By layering your garden beds, you are able to add a whole other level of excitement to your landscaping design. Your yard, particularly the front area, is the first thing that people see when they come to your house and leading a grand tour that includes a breathtaking garden is always fun. You will be the talk of the neighborhood when you utilize good garden landscaping ideas.

Layering your garden landscaping design is not difficult. You need to understand the flowers that you are going to plant first, however. The choices that you select as far as the flowers and other foliage will affect just how your garden landscaping is laid out. For example, you do not want to have the taller plants in front of the smaller ones. This is obvious, but you had better make a blueprint of where you want things planted in your landscaping before you begin. This will help you to keep things as simple as possible and aid you in avoiding bigger problems with drainage, poor soil and incompatible color combinations. Your landscaping will go a lot smoother this way and you will run into fewer problems as you go.

When layering you should create about three layers. Your back row should face north, if feasible, and it should contain the tallest plants. As the rows descend, so should the heights of the plants and flowers. Place the medium and ground level plants in front of the larger ones.

The difficulty of this approach to landscaping is that often the plants we buy are baby plants. So you will need to talk to those working at your local gardening store about how large the plants will grow to be. This is crucial to successful garden landscaping. If the front or middle row of your garden landscaping design is growing higher than the last row, then you will have to do some rearranging.

Think about how you will water your layers so that your irrigation system makes it effortless for you to reach all your plantings. Layering plants requires a little education, but the results are well worth the time you spend.

Layering plants will bring depth and make your foilage much more interesting to see. Garden landscaping ideas like these will make your garden landscaping a success, increasing your property value and making your garden a more beautiful and appealing place to live.

It’s an alarming thought, but illness can result not only from the improper use of pesticides, but also from the so-called proper use of these chemicals.

In addition to our health, another benefit of organic gardening can also be felt in the wallet. By making use of the resources that you already have on hand, you can save money with do-it-yourself organic landscaping, rather than paying money for chemicals to unnaturally enhance your plants.

Native Plants

One of the best ways to practice organic landscape is to make use of native plants. Bringing in exotic plants or non-native plants from areas with very different conditions only results in frustration and the possible reliance on chemicals to help you take care of them.

It is so much easier to naturally promote the health of your landscape when the plants you use thrive in your area. They thrive because they have built up defenses over time against their local enemies. If you want to keep a landscape that works with the natural setting, native plants, or plants from areas with similar conditions, can help you accomplish this.

Healthy Lawns

The most obvious part of a landscape is usually the lawn. Many people seem to think it is necessary to use a great deal of chemicals to keep pests from ruining the lawn or to help the lawn grow well. However, the truth of the matter is that by actively caring for the soil under your grass, you can create a healthier lawn. A beautiful lawn can be achieved in many ways that do not involve harmful chemicals.

Organic Fertilizers

The composition of organic fertilizer is made entirely of organic materials. Although initially more expensive, if used regularly, the long-term costs will be reduced because organics decrease the need for later expensive chemicals. Over-all the costs even out because synthetic fertilizers need to be applied more frequently.

Aeration

The use of aeration is another way to take care of the lawn that promotes healthy soil and better grass roots. Aerating your lawn relieves soil compaction by punching holes in the ground and helps make the soil easier for grass roots to penetrate.

This allows the roots have more room to go deeper, and organisms, like earthworms, that actually help the health of your lawn, have more room to move about and make their homes. This will result in a naturally healthy lawn ecosystem that can withstand pests and keep weeds out on its own.

Over Seeding And Top Dressing

Other organic practices that improve the health of the lawn are over seeding and top dressing. Over seeding makes use of more than the recommended amount of grass seed – about one and a half times more than the recommended amount.

Over seeding promotes quicker germination and that results in a thicker lawn that really fights the weeds!

Top dressing is the act of taking composted organic matter and mixing it with sand 50-50. A thin layer is then spread over the lawn. This improves the lawn rooting, creating healthier, hardier grass, without fertilizer.

Common Sense Gardening

If you practice common sense in using gardening techniques, fertilizer (organic or otherwise) may not even be necessary. Create your own compost and mulch by using grass clippings from the lawn mower and leftovers from the garden. Also add in raked leaves, pine needles and (parradoxically) weeds.

Left to decompose, this creates nutrient-rich organic matter that can be used to improve the health of all the plants in your landscape, not just grass.

When you do it yourself, organic gardening can be a very rewarding and money saving effort.

Professional landscaping projects can be pricey, but you can take steps to reduce the cost. The best place is at the start — the landscape design.

Left to themselves, professional landscapers will likely produce an outrageously expensive plan, filled with exotic plants and wonderous features. Nice, but do you want to pay for all that?

Set Goals

What it is you really need? A place to barbeque? Solitude? Family activities?

