Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Landscaping ideas

Hello. Just wanted to post few sites related to landscaping ideas.

Gardening - Landscaping
A deck need not compete with your garden for attentionm, use these landscaping ideas to blend a deck and a garden into your landscape



Designing a Garden | Landscape Design
The basic landscape design ideas of color, form, line, scale and texture are introduced with pictures to illustrate how they play out in designing a garden



Gardening and Landscaping Ideas
Design a plan for a beautiful garden that will compliment your landscape with these great gardening and landsacping tips and ideas.



Landscaping Ideas | Landscape Design | Landscaping Pictures
Landscaping pictures of plants and landscape design ideas. Landscaping design ideas with photos of hardscape and landscape plants, garden and yard.

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

The Basic Art Of Landscaping Designs

The Basic Art of Landscaping Designs

Don’t you think that fine surroundings is all you need to relieve you from your stressful work and everyday routine? If you've had enough of looking outside your window day after day and seeing the same dull, whacked yard, you should try and think of possible things that can add to the beauty of your home or things that can intensify the worth of your domain. By being creative and resourceful you can turn your own home into paradise. There are lots of landscaping designs you can choose from. If you will consult this to a professional landscape designer it will cost you hundred bucks. You can always explore from different resources with no expense at all.

The great starting point is to asses yourself if you are ready for a pleasing change in your environment. Then from there, you can formulate a plan on how to create your landscaping activity. If you are loaded with plenty of landscaping designs, you should choose and identify the idea, which you think will best fit your home and lifestyle. You also have to consider how much work will be involved including the budget and the availability of the materials you will use.

The paybacks of an organized system in developing a landscape design are remarkable. As with most tricks, the level of good organization relative to time input is greatly increased with an organized style. To achieve an effective landscaping design you must primarily develop a plot plan, conduct a site analysis, assess family needs, locate and design activity areas, and the last step in landscaping is plant selection and placement.

To develop a plot plan, drawings and sketches are very useful in visualizing your landscaping designs. Your landscaping plot plan should consist of accurate house placement on the lot, accurate lot and house dimensions with window and door assignment and existing driveways and/or walks. Once the house position on the lot has been determined you can proceed with conducting a complete survey and thorough study of your area. Existing vegetation, natural factors and features, which include land, form, and soil condition and rainfall distribution are important to landscape design. Views, noise levels, utility placement, easements lines and primary architectural features of the house should be carefully taken into consideration. Since landscape is regarded to be an extension of your indoor living area, your family needs is also important before allowing modifications in your home like landscaping. Your landscaping design also must comprise with activity areas like public area. It is the portion of your residential landscape the public sees and uses. Threes can be used in public area to soften lines, provide shades and shield the house. Living area is consists of children’s play area, private area and service area. And lastly in landscaping design, plant selection and placement gives the final touches. It is essential that the plants must be adaptable to the surroundings. You should also check the texture and form of each plant that you choose. Don’t space plants too close to the house because you should think about the development of the plant in 3-5 years. Walks, driveway and patio surfaces that are in grassed areas should be above the ground level.

Whatever you choose for your landscaping designs, be sure that you are comfortable and relaxed with it.

Monday, July 9, 2007

Great Landscaping Resources

Great landscaping resources.

Get Landscaping Ideas & Plans. Discover Over 65 Beautiful Landscaping Ideas & Tips To Increase The Value Of Your Home Up To 20%. Get Started This Weekend!

Increase The Curb Appeal Of Any House. 197 Simple, Low-cost Curb Appeal And House Makeover Improvements That Anyone Can Do In A Weekend. Free Landscape Software.

The Science Of Great Landscape Photography. Learn The Science Of Taking Great Landscape Photographs With Any Camera And A Few Basic Accessories With This $19.95 216-page EBook(R)!

How To Start A Lawn Care Business. Step By Step Instructions For The Lawn Care And Landscape Business.

Pond Landscaping: Induce Nature in Your Own Plot

Pond Landscaping: Induce Nature in Your Own Plot

Stimulating surroundings, a pondering sense of serenity and calmness… meditative environment, a sanctuary of tranquility can all be in the vicinity of your own domain. It’s a haven in the middle of the suburbs. You can add a waterfall and some aquatic plants and animals that dwell in the pond that will enhance a dramatic and soothing important façade, rewarding additions to your landscaping design. The most important thing to bear in mind is that pond landscaping should complement with nature and bring it to life.

