Landscaping Ideas: How to Embrace Your Lawn and Garden

If this is the year you make your yard the envy of your neighborhood, you should come up with a great landscape design before you even install the sod. A beautiful lawn is a lot of work, and it helps if you choose plants for their ease of care as well as their beauty. You may even want to hire a landscape designer so your yard is attractive and well thought out. Here are four tips for landscape design.

1. Study Your Lawn First

Mapping out the areas on your lawn according to shade and sun is helpful when you choose plants. Some plants thrive in full sun while others do well in partial shade or full shade. You may need to watch your yard over a period of time to see how the conditions change as the sun moves across the sky.

You can show this map to your designer so they can offer the best plant suggestions for your yard. This also helps you know how to group plants together according to the amount of sun they need.

2. Consider A Theme

You might want a theme that helps tie everything together. If you love color, you might want a lot of colorful plants and flowers in beds or window gardens to give your yard a romantic look. You could also choose shrubs trimmed into geometric shapes if that's more your preference.

You might want lavish landscaping or a minimalist look. Your budget may decide what you'll choose so be sure to discuss how much different plants cost and how much care they need with your designer.

3. Consider Adding Curves

If you'll have walkways put in, consider making them winding so they're visually appealing and fun. You can also make curved plant beds rather than ridged beds with straight lines. Even foundation beds can have curves along the front of your house to soften the lines of your house and make the beds more attractive.

4. Think About What You'll Attract

Wildlife loves plants and flowers too. If you plant the right things, you might attract butterflies, hummingbirds, or other types of wildlife to your yard that you can admire while you sit on your patio. If you put in a water feature, you might attract more birds and animals. However, you might attract snakes too.

Edible plants and flowers might attract rats and raccoons. Be sure to think about what your plants will attract in case there are some animals or reptiles you'd rather keep away from your house. Plus, if your kids play in the yard, you might not want to attract bees. A lot of thought goes into a good landscape design, that's why it's often a good idea to get help from a professional.