There are quite a few things to take into consideration as you design your
landscape. While creating your own design for your yard can be a very rewarding
experience, it is important to carefully consider your plans before putting
them in action. Additionally, asking yourself a few questions and thoughtfully
addressing the answers can help you make improvements to your design and
can help you better plan to use the space around your home. When you think
about what you are doing and make a plan, you are much more likely to enjoy
a successful landscape experience as you design an improved environment
to surround your house.
The first question you need to ask yourself has to do with budget. Can
you afford to make all of your planned improvements at once? Or do you
need to create a plan of phases that can help you reach your goals one
at a time. You should know how much money you can spend on each phase
of your project, and you might even consider what you will do if you
come in under budget. Will you buy a couple more plants? Add a more decorative
retaining wall? But you need to set a total amount that can be used for
your landscape and then stick to the budget.
A budget rule of thumb is as follows: costs of landscaping should be
about 10 percent of the value of the home. This cost includes things
like irrigation, fencing, decks, patios, ponds, and any other element
you wish to include in the yard. There is no need to pay this all at
once, however; it is much more reasonable to improve over the years with
ready money in order to leave yourself less encumbered by debt.
Another thing that you need to ask yourself is what the space will be
used for. You need to think about what activities will be taking place,
and how you would like to use the space. Figure out how you and your
family move through the landscape. This will help you determine where
you walk most often, and allow you to accommodate for that. You do not
want to create a design that suddenly makes it more difficult to get
to the mailbox or to get groceries from the car. Consider where you would
like children to play, and think about how you will incorporate trees,
fences, flower beds, and other elements into the space without damaging
its utility.
How does sunlight cover your property? This is a very important question,
as it will help you determine where to plant certain vegetation. You
need to know whether certain sites receive full light (at least six hours
a day of sunlight), partial shade (four to six hours — this is
also called partial light) or full shade (less than four hours). Figure
out which plants will go where according to how much light they will
need.
Ask yourself what kinds of plants grow well in your area. You might
really like how some succulents look, but if you live in a very wet area,
they might drown in all the extra water. Make sure that you know what
plants are native to your area, and what plants are native to areas with
a similar climate. Along with this, you should be sure to find out your
soil composition. It is very important that you know what plants will
survive in the soil in which you plant them, or whether you will need
to improve your soil with amendments such as crushed shells or organic
compost.
Finally, ask yourself what you think would be attractive. You can do
this by take a picture of your yard and then mentally adding plants.
You can also sketch out what you think would work well, and decide whether
it really does accomplish the look that you want. You also want to ensure
that the new landscape design is convenient and doable, especially if
you will be creating it yourself.
By taking care to ask yourself a few simple questions and honestly answer
them, you will find that your landscape design plan can be carried out
more efficiently, with regard to effort, time, and cost.
