Landscaping Ideas - Creative Ideas From A Landscape Designer
Here are some great landscaping ideas to help you design in an artistic and professional way.
I know that it can be confusing.
What should I plant? Where should I place them. How many should I use? And most important, how do I create a design that will be creative and special? I have incorporated the following landscaping ideas into many of my designs. Various areas of the landscape are discussed below. You can also go to my Site-Index page to look for detailed information on other topics, since there are many other landscape subjects covered in this site. You might also be interested in learning about my online landscape design services.
Visit the new Landscape Design Questions & Answers section!!
Wood Edges
A wonderful design element is to place plants actually in the woods for winter interest. You can choose Native Rhododendron. They are evergreen.They produce large white flowers and are relatively deer resistant. You can add Daffodils for early spring color. These are deer resistant also and will come back year after year! I then mix in ornamental trees, flowering shrubs and perennials at the wood edge for more color and interest. The above garden by Gertrude Jekyll is a wonderful example of a colorfully edged garden.
You might like to visit my page with information on my new ebook, Designing With Evergreen Shrubs.
Here are some landscaping ideas for a wood edge design:Use three Dogwood trees, where one is placed towards the left side and two are place at the right. Place the middle tree back slightly, so that they do not form a straight row. Between the Dogwood, add a group of seven shrubs such as Winterberry Holly, which will give a magnificent show of red berries in the Fall and Winter. Additional groups of shrubs would be added at the sides of the holly. One group might have pretty flowers in the spring, while another might flower in the summer, such as Hydrangeas. You now have an interesting planting with all year round color and special features. Remove weeds and brush at the wood edge for a minimum of 10' to 20' back and also add mulch to the first 5' to 10' feet of the woods. Create a sharp bed edge between the woods and the lawn and it all starts to look wonderful! I have written an entire page on Hydrangeas, including varieties and pruning information.
Designing For Fall Color
- When the Fall comes around, it's wonderful to have those exciting Fall colors in your landscape. Here are a few landscaping ideas.
- You can add trees with red, gold and purple leaves.
- Use colorful shrubs. Also add plants that produce colorful red berries.
Read more about great choices for the fall landscape.Fall is also the time to think about planting bulbs. Spring is usually the first time we are able to enjoy color in the garden. I know, it seems so far away. But when Spring does come, you want those flowers! (Especially the bulbs.) It is the Spring bulbs, such as Daffodils and Tulips, (there are many others) that will provide this color. Yet which ones to choose is not so easy. In addition where to plant them and how many to buy can be confusing. Ideally, you should strive for continuous spring color. Please go to my page on garden bulbs to read about some of my recommendations.
You might enjoy visiting About.com Landscaping - Do-it-yourself landscaping ideas. Resources include pictures, tutorials, discussion forum, articles, blog, newsletter and online landscaping courses.
Screening Techniques - Some Great Landscaping Ideas
There are many times when homeowners want to create privacy from a neighbor or screen an undesirable element. This can be done in a way that is not only functional, but also creative. Here are some landscaping ideas that I have used very successfully.
Screening With Evergreen Trees
- Plant evergreen trees, but stagger them to make a softer line.
- I like to use Norway Spruce, due to their dark green color and pendulous branches as they gracefully get older.
- Place ornamental trees at various points in front of the evergreen trees. The trees should have a nice feature, such as interesting bark or showy flowers so that they stand out against the evergreen trees. (For example, a pink Flowering Cherry in front of Norway Spruce looks striking.)
- Groups of shrubs and perennials can also be added to the design. When using a particular shrub, try to use at least five. As that plant shows off its special feature, it will be magnified by doing so in a mass. A group of 7 flowering pink azaleas are much more exciting than one alone.
- If you are in a hurry to create screening quickly, visit my page about some great fast growing privacy trees.
What do you do when you don't want to block out the view completely? Here are some landscaping ideas that I often use in my designs.Create a screen that gives a more filtered view. Instead of evergreen trees, use groups of multi stemmed trees. Multi stemmed trees have numerous smaller trunks and create a density which a tree with a single trunk does not. In between groups of these multi stemmed trees, place tall shrubs to add interest. Add perennials in large groups to the front layer. You might also be interested in reading about Outdoor Garden Rooms, which can be private areas on your property to meander to and enjoy.
And don't forget to go to my page on 3D Landscape Design! How do I do this? Go to 3D Garden Design to find out!
