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Designing Your Landscape: The Birth of Your Design
IN THIS CHAPTER
Just envision it: You walk out your back door to a beautiful, comfortable oasis. Transforming your yard isn’t only totally doable, but the process is also rewarding and yes, fun. The new look begins with new thinking: figuring out what you want most, finding inspiring ideas, and dovetailing those dreams with practical considerations.
Your new, improved landscape should be a place you and those you live with genuinely enjoy and use. The hardscape (the parts of your landscape that are physically hard, like a deck or fence) can create an outdoor room for relaxing as well as for entertaining from time to time. The plants can provide bright color, privacy, sunblock, or minimal maintenance — whatever you’re looking for. The idea is to make it yours, personalized the way you like it. It will become your outdoor home, practical and pretty.
Here we encourage you to think what’s possible. You can cross the bridge between dreaming and reality. We show you how in this chapter.
Starting with Dreams — Create Your Wish List
A landscape can be whatever suits you. Experienced landscape designers often say something like “Form follows function,” which simply means that a landscape should meet the needs of the people who use it. In other words, you can design the most elaborate landscape with thousands of dollars’ worth of beautiful plants and expensive paving, but if you can’t find a comfortable place to set up the barbeque and you love to grill, what good is such a yard to you?
The place to start, really, is with a wish list. Here are some possibilities to jog your thinking. Do make your own list and tinker with it. This process is your time to be creative, so have fun:
Create a sanctuary for pollinators, butterflies, and/or birds.
Grow and harvest fresh herbs for cooking.
Create low-maintenance flowerbeds.
Raise food for your family.
Make a space that’s private and shielded from noise and distractions.
Work with color ideas to make some really beautiful displays.
Play catch (or fetch) on the lawn (with your kids or dog).
Cut fresh flower bouquets.
Reduce water bills and maintenance costs.
Entertain guests in comfort and style.
Sip adult beverages while lounging around a firepit.
Create a shady retreat.
Garden in harmony with nature.
Enclose your yard in living plants rather than fencing.
Grow vegetables and fruit for canning.
Swing in a hammock with a good book (or take a nap).
Replace dull foundation plantings.
Play sports such as volleyball, badminton, croquet, or flag football.
Add a lot more color, especially in nonpeak times.
Enjoy the garden after the sun goes down.
Erect a buffer between you and neighboring properties.
Swim in a pool or soak in a spa.
Admire fish and waterlilies in a small pond.
Supervise kids in a sand box, play structure, or fort.
Make a small garden seem bigger or more interesting.
Compost lawn clippings, raked leaves, and kitchen scraps.
View colorful flowers or container plants.
Grow gorgeous roses.
Grow scented flowers and fragrant herbs.
Make an attractive yard that stands out in your neighborhood.
Create a meadow of wildflowers.
Cook and serve meals outdoors.
Relax in the shade created by a vine-covered pergola.
Install a gazebo and make a path out to it.
Make a resilient landscape, one that can tolerate challenging weather.
Hold barbecue parties or potluck dinners.
After the brainstorming and wish-listing, an important part of this process is looking at what you have with new eyes. Sure, you may have some limitations and parameters, but even you can rethink or work them to your advantage. New possibilities will emerge. As you proceed, your dreams and goals will come into clearer focus.
Gathering good ideas
Collecting new-to-you and fresh, inspirational ideas for your landscape design is in many ways a treasure hunt. The following sections can spur your inspiration.
Plan weekend outings to nurseries
Plants are often displayed at nurseries according to their needs for sun or shade. For example, ferns are displayed in a shade house, whereas daylilies are displayed in full sun. After a visit or two, you can figure out which plants you like and start imagining where to plant them.
Some nurseries offer lectures or demos on weekends, which are usually free and are valuable for gathering information on plants and gardening.
Visit local botanical gardens and arboretums
Check out the labels and interpretative signage. Some of the plants may be unusual, but more than likely they’re proven in your climate. Find out, too, if the venue is hosting speakers or holding workshops. If so, sign up and attend. Such events are often free or inexpensive, giving you the opportunity to learn while meeting other gardeners.
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