Algae give your pond a genuine and bona fide look and are healthy for the fish because it’s their natural source of food. Water plants can grow quickly and spread out and the fish will most likely reproduce. Having fish in your pond will also keep the bugs out of your yard. Fish of all sizes love to eat mosquitoes and especially mosquito larvae. You will know that your mini-landscaped ecosystem is working efficiently if the water is clean when your fish are breeding and staying alive on their own. This is one of the best in landscaping design because it is a fun hobby that can be enjoyed by anyone at any age.

The location of the landscape and other structures must be considered in pond landscaping. The pond should be in full filtered sun shade. The water attribute will need to be places where everyone can enjoy it, and not too crowded by other landscaping materials. You can put bricks over the edge of your pond or any concrete objects that suits your style. There are variety of plants that could be used around your pond. You need to use pond plants to act as surface cover and grant fair water balance. Major algae problem will take place if you don’t use plants. The sense of balance in this flora and fauna means that plants help by absorbing the carbon monoxide and minerals from the water, which in turn starves algae. You need to cover half of the water surface with plants to achieve a good balance.

As for the position of your pond landscaping, make sure that you choose a site that you can observe from the inside of your home. This is so that you can take pleasure in your creation from indoors or outdoors. Shape also should be included in the study of your pond landscape design. Be certain that it will fit in your area and go well with your personality. If you are after a more reserved look, then rectangular and square features are dominant. Curving and odd shapes are more for the casual look.

In spite of popular belief, building a pond is actually quite undemanding to do. By creating a pond in your back yard you are making a lovely spot in your sphere of influence that all your friends will envy. By putting plants and rocks around your pond you are truly making something unique that not many people think to do with their back yard. With a just little planning and a lot of work, you can achieve an extra-ordinary and wonderful look all in the comfort of your back yard. You can even experience a relaxing and meditative vacation right in the luxury of your own territory.

Build An Easy Koi Fish Pond. Easy To Build Backyard Koi Fish Pond With Full Illustrations

8 Hot Landscaping Tips To Save Money Landscaping

8 Landscaping Tips to Save Money Landscaping is usually seen as an expensive hobby by regular homeowners. Maintaining your garden at low cots may seem like the toughest challenge. However, with our eight tips we can help you plan your landscaping project more effectively.

Estimating Costs Involved

Try to get a bargain on the pots, plants, soil, wood, and other landscaping elements you require to build your outdoor areas. Explore more shops and sources for these elements. It’s possible that while exploring other regions you will be able to get a bargain and benefit from lower prices. And if getting landscaping material on a budget is not challenging enough, prices of materials such as lumber/wood are fluctuating every season.

Planning your requirements

Start by drawing your landscaping idea on paper before you begin planting and building various attractions to your yards. When you know what you need and where you want it, it helps you to avoid wasting money.

Decide your Design

Work on the design involved. It maybe cheap to build a square shaped patio, but it won’t save you money if you find the final result unappealing and not use it thereof. Better to take advice from a designer and seek his help to create an aesthetic space. When you talk to a pro, you may just consult the expert for an hour or so. This may cost you around $50-$100, but it will be money spent well, and help you avoid mistakes later.

Buy landscaping material in phases

Landscaping is often an expensive affair. Few people can afford to have their property landscaped all at once. Another good way of savings money is to work phase-wise on your landscaping. Therefore, whenever you have funds, you add some elements to your landscaping design.

Cheap is not always good

Cheap is not usually good, especially in terms of landscaping. Due to the sheer size and scope of landscaping projects in general, home improvement materials usually can be bought at low prices for common plants and hardscaping materials, such as clump. Usually, most landscaping materials come in different qualities and different prices. Therefore, when you buy a cheap material, chances are that the quality may vary as well. Besides this, your local landscaping shop maybe able to provide you better and more personalized service, better deals, expert advice, and even guarantees. These will help you immensely if you are new to landscaping and do not have much practical experience. For example - your local specialty nursery may charge you slightly higher for some plants, but offer you money-back guarantees on trees, shrubs, and hedges etc.

When cheap is good

Sometimes, the defining difference in quality is minimal. The quality of the best and economy items may be slight. So why pay more? You should look for opportunities when a home improvement warehouse offers bargains on their products. Common yearly use products such as perennials, mulch, pavers, and containers can be picked up cheaply. And make it a point to check and carefully inspect the plants before buying them from the warehouse, and they may not be well cared for.

