When you’re planning your new garden, you’re going to want it to look as good as it can get. Make sure you don’t commit landscaping’s most common mistakes and guarantee yourself a stunning success with these 10 do’s and don’ts of landscaping.
1. Do make a plan
Starting a landscaping project without any plan or clear direction is a recipe for disaster. Not only will your garden turn out to be a hectic mess, but you also will run up a long bill from making mistakes. Before making any changes, first think of your style and color scheme, keeping in mind what will best suit the house and garden you have to work with. Start mapping out on paper where to position your plants, keeping the final result in mind – you want your yard to flow together harmoniously, not look overdone in some areas and sparse in others. Most importantly, follow the plan you have made throughout your entire landscaping process.
2. Don’t underrate costs
A big mistake almost everyone makes when landscaping is forgetting to set a budget – or even worse, not sticking to it. Home improvement projects such as landscaping always turn out to be more costly than expected, so set a little more than you think you will need.
3. Do keep things practical
It’s so easy to get carried away with all your ideas for your new and improved yard – but take a step back once in a while to consider how practical your design really is. Do you have kids? A large dog? Are they going to have enough space to run and play if you install that tiered fountain? Can the family enjoy a back-yard barbeque if you plant that orange blossom tree?
4. Don’t forget maintenance
Possibly the most common mistake made when landscaping is failing to plan for the maintenance of your garden. Caring for a garden takes a lot of time and dedication, so you need to ensure that the project you are ensuing won’t be too much for you to handle – now and in the future.
5. Do get creative
Spice up your garden patch with some architectural features: a marble bird bath; a trellis weaved with vines; a lone bench surrounded by tangles of wild roses, offering you a moment of tranquil meditation. Watch your greenery take on a new life as they intertwine with your structural elements.
6. Don’t over-accessorize
On the flip side, a garden packed with fussy ornaments, garden gnomes, and a clay family of dancing frogs stifles the pure natural beauty of the garden’s main element – greenery – and simply ends up looking messy and disorganized. Try for just one statement piece, making sure it fits in with the rest of the scenery – it’ll make a difference for the better.
7. Do have some variety
Like the saying, “Too much of a good thing becomes a bad thing,” too much of a good, lovely thing – be it a plant type, a color, a shape, a size – becomes a bad thing. Throw some variety into the mix by adding splashes of yellow to your pink, or intermingle roses with lavender. Not only is it more aesthetically pleasing, it is actually beneficial to the plants themselves, as it avoids nutrient depletion and insect infestations.
8. Don’t go all over the place
There is a fine line between implementing variety and planting at random, and while variety can be dazzling, a balance must be struck. A dizzying array of clashing colors, or pines colliding with bamboo, certainly cross the line from original to confusing. The key, as always, is to find a balance. Stay within a color scheme, such as pale greens, whites, and lilacs; or try out a complementary scheme, such as purples, yellows, and oranges, for a varied yet tamed appearance.
9. Do consider outdoor lighting
Something that is so easy to forget when landscaping is how your garden is going to look at night. It’s something most people don’t even consider, but you will be amazed at how much your garden will pop in its newly-lit splendour.
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