So you want to create a fascinating landscape garden around your home?

It may sound so easy, but it’s not.

Putting your garden dreams into reality always requires proper landscaping planning so you won’t end up delaying its execution because of increased cost and other problems.

Even if you will to do all the work yourself, you still need to plan everything from day one. A carefully planned out beautiful landscape garden will not only give you years of pleasure but will also help to sell your home if you ever wanted to. And dont forget, it is not just about placing trees and plants around your home.

Landscaping is more of an art involving conscious organization of your outdoor space to make it not just pleasing to the eyes but a truly enjoyable place to stay in.

Setting your goals

As with most people you will spend a lot of money buying your home and building landscaping idea. To avoid putting much of that money to waste, you should set a goal and focus on realizing that. Also, you must understand not just how but why you landscape. Among the main goals of landscaping are:

. To develop and organize the area around your home for maximum use and human satisfaction

. To create a harmonious visual relationship between your house and the yard.

. To minimize landscape maintenance to a more practical level.

Create a Landscape Design

So now you have set your goal. The next thing you must do is to create the landscape design you want for your garden. This can actually be done quite easily using some landscaping software. Nevertheless, you can use a piece of paper and colored pencils to begin sketching and designing your landscape. Here is how to do it:

. Create a simple, scaled drawing of the site. Sketch its utilities, walks, and driveways and note where paved surfaces are. Then, point out the areas where flower beds, patios, vegetable garden and play areas will be situated.

. By drawing arrows, indicate sun angles as well as prevailing winds for winter and summer. Make sure to circle the place in your yard that need wind protection or shade.

. Highlight areas where landscaping height or width is restricted. Also, emphasize the place where drainage is poor and the areas with standing water. Note also the trees and shrubs already existing in your yard.

While sketching your landscape design, consider the needs and habits of your family. Make a design that best satisfies not just their needs but their hearts’ desire. Discuss with your family the things they want to incorporate and prioritize the most important aspects.

Survey available Materials

Now you have decided on your garden design, what you need to do next is to review the materials needed and find out how much the whole project will cost. Make a note of all the costs involved to make your project happen.

Do not forget other items such as fancy rocks, a garden bench and remember some plants are VERY expensive. Also, include in your computation the labour cost. Once you have all the costings in place you are then in a position to decide when to go ahead with your landscaping project.

These are pretty much the steps you need to take in planning your landscaping idea, but try and make your garden compliment your home, give it a good interior design matched with an attractive landscape. Always remember, the key to a beautiful landscaping project is the proper planning before you start.

If you need a garden landscaping service you can find some at Top Garden Centres

Brought to you by Colin Castle of Web Centre Plus – www.webcentreplus.com