The Timing Factor

Buying landscaping materials on time can be as crucial as buying from a specialty shop. When you buy at the right time, you save yourself much worry and money. For example – buying lumber for your landscaping your outdoors will be cheaper during winter. Also, when you buy trees, shrubs, soil, mulch, perennials, late in the season, you will be able to save money. Try not to make a dash to pick up the latest species of plants. Wait for the demand to get over and supply to stabilize. By this time, the prices would have climbed down as well.

Be a Good Neighbor

Always be sociable. Share your lawn mower, tillers, etc with your and save on costs while entering their good books!

Thursday, July 5, 2007

Thank you very much for visiting my blog

I just wanted to say thank you very much for visiting my blog :)
Be sure to check out the month of june there you find backyards
design ideas and backyard landscaping design plus other resources.

Sunday, July 1, 2007

Great Tips For Residential Landscaping

Great Tips For Residential Landscaping

Residential landscaping has a vast array of benefits for your property. For starters, it can add value to your home, not to mention creating a beautiful piece of scenery for passerby’s. You will want to consider low-growing plants and groundcovers for your resident.

A few to mention are perennials, ivy, and junipers. Perennials will also attract butterflies, which is a delight for everyone. You will want to color coordinate your flowers with the seasons because it just looks better. But hey, it’s your yard so if you like, spruce it up! Just be sure to provide adequate amounts of water for your flowers and trees.

If you are going to be away from home, ask a reliable neighbor to handle the task. You will also want to be sure and include a variety of trees in your landscaping design as well. Junipers are one of my favorites. Do your homework and make sure whatever trees you purchase, will flourish in sunlight or shade.

This will save you a lot of hard work later on down the road. Take into consideration if what you are planting is going to attract wildlife. If this is your goal, be sure to choose your plants wisely. However, if you are looking to add a little wildlife for your viewing pleasure, you may want to add a few birdfeeders. Hummingbirds are one of my favorites. It is always fun to add a feeder close to a window in case you are not able to go outdoors.

Place your feeders where you will view them the most. This includes near benches and walkways. And always keep it wildlife friendly. You may also want to consider lining your driveway with trees or hedges. This is a sure crowd pleaser as well as adding a brick or rock walkway for elegance.

Another simple idea is lighting, this is an easy alternative for brightening up your yard at night. Be sure and try the solar powered ones if you want to cut down your electric bill. Consider adding a small pond or water feature to be the focal point of your yard. Then you can add beautiful flowers and groundcovers as well as rocks all the borders. This will create a soothing environment for your family and friends.

If you live for do-it-yourself projects then this is right up your alley. You will want to make it as painless and inexpensive as possible. If you need help, it’s only a click away. There are free online landscaping sites, not to mention software that can supply you with ideas and instructions. You may want to consult with a professional or perhaps you have a friend who has already designed a residential landscape.

Always be prepared for things that are unpredictable, by having a plan as well as a back-up plan. This will help ensure that your project is completed with ease. Don’t let it become a stressful situation. Make it fun and inviting for your whole family. Give everyone a task so that they may feel a great sense of accomplishment. It’s not a job; it’s an adventure.

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Great Tips For Residential Landscaping.

Saturday, June 30, 2007

Backyard design ideas

I've found out recently while visiting a friend of mine that most common backyard design ideas is adding a fish tank to the yard. Now, I know this can really only be accomplished in those yards that are large and sprawling and that have a walkway of sorts. However, if you are really adamant about having your own fish pond, yet you might have a small yard, there are few design ideas that you can incorporate to hopefully add it in without dominating your yard.

So my suggestion would be to incorporate a very small pond either right in the middle of the yard, so it can serve as a focal point, or over in the corner of the yard, so it seems more like a surprise to people who are walking around. In the corner design idea, you would want to raise the tank a little bit, so the fish are out of view. In the center-yard design idea, you can incorporate the fish pond at ground level or little above, whichever you prefer. In all of these ideas, however, the main focus is to include something lively and colorful in your hard that you can watch peacefully swimming around each day.

But please do keep in mind that large fish, such as the Japanese koi that often populate fish ponds these days, can be extremely expensive. Of course, you can also purchase goldfish from a pet store, but you might not be guaranteed their longevity but they are really beautiful to have. You just need to weigh how much you realy want the fish tank, and how important it is in your overall backyard's design before you go ahead and add it in for sure. You might find that you would rather a small, more manageable tank in your home that you can check on each day.