Which area of the property would you like to work on? Knowing and defining your desired outcome is a major part in the money saving process.

Do Not Over-Do It

Don’t contradict the style of your house. Can you imagine a sky scraper in the middle of the city with a big barbeque lawn? If your house has a simple design, don’t go with a landscaping design that will overwhelm the flow.

Know Your Style

Formal style uses perfect, straight, geometrical shapes. The plants and bushes are pruned neatly and arranged closely.

Informal style goes against the straight line geometry. There are other styles that can be found on the web and in your neighborhood bookstore.

Hiring A Professional Landscaper

Sometimes a highly respected landscaper is a must, especially if you have a goal that is very complicated. Other times a new, less established landscaper, can produce the desired result for less money. Talented people are not necessary the successful ones.

For now, just do your research in a relaxed environment. Make this project fun. After all, you are just doing the planning part. The professional landscaper gets to provide the back breaking work.

Remember that the initial costs of creating a landscape often create ongoing budget items. Maintenance and other related and recurring costs that are a part of the landscape experience must be factored into your budget.

You need to take everything into account when you plan your budget. Although annoying and tedious, in the end it will help you out immensely. You won’t be surprised at how much everything costs if you have estimates on costs and if you stay within your budget parameters.

Think of each portion of the landscape as a separate project and create a budget for each one. Then total it up to see what you can or cannot afford now. You can make adjustments to various landscaping elements if you need to bring the cost down a bit, or perhaps you can postpone a feature for the time being. Or even forego it entirely.

Figure out which plants you want, and whether or not they will look good in your complete landscape design. Investigate the cost of a variety of plants, so that you have some choices. Create a budget for the type of fencing you would like. Learn what materials are needed to build an arbor, deck, or patio. Then check out the cost of the materials, and how they will fit into your budget.

Keep in mind the landscape you want when creating a budget. Do you desire special fixtures? What can you live without? Create a vision of your landscape and then alter it as needed to match your budget.

Landscape design software can help in this, as you can easily adjust your plan and your ideas to fit within your budget. Figure out the approximate costs of your landscape needs by talking to professionals or by going online to find what is needed for similar projects. If something is too expensive, or it is not in your budget at all, now is the time to make adjustments.

The main elements of most landscapes are plants. When choosing plants, consider their size and growth rate. Even though a plant may be initially cheap and fast growing, future maintenance costs may be a problem. Typically, fast growing plants cost more in maintenance because they get bigger faster. Slower growing plants may force you to adjust your initial views of spending, but they will probably save you money over the long run.

One major decision you will need to make is how much of the work you are going to do yourself. Many landscape projects can be done without professionals, and turn out very well. Remember to consider the cost of labor versus doing the labor yourself.

Look for cost cutting landscaping ideas, because you are sure at some point to start to go over budget. For example, you can construct your walkways out of flat rocks if you can’t afford to have concrete poured.

There is a lot to keep in mind when creating a landscape budget. Make a detailed list of how much money you want to spend for each project before beginning the actual work.

For each of your landscape projects, try to come in at or below budget. If something is costing more than what you’ve budgeted for, you’ll need to quickly make adjustments. Look upon your budget and your landscape design as partners in an on-going creative dance. If either misteps, disaster may result.

Side Yard Problems

It can be difficult to deal with a side yard. They are usually narrow, making them hard to maintain. In such cases, they are best for passage than other uses. Keep the junk out of these areas and create a cottage garden landscape there.

Some plants that work well include perennials and ornamental grasses, which come in many colors. You can use a variety of your favorite flowers that are available in a wild garden style. Or add in a pathway made from stone to offer a simple, but beautiful look to it.

Too Much Mulch

Not only does excessive mulch look bad, but it is not good for the health of your plants.  This happens many times near driveways and along the edges of lawns. If mulch is falling out of the flower beds, it looks messy.

You should have only 2 – 4 inches of mulch on a flower bed. To help prevent this problem, put ground cover plants along the borders of the flowerbeds. This looks great and will help keep the mulch where it should be. Lowering your soil level slightly can help even out the area so that the mulch is level with the rest of the plantings.

Hide The Air Conditioner

If you have exposed air conditioners, they can be very ugly on the landscape. Exposed appliances are heated by the sun which causes them to have to work harder and therefore use more energy.

You can fix this by planting a small tree or a hedge. The appliance is screened from view and the shade helps keep the unit cooler. This can be done even where there isn’t much room. You can plant a narrow hedge of nandina or you can add a trellis with a colorful vine or climbing roses.

Weird Areas

Sometimes, there are areas in your yard that are not right for grass. For example, near an entrance, near walkways, or at the edge of a patio or deck. No matter where they are, these areas are hard to maintain.

