example:
If you plan to be outdoors in the late afternoon, figure out where you’ll be most comfortable at that time of day. Maybe the shady spot under the big tree out back. If the sun shines hot where a patio is or may be, consider installing an overhead structure for shade or planting shade trees.
If you want to use the garden (or view the garden) at night, investigate and install well-chosen lighting (see Chapter 10).
If you still want to be outdoors during the rainy season, investigate creating a covered patio.
If bugs populate the yard at the same time that you do (summer evenings), a screened-in porch or patio will keep them at bay.
If you want to get outdoors early in the spring or well into autumn, keep or plant trees and structures that don’t block the sun.
If you enjoy every minute of summer outdoors, choose trees, shrubs, and flowers that bloom throughout the season (refer to Part 3).
MULTIPURPOSE LANDSCAPING
You have tons of ideas but limited space. No worries. Design some parts of your home landscape to play more than one role or serve multiple purposes. Think functional as well as beautiful. You can find a wide array of good ideas online or by browsing at a garden center. Here are a few examples:
Terrace a steep site so there are beds of plants alternating with flat, open spaces and stairs connecting them.
Devote half of a backyard to soft grass for the kids to tumble in, and the other half to a patio or deck with outdoor furniture so they can be easily supervised by lounging adults.
Replace a lawn with planter boxes flanking wide paths that lead to a destination dining/grilling area.
Attach decorative containers to a privacy wall or fence, and fill with various colorful and cascading plants.
Choose food plants that are also beautiful, such as blueberry bushes, Swiss chard, scarlet runner beans, even certain grain plants.
Designing a Low-Maintenance Landscape
Planning your landscape, installing the structures and plants, and admiring your efforts of the finished project are the most gratifying parts of the landscape process. They’re also the most time-consuming (whether you do it all yourself, or hire help).
If you want less maintenance, here are some good, sensible ideas:
If you’re often away, traveling for business or pleasure, you may want a yard with hardscape and very few plants. (See Part 2 for more on hardscape.)
Avoid overplanting or using fast-growing plants that get too large for their space. They’ll need to be pruned or even, in time, removed.
Having cut flowers in annual beds adds lots of color to your yard, but you’ll need to replant when you harvest for bouquets. Use lower-maintenance perennials or flowering shrubs instead.An annual is a plant that completes its life in a single season, and they’re generally planted once a year; find out more in Chapter 13. Perennials, on the other hand, return year after year and tend to be more full and floriferous as they mature. Chapter 14 explains perennials in more detail.
Lawns are a lot of work and consume a lot of resources. Determine whether you want one. Consider having a much smaller one, or instead plant an easy-going groundcover. Check out Chapter 16 for ideas.
If you plan to build wooden landscape elements like decks (refer to Chapter 8) and fences (see Chapter 6), plan on painting or applying preservatives every two to three years. Masonry (brick and concrete) needs less maintenance.
If you install your landscape without an irrigation system, you end up having to water everything yourself … even if you live in a climate where rainfall helps. For a practical discussion on watering and various options, flip to Chapter 5.
Chapter 2
Thinking like a Designer
IN THIS CHAPTER
Making an attractive, useful home landscape is both an art and a science. If you’re reading this book, you’re willing to giving it a go, right?
Designing your property makes it a good and appealing place to be, just like designing the indoors. Take into account your available space, and discover tricks that can make your outside seem either more open or cozier. Color, texture, size, and shape options are endless; the look just depends on your taste. You may well want to include accessories, from the practical to the purely decorative (or items that are actually both). You have lots of choices to ponder, lots of decisions to make, and lots of exciting possibilities to consider.
The object is to create a place that reflects your lifestyle, plant passions, and personality. No need to struggle or stress out with the myriad of choices you have, though. This chapter is here to provide a helpful tour of design principles, tailored to DIY landscapers. That’s you. You can do this.
You get to spend your time, creativity,