But keep in mind that large fish, such as the Japanese koi that often populate fish ponds these days, can be extremely expensive. Of course, you can also purchase cheaper goldfish from a pet store, but you might not be guaranteed their longevity. You just need to weigh how much you really want the fish tank, and how important it is in your overall backyard’s design before you go ahead and add it in for sure. You might find that you would rather a small, more manageable tank in your home that you can check on each day.

I would only add a fish tank if I had access to warm weather all year around, and there aren't many places that can accommodate that. However, if you are really sure that you want this type of backyard design, you can always have an indoor tank and an outdoor pond and transfer the fish when the weather allows.

It just depends on how much time and energy you are willing to devote to this aspect of your backyard design. In effect, it's a great idea that is just difficult to bring to fruition. However, with a lot of work, you can bring it to life, and many people are impressed when they find that their friends have a fish pond in their yard. It brings and instant luxe feeling to the yard, and others feel like they are in the presence of royalty.

Do remember to consider the surroundings when you are getting ready to incorporate the design idea of a fish pond into your yard. Indeed, if the surroundings look bad, then you cannot hope to have the yard fit together. With something as affluent as a fish pond in your hard, you need to make sure that the surrounding design is aligned with the pond. So include luxurious hanging plants and some very nice flowering bushes. This will generate an overall comforting and enchanting ambiance that anyone would be thrilled to have. As with anything, if you are really motivated to get your fish pont to work in your yard, you can probably do it. But please remember and I would highly recommend this get feedback from your family and friends and perhaps even some professionals, before you dive in.

Below I have placed some helpful resources you might be interested in.

Get Landscaping Ideas & Plans. Here you can discover over 65 beautiful landscaping ideas and tips to increase the value of your home.

Build An Easy Koi Fish Pond. Here you find easy to build backyard koi fish pond.

backyard landscaping design

I really love backyards because you can really kick back in them be happy and relaxed and enjoy your life. I feel so happy, relaxed and really enjoy it more then anything else it allow their owners and friends to recharge and reconnect with each other and attain a happier and less stressful lifestyle. Who wouldn't like that? Of course, you cannot just go outside and sit on some rocks and assume you're going to be happy and relaxed. You have to put time of yours and your energy, and yes, even money into your yard or it's destined to be shambles.

The backyard is like a living, breathing organ, and without lots of maintenance, it can "let itself go." So how can you enjoy your yard, but at the same time maintain a yard that you will enjoy? One of the most important things you must do is stop thinking of yard work as a chore, Instead,
consider where else you could be-stuck inside an office staring at a computer screen, doing dishes with your backyard crooked over, or taking a difficult test in a class. At least with yard work, you are in the fresh clean air, and you are getting some exercise. When you think of maintaining your yard as a way of life, and not as another chore to check off, you can start to truly enjoy every aspect of your landscaping and let me tell you that is whole lot of enjoyment.

I have in mind you want to attract friends into your yard, and put them at ease once they get there, then you need to consider the design that you're going to incorporate into your backyard. I cannot stress enough that you should sit down with your other family members and friends and go over what aspects of the remodeled backyard mean the most to each family member or your closest friends and relatives, and all the time please consider what your current budget is.

You certainly don't want to sink all your money into grandiose backyard plan, only to stop mid-project when you're out of money and up too embarrassed to bring anyone there to enjoy it That would be the worst nightmare of your life.

It is much wiser to think about your yard ahead of time, assume every project is going to cost more money that you initially estimate, and make sure that your yard won't make you break the bank. You certainly don't want to worry about your yards financing when you're supposed to be relaxing in the sun. Plus and this is important lots of expensive yard treatments can be almost indistinguishably copied for a much lower price.

If you are willing to do a lot of the landscaping yourself, you can get a beautiful yard at a great price. If you have a natural ability to imagine design and the will to make it happen, then you are probably best suited to do-it-yourself yard. In contrast, if you know what you like but you have no idea how you would approach it, speak to a few experts about it to decide what you need, rather than just giving up and doing something that doesn't really appeal to your taste or you.

You can make sure the yard that you always wanted, even if you don't have a design bone in your body. All you need is the advice of the family and friends; the insight from the professionals, and a few started ideas of your own. See what's important to you, and look at pictures of other yards inspirations. I wish you the best in your adventure landscaping your backyard because it can be very rewarding experience.