Making use of plants in containers is a solution. One large container can be used, or make a small container garden with a variety of plants in containers of various sizes, shapes, and colors. These are also ideal locations for accent objects such as an obelisk, a stature or even topiary bushes. You can even use water features that add cooling effects to your landscape.

Think outside of the box to handle some of the harder areas of your yard when it comes to landscaping designs. When you take full advantage of all the room that you have, and let your creativity go wild, you can add even more beauty to your garden.

Current Landscape Design

The first step in planning your landscape is to look at what you already have. A critical eye is needed here in determining what you like and dislike about the current design. Be sure to take into account how your home looks during different seasons. Make a list of all the good points of your current landscape, what changes you’d like to make, and what additions you want.

You should really do this planning process over an entire year, so that you can see precisely what you have during each season. Remember, taking your time will help you develop a better plan.

Landscape Space

When planning your landscape, keep in mind your space needs and what the space will be used for. Does the design interfere with your family’s activities and routines? Does that shrub block the walkway to the mailbox? Would the flowerbed in the middle of the lawn inhibit family games? Would the addition of a deck make family barbecue functions more convenient? Would a sandbox be a special addition for your grandchildren?

The best designs combine attractiveness with utility and are an essential part of the landscaping process.

Keep A Journal

Another way to help you plan your landscape is to keep a journal or folder of landscape ideas. Keep a list of things you currently like and dislike, as well as your plan for the use of your landscape space in this folder or journal. Gather ideas by looking at pictures in books, magazines, on the Internet, or by driving around the neighborhood and taking pictures. Next to the images you collect make sure you include the things that you think you will need to build a particular feature, or keep notes on things you would do to tweak a design to make it all your own.

Combine different design ideas into something that you like. The point is to look for new ideas that will help you accomplish your goals.

Building Codes And More

While planning your landscape design, don’t forget to check on local building codes and make sure of those tricky property lines. Find out from your utility companies where underground power, telephone, and cable wires are run. You do not want to hit one of these important things while digging around in your yard.

Figure all of this out before you finalize your landscape plans. This can help you adjust for possibly having to relocate a feature in your plan or for having to scale down the size of something.

Landscape Design Software

Another helpful tool in planning your landscape is the use of landscape design software. Much of this software can be used to figure out which plants may look nice in your yard, and which plants would go with your house. Some programs even allow you to scan in an image of your own house in order to better get an idea of the possibilities.

Most programs can be used as references to determine which plants are best suited to survive in your climate, and cost less than $70.

Careful Planning

It is possible with careful planning and the use of a few landscaping tips, to plan out your landscape in a way that will make use of your available space and allow your landscape dollars to be spent wisely.

Some Advantages

Why should you use this type of element in your landscaping design?

They not only serve as food, but beauty as well. Although many people will keep these types of plants in the back portion of their yard, you would be surprised at how beautiful a bush of raspberries can be at the front of the home as well. There are many plants that can be used, such as fruits and vegetables and even herbs. Placing fruit trees at the front of your home can be quite lovely and tasty.

You don’t need to put as much effort into your lawn. More edible options means less lawn, which means less lawn maintenance. The larger your lawn, the more you need to pay someone to take care of it. So adding edible elements can help to reduce the cost of your lawn.

Your Health

You can also enhance your life. If you enjoy gardening, taking care of edible landscaping elements get a fair amount of exercise. When you exercise, your body is stronger and healthier. And, this increase in your wellness can improve your condition overall.

Fresh air is also good. Did you know that you can get sick from remaining indoors too much? The dust and particles in the house enter your body and can make you ill. If you have a reason to be outside more, then you automatically remedy this situation.

When you choose edible landscaping, you can choose not to use pesticides and therefore eat foods that are better for you.

Plus there are many mental health benefits to it as well. When you are growing something you improve your self worth.

It’s also family time. This is a great way for you and your family to get together and to work together. It is a learning aspect that children need. They can be sitting in front of the TV or they can be enjoying time spent together working on a family project.

Benefits for the environment are also present. When you are growing your own food, you lower the demand on factory farms and processed foods. This helps the environment. And, when you do not use pesticides, you are also protecting the environment. Truck emissions can be lowered because you are not in need of as many products from the grocery store.

Save Money

Of course, your budget can also be helped here too. When you use edible landscaping, you save money on your grocery bill. You can grow enough food to freeze and store for the winter. You can save money on expensive fruits and you can make your own jellies and jams from them.

In the summer, you can purchase next to nothing from your local grocer in the way of produce. Grow the things that work in your area and you can benefit from a much more cost effective method of eating.

Finally, you can plan your edible landscape any way that you want. Not everything needs to be in rows and organized. Put things the way that works for you to give you visual appeal as well as an excellent source of good food.

