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A
must have if
hiring a contractor!
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Landscaping Tips
By Donna Evans
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When you want to create a beautiful and functional
landscape, the task may be overwhelming. Before the first shovel of soil is
turned, close your eyes and picture your dream garden. Begin by asking what
are your landscape goals. Some of the common reason to landscape include
creating privacy, entertaining, recreation, beautifying the property,
gardening, attracting wildlife and reducing water use. |
When a landscape is thoughtfully planned, it does more than beautify the
property: It can provide a recreation area and places to entertain. Well placed
trees and shrubs can cut down on heating and cooling costs. A good design can
also add more living space to your home in the warm seasons and provide a window
to the natural world during colder months.
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Following are some landscape design basics that apply to all designs. Every
good garden design owes its effectiveness to certain basic design principles.
These rules apply to all levels of gardens, from a simple garden border to an
elaborate classical design. Remember, in any well-designed garden no one
feature, plant or structure is completely dominant. Instead, all features work
together to establish a sense of unity. |
A. Repetition. Repeat certain plants, textures or
colors.
B. Simplicity. This is the result of constraint. It
keeps your design from being cluttered and unfocused.
C. Unity. A unified design ensures that the garden reads
as one whole design rather than a hodgepodge of separate elements.
D. Scale. Scale refers to the balance between sizes of
various elements, which includes the house, walkways, paths, fences, garden beds
and plantings. No one element or feature should overpower all of the others.
Find a Pre-Screened Landscape Contractor in Your Area
About the Author: Donna Evans is a landscape designer and website designer. Donna along with
her husband own, Gizmo Creations LLC,
http://www.gizmocreations.com, works with residential property owners
and commercial property owners to create landscape designs that provide beauty
and functionality to the site's owners. As well as having a landscape designer,
the company has a licensed landscape architect on staff. In addition to working
with nearby property owners, Gizmo Creations also does on-line landscape design
through their site at,
http://www.gclandscapes.com. Donna also teaches
an on-line landscape design course. For information about the course go to
http://www.gizmocreations.com.
More
articles on landscaping and sample plans can be seen on the website.
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