Five Tips for Developing the Perfect Landscape
A great landscaping design can really have a startling impact on the curb appeal of a home. And the opposite is true; even if your home is gorgeous, if your landscaping design is lacking, the first impression that people will take away is that your entire property is lacking.
We know that creating the perfect landscaping design can be challenging and overwhelming, so we’ve put together a quick guide to developing a beautiful landscaping design that will stay beautiful for the long haul, below:
Five Tips for Developing the Perfect Landscape
- Develop the space with access in mind.
In order to maintain your landscape, and execute bigger projects down the road, you’ll need to be able to get equipment in. If you create the perfect paradise, but neglect to leave access for a lawn mower to get in, your space will quickly become overgrown and funky looking. Or, you’ll have to tear out some of your hard work in order to create access for the equipment later. Just leaving a small corner of your landscape free for equipment access is a simple way to avoid this problem. - Build around focal points.
A well designed landscape has a “WOW” factor, and all of the other elements point to that. If your entire lawn is a giant focal point, it’s overwhelming to the eye and can look cluttered (not to mention it’s next to impossible to maintain and over-developed space like this). Instead, start by creating a focal point — maybe it’s an elegant oak tree, or a fountain, or even a statue. Then, develop the rest of the landscape to subtly point to your focal point. This gives the visitor to your yard a pleasant experience as they soak in your landscape.
When developing your focal point, keep scale in mind. You want your focal point to stand out, but not stick out. If you have an expansive yard with acreage, maybe you want a huge tree with a beautiful path to it to be your focal point. If you have a small urban yard, maybe a simple garden fixture or even a large potted flower is a tasteful focal point. - Don’t get to formal and stiff.
Matching topiary trees might look graceful along the path to a mansion, but in your front yard it probably doesn’t make sense, visually. Not to mention, the more symmetric and pristine your landscaping elements are, the more work they are to maintain, and the more obvious it is when they aren’t maintained. Unless you have the resources to keep a landscaper on your staff full time, avoid overly formal elements.
While we’re on the subject, it’s a good idea to stay away from symmetric landscape designs. Plants are living organisms that have their own life cycle. Let’s say you plant two beautiful trees that create a striking impact on your walkway. Except, one suddenly dies. Now your yard look imbalanced. If you plant another tree in the same place, it won’t be the same size or have visual effect of symmetry. You’re only option is to pull them both out and start over. Which is expensive and a big hassle. You’re better off just planting one beautiful tree in the center of your landscape, so it looks balanced and you don’t have to worry about losing the balance. - Incorporate movement into your landscape design.
Don’t treat your landscape as a static painting. This might be beautiful at first, but will quickly lose interest. Treat your landscape as a living eco-system to leave your visitors with the greatest visual impact. Plant flowers that attract butterflies and hummingbirds. Install some plants or grasses that gracefully sway in the breeze. Celebrate Mother Nature in all her beauty in your landscape design. - Use your landscape to accent your home.
If your home is designed by Frank Loyd Wright, and is a work of art on its own, you can skip over this point. However, the exterior of most homes can really benefit from some well thought out landscape placement. Make sure to keep it subtle; you don’t want your home to look like a giant shrub with windows. Instead, choose the features of your home that you love the most, and plant some flowers nearby that lead the eye to it.
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