I’m talking not just about the driveway itself, but also the design elements on either side of the driveway, as well as those at the top and bottom of it. You can make your driveway attractive by using all sorts of materials from softscape options to hardscape.

Make A Good Entrance

As the entrance to your home, the driveway should not be neglected. If so, it can be a blemish on the other landscaping around the home. If it is incorporated, it can add depth to the entire look for your home. You don’t need to spend a lot of money on the design elements for it either. You can be creative and choose features that are attractive, yet yield a very low cost landscape that is welcoming.

Make sure that you take everything into account before choosing your elements. For example, if you are looking for minimal work to be used in the driveway’s landscaping, do not plant a flower bush at the end of your driveway where the plants can be disheveled or ruined by those in your neighborhood. Instead, look to an attractive fence or a rock garden.

Another important aspect to pay attention to is the footpath to the home. Do not put any elements into the design that are in the way of normal foot traffic. You don’t want to make visitors go out of their way, or worse, trample your plants to reach your door.

Hardscape Choices

You have many options here, such as walls and fences. They can add distinction and accent your driveway. For example a large rock can be especially interesting, particularly when it has multiple colors.

You can plant grasses and small flowers in the cracks of stones to create an even more decorative look.

A small fence can add character to the landscape. Use fencing to add color and character to the driveway. Use hanging baskets or lanterns with the fence for more charm.

Softscape Choices

First, determine what you will landscape. For example, with a limited budget, just landscaping along the sides of the driveway is an excellent option. It will cost little, yet add lots of beauty to your landscape design.

As for softscape options that will work in driveway areas, a flower bed or groundcover along the driveway will create a border that is interesting and separates the lawn from the actually driveway.

Ornamental trees and shrubs can do the same thing for the border of the driveway. Shrubs can be cut to be topiary as well, which will add even more design elements to the look of the driveway landscape.

Another thing to consider for a curved driveway is to add a focal point — something to make a statement. For example, you can have a beautiful tree, a flower bed, or a rock garden there. Whatever it is it, should be beautiful because the curve element will serve as the main focal point of your driveway landscaping design.

You can use water gardens, landscape brides, a wishing well, as well as many other types of elements to enhance this area and have it look amazing.

Doing these things can completely transform the entrance of your home. In a simple, affordable way, you can add character and depth to your landscape design around your driveway.

It makes sense to install a drip irrigation system in your yard. Then you don’t need to worry about getting the right amount of water at the right time, nor do you have to move sprinklers all the time.

An irrigation system is not cheap, however it will pay for itself over time and most do it yourselfers can install it easily.

What Is It?

Drip irrigation is actually a combination of several types of low-pressure, low-volume water delivery systems. The correct term for these systems is microirrigation. Each microirrigation system is distinguished by a different style of emitter (the part that discharges the water).

Drip irrigation is the  precise and slow application of low pressure water directly to the plant’s roots using emitters. A drip irrigation system is a series of interconnected flexible plastic tubing. The tubes have holes placed at specific intervals to fit with the placement of your plants. The system is either buried or placed on the ground next to the plants.

Advantages

By keeping the plant’s roots moist (but not to the point of saturation) you actually use less water than with conventional watering techniques. Maintaining an ideal moisture level in the soil at all times results in:

• deep watering
• efficient watering
• water conservation
• very little evaporation
• water only where plants are
• no wind to carry the water away
• deeper roots
• healthier roots (by reducing disease problems associated with high levels of moisture on plants)
• plants are hardier: more resistant to pests, drought, and disease
• more abundant foliage
• increase yields
• no uv degradation of plastic and other materials exposed to sunlight
• decreases water, fertilizer, and labor if managed properly.

Where To Use

Drip irrigation systems are most often installed around flowers, shrubs, and even trees. This targeted approach allows watering to be more effective and efficient. It helps ensure that each of the landscape’s individual elements are properly watered.

A drip irrigation system can be easily concealed with a layer of mulch, so that the system does not detract from the appearance of your property.

How To Install

Installing drip irrigation is simple, using kits available at most home improvement stores. Kits come with instructions that clearly explain all the steps. There are a few tools needed for the installation, but you probably already have them. The installation takes 1 day or less.

You can make plant maintenance even easier by adding a timer to your system. The timers can be purchased at home improvement stores and are easy to install as well. Timers insure that your plants get watered without you needing to remember to do so. They help your plants get exactly the right amount of water at the right time.

Your drip irrigation system can be used with “irrigation zones” in your landscape. Plants with similar water needs should be planted in the same area, so that they can be more efficiently watered. This helps you to not overwater some plants just because others in the area need more water.

It’s easy to change the configuration of a drip system. So, a drip system will evolve as your needs change.

All in all, drip irrigation systems are economical as well as a good choice for keeping your plants healthy and hardy. They can help to improve your garden … the easy way.