Landscape and Gardens

A great garden is one that looks like it is meant to be and fits like a nut and bolt with the house. There are many hints and cues to achieve a great garden. Often these can be easily missed unless you know what you’re looking for. Even when you use a landscaper, it is a important for you to be able to communicate what your dream garden is so that they can transform it into reality and to be what you’re expecting.

Perspective of views

When landscaping a front yard, consider the view -- both toward the house and from within the house. Your front yard makes the first impression and you’ll want your view from the within the house to be pleasant for you too as this is often the perspective that you’ll be viewing from.

Continuity within the garden

A good landscaper will be able to achieve continuity within your garden so that it is not patchy with plants or looks mismatched. Rocks used throughout the yard can bring a sense of continuity of design throughout the garden.

Consider your lifestyle

Do you like a house with lots of sun or one that is cooler with shady trees. What about your privacy or do you like to be friendly to your neighbours? Is a paved area for your children to cycle on important or a grass area for kicking the ball around more essential? These are things to consider when you’re landscaping and often, the answer comes as a tradeoff of choices.

Emphasise the Entry

Nothing is more frustrating for visitors than not to know where the front door is. Good landscaping can frame an entry and it noticed. Along sidewalks and front paths, plants of different heights e.g. tallest plants at the outskirt while smaller plants boarders the foot path can give you a tiered garden look.  This way, the pathways leading up to the front door will be clearly marked.

You can also consider structures such as an ornamental arbor or fence to mark the entrance and add a point of interest. This can also allow you to climb climbing plants such as climbing roses

Choose plants and materials that compliments

It is important that your landscape is a happy marriage between the plants and materials chosen.

Plants such as vines can actually connect a house to the garden. It can also help to highlight the shape of the house. The colours of the house and also of the materials chosen should provide a smooth transition from house to landscape. Ideas to consider can be matching the colour of your pathway or the edging to the colour of your roof, trimmings or even the colour of the exterior of your house.

Landscapers with their design experience will be the best people to advise you on these matters.

Use Structures

Blend nature with artificial elements. Structures help draw attention to become a point of interest such as an archway.

Elements of a structure sometimes provide clues about where to take the landscaping. A house that has intricate brick-and-stone detailing will probably need a similar treatment. Lines of the low boxwood hedge echo the architecture of the porch and lend an air of formality.

 Fence and matching gate along with a garden bench will encourage visitors to slow down and enjoy the garden.

Be adventurous and place individual boulders to edge steps or have an arched entryway for an almost churchlike presence thanks to an Asian-theme design that successfully blend natural and artificial elements.

Colour scheme

To give an elegant touch to a modest house, the trick is to pay attention to the details. Look at the colour scheme of your house and how this can benefit your garden. For a contrast effect, a house with tones of as gray, white, and black can be contrasted with some colour from a few annual flowers. This will retain the grandeur of the house.

Or further enhance the colour of your house to have a more blended look. Such as cheerful yellow-and-white color scheme is animated further by bright flowers in front of a fence.

Use Space Smartly

If you have a postage stamp size garden, don’t limit it to some foundation scrubs and a handkerchief sized lawn. Make sure that your garden isn’t too busy or overcrowded as a result of cramming it full of plants. Try the layered look of a variety of sizes and shapes to create an eye catching landscape. This tiered look will also “open up” the garden. Another alternative is to plant upwards. Use pyramid structures for plants such as beans, tomatoes or even cucumber to climb. This is a great space saver.