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Landscape Design
Landscape
Design and Planning
Many features are involved in making your landscape not
only functional but attractive as well. Included below
are the primary features you will want to consider in
your planning and design.
FOR the most attractive and beneficial use of your
grounds, you will want to include most of the features
outlined below in your plans. Such essentials as a good
lawn, thriving shade trees, paths and walks are often
taken for granted, yet they are usually the most
difficult to acquire, and may end up absorbing a major
part of your initial effort, as well as your budget.
On the other hand, a project such as an outdoor living
room, cooking and entertaining facilities, may have been
overlooked in the past because it sounded too difficult
to achieve. And yet these seemingly difficult features
can add a great deal to your enjoyment and may,
depending on what type you choose, be obtained with
relatively little effort and cost!
Trees—For Shade and Beauty
Perhaps if any one feature can be singled out as basic
to successful landscaping, it is the presence of fine
trees. The unfortunate trend of developers cutting down
trees in a wholesale manner, and the increased use of
treeless fields for new building, has focused attention
on the property owner who usually must begin with
nothing when it comes to trees. Architects agree that a
single shade tree, even of medium height, can make a
tremendous difference in the comfort and livability of a
house.
A Good Lawn
A basic requirement for attractive and enjoyable grounds
is a good lawn. When planting a tree you do so realizing
that you are planting for years to come, even for future
generations. Few realize, however, that fine lawns must
be planted in the same spirit.
Flowers
You will want flowers for cutting, as well as flowers
for contributing cheerfulness and charm to your
landscape. The aim of the successful gardener is to have
a regular succession of flowers from early spring to
late fall. You can plan from the start to have
perennials which bloom at different seasons, (for
example, iris, which reaches the peak of its bloom just
as the peony season begins).
Foundation Planting
The special planting which is set close to the house is
called foundation planting and has great importance
since it can improve and enhance the proportions of your
house, as well as relate the house to the grounds.
Outdoor Living Room
One way to extend your house is to use your outdoor
space to full advantage. And many homeowners make rooms
look larger by visually extending them into the lawn or
garden.
Play Area
A play area that will keep your young children in their
own back yard, where you can keep an eye on them,
doesn’t need to be an unattractive one. With a little
creativity and thoughtful design it can harmonize with
the rest of the landscape and be functional as well.
Service Area
Plan to have your service area out of sight yet close
enough to the house so that it is convenient.
Paths and Walks
Planning your driveway and walks, so that they take up a
minimum amount of room and yet provide a strong enough
surface for the traffic they will bear, calls for
careful thinking.
Garden Pools and Fountains
Water, in almost any form, enriches a garden and
delights the senses.
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