Front Foundation Plantings - Landscaping Ideas Use the right plant for the right place. If you have a window which is 3 feet off the ground, only place plants under that window which will get no more than 3 feet at their mature size. This provides for a low maintenance design also...no trimming!Try to keep mostly one kind of evergreen shrub as the background layer for unity. If you would like to add an additional variety, place this group towards the center. Example - Use a group of China Girl Blue Holly on either end of the house, with a group of Rhododendron between them. Place lower shrubs in groups of a minimum of 3 (preferably 5 or more) in front of the taller background shrubs. Again, don't get carried away with varieties...there is strength in numbers. Use just a couple of types. Place perennials in the front layer. Use 5 to 9 of each kind. One Daylily in bloom is ok, but 7 really make a statement! Groundcover can be used with perennials or alone for lower maintenance. If you are confused about which flowers to choose, take a look here: Long Blooming Perennials Or for some very beautiful and different garden color: Blue Flowers Place trees at house corners and one tree near the front door. This is very welcoming. Consider shade trees in the lawn. Red Maple 'October Glory' or 'Red Sunset' will provide shade and also present a magnificent show of red color in the Fall. Think about textures when selecting plants. Plants will stand out when they are near another plant with a completely different texture. For example, Ornamental Grasses look nice against Blue Holly or Inkberry Holly because of the differences in the leaf shapes and patterns. There is no reason not to create a flower garden in the front of your house. It will certainly provide color, and if designed nicely, make your landscape enchanting. Please visit my page of flower garden design.
Consider visiting some other pages on this site which are of high interest to many visitors! You can learn about the different costs of paving materials, where I give guides as to what you might expect to pay. Perhaps you want to learn about the various types of driveway designs and some ideas as to which types of driveway paving look best. Are you thinking about installing a swimming pool? Take a look at some of my swimming pool pictures. You can also see some of my creative 3D designs or learn about my online landscape design services. Here are some other informative page: Equity Loans - learn about financing your project. Landscaping Costs - how can you keep your costs down?
Low Maintenance Plantings
- There are plants to choose that will help keep your landscape maintenance to a minimum.
- If you have a deer problem, use deer resistant plants.
- Make sure the mature height and width of the plants you select are what you ultimately want.
- Let shrubs grow in their natural pattern. Don't trim to a shape, unless you want a formal look, as with Boxwood.
- Consider a rain garden design in your landscaping ideas for a drainage problem solution.
- Choose perennials that have foliage that looks good throughout the season. Many late blooming perennials have this feature.
I created lots of color and eye appeal for this small, sunny property.
There are many wonderful perennials for the sun.
Driveway Entry Landscaping IdeasEmphasizing the driveway entry is a landscaping idea that is a very welcoming feature. Entry piers  Hi. I’m Susan. Welcome to my landscape design advice website! All the professional advice here is free for you to enjoy and be inspired by! I work on this site from home and it earns me thousands of dollars just about every month. (Huh? How?) If you dream of having a very profitable website, click here now to learn how I made this happen. It is truly a dream come true! | can be used, with or without connecting walls. Lights may be placed on top of the piers. Piers can be made of many materials, including brick, stone and stucco. Bluestone caps are often used.Entry plantings are a nice features, with or without piers. Sometimes I like to use ornamental trees, one on either side of the driveway. In other designs, I might introduce a group of trees, placing two trees on one side and one tree on the other side. Read more about driveway landscaping here. Shrubs and perennials can be added or the trees can be used alone. Other landscaping ideas might be to use trees and to make both the entry and the driveway itself stand out. Use an allee of trees. This is where the trees are placed along the driveway on both sides for most of the driveway length. You might be interested in a good landscape design or plant book. If so, please visit my page, Garden Design Book, where I have a few recommendations and reviews. I have also written an interesting page on garden ornaments, including such things as sundial clocks, bird bath fountains, or even solar bird bath fountains. And for the very curious...I have even written a page on green roof systems which is very interesting and "green". All of these landscaping ideas follow principles of good landscape architecture, with my own personal twist. Try using them in your landscape design and I think you will find that your garden will be above and beyond the ordinary!
Landscape Design Questions & Answers
Do you have a Landscape Design question or a situation that you would like some help with? Patio design questions? Paving material confusion? Flower garden design advice? This is the place to ask! I only ask that questions be design related...thanks!
I decided to create this section due to the many questions people have regarding Landscape Design.
The idea is - Ask one, or Answer one!
You may ask a question yourself, comment on or answer questions of others, and rate comments too. All helpful comments will be greatly appreciated!
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