You just built your dream home and you are thrilled to move in. Everything looks just as you had imagined-except for the yard. Looking at the bare dirt surrounding your beautiful house is overwhelming. Where do you start?
Here are a few tips to help you find a landscape you’ll love and some styles to get your creative juices flowing.
Landscape Style Tips for Beginners
Before you head out to buy a bunch of pretty flowers at Home Depot, first sit down and make a list. Your yard needs to accommodate your life. You are going to live with your landscape for several years. Additionally, your home’s landscape boosts its curb appeal and value.
To ensure that you can create a sanctuary, rather than a simple space, make a list of your needs and desires. Your list might include important considerations like these:
- Safe and open for your children
- A fence to contain your dog
- Trees and bushes for privacy
- Relatively easy to maintain
- A place for a vegetable garden
- A space for furniture to entertain guests
- A fire pit
- A water feature
- A rock feature
Your list will vary depending on your family situation and home, but make sure you consider essentials that could include those above,
Secondly, you need to observe your yard to find out how it naturally flows. For example, you might want to dedicate one corner of your yard to a vegetable garden. However, if the sun never casts light in that corner, your vegetables will never grow. Plan your yard around sun, shade, wind, and seasonal patterns.
To do this, monitor how long the sun shines directly on your yard, on what areas, and at what time. Monitor where you feel the wind, where you hear noise, and where people naturally gather. If you note these natural rhythms and plan your space accordingly, your plants will grow successfully and your space will feel more comfortable.
Third, you need to choose a design that accentuates your home without detracting from it. Drive around town and flip through magazines to note landscape designs you admire. What do I like about each landscape? What is your eye drawn to? What specific elements do you like?
Next, stand in front of your house and see what draws your attention. You want to landscape your yard to accent your house instead of letting your yard consume your home or vice versa. Decide what aspects of your home you want your yard to accentuate.
Now you are ready to find a landscape style that suits the style of your house.
Japanese Landscape Design
This style is great for modern or contemporary homes. It incorporates many elements of a peaceful Buddhist garden. This minimalistic landscape pulls all of the elements of the earth together in balance. Japanese landscapes have rocks, water features (especially ponds), plants, and accessories. You can design you yard to include traditional Japanese landscaping by:
- Using natural gravel and stone pavers
- Planting evergreen trees or potted bonsai trees
- Decorating with geometric ornaments and furnishings
- Incorporating asymmetrical accents
- Creating a welcoming entrance with a gate
- Laying a bridge over a stream
If your yard is peaceful and harmonious, you will have successfully created elements of a Japanese landscape.
Tuscan Landscape Design
Traditional Tuscan landscapes work well with nearly any style home. A Tuscan landscape typically looks informal, natural, and abundant. However, groomed hedges and beautifully potted plants are Tuscan design elements fitted for formal yards. Turn your yard into Tuscany by:
- Incorporating planter boxes and potted plants
- Installing fountains
- Using decor, furnishings, or pots with terra cotta tile
- Adding stone pathways and boxed hedges
Tuscan landscape designs usually require more maintenance than other designs, but they are beautiful.
The climate where you live will affect your ability to plant certain flowers, trees, and bushes. This can change the look of your Tuscan design. Consult with a professional to find out what plants will work in your Tuscan-inspired yard. Landscape architects are qualified plant experts-not only will they be able to help you find the plants that work for your yard, they will help you design the best yard for your house.
Country Landscape Design
If you are trying to capture a country landscape design, imagine a space for entertaining friends, as on Sunday for brunch. Country designs make your home feel quaint and charming. You can capture a little country in your yard by:
- Installing a picket fence
- Planting annuals in your garden or in pots
- Using brick for a walkway or stone pavers
- Incorporating a gazebo in the yard
- Decorating with wicker or cast iron furniture
- Having a birdhouse, sundial, or bench
Country landscaping is very popular. Many people use elements of country with other designs. It is easy to mesh this design with many other landscape and interior home design styles, and it can add warmth and a splash of personality to your yard.
Be Patient
Every aspect of landscaping takes a great deal of patience. Be patient as you take the time to carefully design something that you love. You should also be patient if you don’t get it right the first time. In time and with the right landscapers, your yard will grow into a place your family can enjoy for years.
