Appearance is everything when it comes to a home’s landscape. Crafting a welcoming atmosphere, for inhabitants, visitors, and passers-by alike, is a skill best accomplished through proper research and planning, an eye for design, and the professional expertise required to help make your vision a reality.
First and foremost, it’s integral to be familiar with the typical weather, sun exposure and soil conditions of your surroundings, to select those trees and shrubs most likely to complement your property over a period of time and require a manageable level of ongoing maintenance.
In most cases, native plants make ideal choices, as they are uniquely equipped to handle the particular climate of the area. With that, it’s essential to investigate the growth trajectory of any trees and shrubs you wish to plant, as this should ultimately dictate your design. Slow-growing foliage is less likely to obstruct or damage your home; foundation plants can provide color without blocking windows or doors.
Though the inclination may be to create an elaborate layout, honing in on one or two areas of key impact is far more advisable to creating an ideal outdoor environment.
Popular choices include the walkway or border leading to the front entrance to your home, as well as the area surrounding a deck, patio, porch, or other communal gathering area. By framing the remainder of your landscape choices around these key locales, you can strategically cluster plants with similar needs and create natural dividers in the form of perennial beds, vegetable gardens, or stone and brick accents.
To add color and texture and prevent weeds, it’s helpful to blanket the soil with ground cover. Perennial flowers are a great standby to complement the aesthetic, and require minimal upkeep. In keeping with less property to maintain, flower beds, evergreen shrubs, ornamental grass and mulch all work to provide an attractive alternative to a standard stretch of lawn or turf.