Landscaping

Most homes have a few trees in the yard. Since they provide shade when it is too hot outside, it is only right that you landscape around the trees to make part of the beautiful scenery.

So how do you do that? The first thing you have to do is get in touch with arborist, a horticulturist or a forester. This is because planting around trees the wrong way can damaged the roots and kill the tree. Once they have established a protected root zone, you will be able to plant flowers and shrubs without any problems.

Instead of planting these on the ground, you can use planted boxes which does a great job of reducing mower damage. If you do decide to use these, be sure to maintain the soil at the original level and that the installation edging materials do not cut the tree roots.

The water requirement for plants and trees are also different. For instance, grass and plants have to be watered daily or three times a week. While the tree on the other hand only needs one application.

To prevent this from happening, you should also construct an irrigation system that is able to cater to the needs of both. You can make this happen by putting the water lines in one corridor outside the protected root zone.

But if it has to go through, make sure bore a hole only two feet below grade. Again, the improper way of doing this will compromise the tree’s stability and health.

But what if you suspect that something is wrong with tree? For that, you will have to inspect the base of the tree.

All trees have a natural root flare located at the base. If there is no flare and there is an excess fill, this has to be removed in order to save the life of the tree. Some of the work can be done by hand while the rest is done with a machine.

So if you want to landscape around trees, it is best to lay a 2 to 4 inch later of organic mulch at the base of the tree and then extend this outward to the protected root zone. Examples of these include wood chips and shredded bark. They must not be piled up against the tree trunk because this keeps the bark wet that leads to the growth of bacteria and fungi.

You must not also use landscaping fabrics or sheet plastic underneath mulch because they prevent oxygen and water going to the roots of the trees.

It is advised to prone out dead, low and rubbing branches. You must never pull on the healthy ones because this will reduce the tree’s ability to withstand heavy winds.

Irrigation must be done in the absence of precipitation. This should be done regularly during the fall until the ground freezes with periods that allows the soil to dry.

If you follow the tips mentioned, you will soon have a nice yard that surrounds a tree. Of course landscaping around trees is just one way to make your yard look good. But as this case has shown, planting flowers or shrubs into the ground and watering them is not as easy as it looks because you also have to pay attention the needs of the tree so both will be able to live.

Having a low maintenance front yard is the goal of many people. You can get easy to manage front yard landscaping done by any of the professional landscapers in your area or you can do it yourself. Either way you can have front yard landscaping done that will take minimal work to keep looking fantastic all year round. If you are going to get a professional in to do your front yard landscaping though, be sure to tell him that this is your over all goal, that you want to have a yard that will not take a lot of work to keep up.

If you have less grass in your front yard landscaping then you will cut out a lot of maintenance time right there. Mowing the lawn can take up a lot of time and energy so keeping the grass to a minimum is a great way to save on work. Talk to the front yard landscaping expert about alternative that you can use to keep your yard look good with little lawn area.

Some people choose to use clover instead of grass. Using a clover lawn in your front yard landscaping is a good idea because it will save you money and time. You will not have to mow it very often at all and a clover lawn is even good for front yard landscaping in area that is prone to droughts. They do well virtually everywhere. And best of all for those who want to get out there and enjoy their front yard landscaping, bugs hate clover.

Watering the yard can be a big hassle as well. That is why many people incorporate automatic irrigation systems into their front yard landscaping designs these days. This can save you tons of time and money. This is one of the easiest ways for you to keep your yard looking healthy and well watered during the hotter months of the year. No more hooking up the sprinkler or having to drag out the hose. You can get a professional to install one of these systems for your front yard landscaping design quickly and easily or you can get a kit and do it yourself. I would recommend getting in a professional however, unless you have experience with this kind of thing. If you were to cause a leak then you could face some flooding and rotting and neither of these is going to do anything for your front yard landscaping, do you know what I mean?

In architectural terms, landscaping means the art of modifying land areas through the use of natural, cultivated, or constructed elements in an organized manner and with accordance to a comprehensive yet aesthetic planning. If you are getting interested with this art, it is best to come up with fresh landscaping ideas to set your self apart from the rest.

Indeed, landscape design is one of those terms that can be quite overwhelming especially for neophytes. But, this doesn’t have to sound so intimidating because the underlying principles in it can be translated in simple terms or layman’s terms, so to speak. Once translated into less complicated terms, landscaping would be easily understood and more people can do it on their own.

Aiding the ideas of creation

If you new into landscaping, you need to landscaping ideas to help you create you own one. But, before going gaga over numerous landscaping ideas out there, you need to familiarize yourself first with the basics of the art. These include knowing the basic elements of landscape design such use of colors and its combination as well as the various color theories. The standards of forms, lines, scales, and textures should also be pondered upon.

To help you come up with your own landscaping project, here are some helpful landscaping ideas that you can use in order to enhance the beauty of your home or make your own personal space pleasing to the eye.

1. Always assimilate the hardscape into the initial and final landscape design. “Hardscape” refers to elements and features including fences and other decorations used in the garden as well as patios and decks because these will give a wonderful transition coming from your indoors to the outdoors of your garden. Always make sure that the elements used in hardscape will complement other elements such as plants.

2. Try building a dependable but fashionable set of fences. People might not notice it but fences—if placed and designed properly—can create a huge difference in the overall look of the house. When doing your own landscape, make sure that you invest on great-looking fence because it will be standard in the garden. To be more creative, try to use plants as a fence aside from using the traditional wood ones. Here, you have a unique and reliable fence that will speak of your distinct taste and preference. But, if you plan to use plants as fence, make sure that they are composed of shrubs so they will be easier to manage.

