when setting up the garden, but a decreased amount as the flowers bloom and grow. The plants in this landscape need at least six hours of sunshine, drainage for the roots, and decent fertilized soil. Although the flowers may take up to three years to reach maturity and seem bare in the meantime, your new landscape is a home improvement project that will be worth it in the end.
Low growing plants are best in the front of the garden or along paths and walkways to create borders. Plant your tallest tress along the outer boundary and decrease the size of plants as you come closer to your home. As grass paths may become difficult to grow as your garden blossoms, create paths of pea gravel or bark to walk on.
To achieve a true country garden feeling, include rose bushes with the specific type of roses that can be trained to climb up an arbor or trellis. You may consider placing a birdbath, rustic bench, or gazebo among your flowers to create a focal point in your landscape.
Tips for a Do-It-Yourself Landscape
Before beginning on your landscape, make sure that your base yard is healthy. Use fertilizer and other lawn treatments to get your yard in good condition. Another important thing to remember before doing any do-it-yourself landscaping project is to be sure to have a plan in mind. It is important to have a sketch of how you want your garden to look and feel. If you do not already have an automatic irrigation system, include one to be installed in your plan so you can do you part in saving energy in your landscaping project. You also need to be aware of the terrain you have and work with it, not against it.
Completing a do-it-yourself landscape can be time consuming at the start, but the hard work will pay off when you get to enjoy your perfectly landscaped yard. By having patience with your plants and preparing before purchasing seeds, your do-it-yourself landscaping project will be a successful and worthwhile investment.