Landscaping Guide For HomeownersLandscaping Guide For Homeowners

About Me

Landscaping Guide For Homeowners

Hello, my name is Justin Malone and on this blog you'll find a lot of useful information about landscaping. When I moved into my newly built home, I didn't even have any grass in my yard, so I had to start from scratch. Before I tackled the project of landscaping my property, I did a large amount of research first. I learned how to plant grass seed, and when the grass started to grow, I researched planting trees. As my yard started taking shape, I planted shrubs and made flower beds. My next landscape project was building a fish pond and I completed it with ease after doing the research. I'm writing this blog as a guide for others who want to do their own landscaping and I hope that it helps you learn how to create a beautiful yard.

Landscaping For Drought Conditions

29 December 2016
 Categories: , Blog

With many municipalities implementing partial or outright bans on residential lawn watering, you may be forced to reevaluate your home's landscaping design.

Here are 2 ideas to help you design your home's landscape to weather drought conditions:

Go Native

Native plants can be found naturally in your area's natural landscapes. This means that they are more resistant to atypical weather patterns. When attempting to integrate native plant choices into your landscape consider layering trees, shrubs, flowers, and grasses so they complement each other. Additionally, native plants typically require less upkeep, fertilizers, and pesticides.  

  • Native Trees: can provide shade for other native plants that require protection from the sun.

  • Native Shrubs: can help trap moisture and groundwater, which prevents this precious resource from evaporating or draining off too quickly.

  • Native Flower: can provide aesthetic pop that helps your home blend into your area's natural colors and themes.

  • Native Grasses: can provide protection for your yard's topsoil and keep it cooler during the hottest days of the year.

Go Hard

In landscaping lingo, softscaping is the act of utilizing plants, while hardscaping refers to the act of utilizing rocks and other materials. One of the obvious benefits of hardscaping is that rocks and other non-living materials do not require the very resource you're trying to save: water.

The Rule of Three:

When choosing rocks, it's important to utilize the rule of three–a landscaping principle that stipulates using three variations of the same substance (rocks, dirt, wood, etc.)–throughout your landscaping design. For instance, if you choose one type of rock, consider using three different shapes, sizes, and shades of that rock throughout your landscape design.

Wood:

Wood chips, mulch, and bark shavings are a great idea for landscape borders. You can also use them around flower beds or beneath trees to help trap moisture and protect top soil.

Negative Space:

Many homeowners can be intimidated by the prospect of having too much "empty" or "negative" space. Open spaces, however, can make your landscape seem more expansive and provide a dramatic relief for more densely packed areas of your home's landscape. To properly assimilate a negative space into your landscape design, it's important to make it feel deliberate and strategic. The space should be level and uniformly manicured.

Water restrictions can make you reassess your home's landscape design. These two ideas are fundamental design ideas that you can use to implement your home's new eco-friendly and restriction-friendly landscaping.