3. Consider using foliages and drought-tolerant plants to use. If you are not sure if you can take care of the plants in your garden regularly, make sure that you use plants that don’t need constant watering and taming.

4. Combine colors of plant foliages and flowers. To create an eye-catching landscaping, always think of the characteristics of the foliage. Make sure that the foliage of plants has various textures and colors to create easy patterns that are pleasing to eye.

5. Be experimental in choosing materials. One of the most refreshing landscaping ideas out there is the use of substitutes in place of the traditional ones. This is because in enables the designer to explore more possibilities and lets him or her to be more creative.

One good example is the use of wood chippers especially for those who constantly redesign their space. These are a good option especially for people who want to trim their growing plants often.

It is possible to have an appealing, unique look to your yard without investing thousands of dollars every year in order to do so. Practicing some basic conservation rules can help you to save money and still make your yard look great.

One great new innovation that is all the rage is the art of xeriscaping. As water becomes ever more valuable a commodity, many homeowners are seeking to conserve their water costs by choosing plants that do not need very much water in order to survive. These plants are available in many different varieties, and they will add a splash of color to your yard while still saving you money. Know which plants tend to use a lot of water- cedar hedges, for example, are the landscaping equivalent of the sports utility vehicle. Don’t plant any if you are concerned about your water costs!

Another way to save money on water is to include a material in your planting that has good water retention qualities. Peat moss, for example, is very cheap. When you mix it in with the dirt and bone meal while planting your new flowers or hedges, any water that goes near the area will be soaked up and retained for later use as the plant’s needs dictate.

As with many other areas of budget concern, the best way to stay within your means when it comes to landscaping is to do the job yourself. This means everything, from picking your plants to weeding and pruning. With the information age in full swing, though, it is not hard to educate yourself well on all the different tasks specific to your yard.

When it comes to weeds, you are probably going to have to expect a few. If you wage a campaign against your weeds, and this is especially true of your lawn, you are going to end up spending a lot of money and time on various chemicals and treatments, processes which, in the end, may end up doing more harm than good. Be content with some weeds on your lawn, particularly if they have some aesthetic appeal, such as clover.

Don’t be afraid to skip the nursery and buy your plants at a box store. A lot of the time, the plants you buy at a big store that carries many varieties of items will cost much less than those at the local nursery. These plants will not have been tended as carefully as the nursery plants, but with some care taken in the planting and tending, they will probably grow to the same levels in terms of appeal as will the plants which cost more but took less time initially in tending. Most do-it-yourself gardeners like to maximize their time outside anyway, so the extra attention these plants may need will help to increase the time spent on your hobby.

One of the best ways to keep a low budget in your landscaping is to limit your green space. Smaller lawns, and less flowers mean less materials needed for the upkeep. Watch what you use as your replacement, though- some types of landscaping rocks (such as lava rock) can be incredibly overpriced. Bark mulch is a fairly inexpensive option, but again, you have to be willing to invest a little extra time into its containment and maintenance.

This blog is on cheap landscaping ideas. One of the main hassles of a garden is not planting, but weeding. Weeds grow with remarkable speed and can quickly overtake a garden. Using a poison or herbicide like roundup is not recommended as you might kill your plants. I know that the manufactors claim the product breaks down in the soil very quickly but I find with my lawn edges after a second dose of roundup no grass is growing there six months later.
In moving into a new rental property I had a large front garden with a nice quickkerb concrete border to highlight the beautiful weeds. So I began to weed, got sick of it and left it for a month. Big mistake, there were now more weeds than ever. I was going to have to have mulch it or spend everyday in the garden. With the landlord not interested in paying for it it was going to have to come out of my own pocket. Now I don’t mine paying for gardening supplies, plants, etc when its my own place, but I’m certainly not keen on giving my landlord a free ride.
So I needed a cheap mulching option, that would look good, work, but not cost too much.
I chose three basic supplies, newspaper -the local rags free and it doesn’t take long to build up a stock pile of papers, sugar cane mulch – its comes in a big bags and is cheap, and finally a few bags of bark – not so cheap, but as you will see its used to give colour not as a mulch so only a little bit is required.
Step One:-
Prepare the garden, yes this means a huge effort and weed the whole garden by hand. Rake over the soil so its nice and smooth and then apply the newspaper. The thicker the better.
Min. six sheets thick. Spread it out and then with a hose wet it all down so it soaked. The now heavy paper won’t blow around in the wind and will mold better to the grounds surface.

Step Two:-
Next spread out the sugar cane mulch. If you cant access cheap sugar cane mulch, try straw, but ensure it has no seeds in it. Make sure all the paper is covered. It doesn’t have to be deep, just enough to cover all the paper. Once again apply water to damp down the mulch. Once watered it takes on a lovely golden colour.

Step Three:-
Now apply the bark. Just grab handfulls and throw it around. You don’t want to totally cover the yellow mulch, the barks mainly to give colour and to contrase with the mulch.

I have found this to be a very effective mulch. A year later and few weeds can get through. Nutgrass was the only successful one and I pulled those out by hand and even the nutgrass gave up the fight. The beautiful browns and golden colour unfortunately fade under the harsh sun, but by that time you should have plenty of flower to make up for it. Best of all – NO WEEDING, yes.