Designing a Beautiful Landscape

A well designed landscape will enhance the beauty and value of a home. It can also be a source of satisfaction and enjoyment.

Most landscapes are basically "cookie cutter" replicas of the others down the block. A standard few shrubs skirt the home while a sea of turfgrass fills in the remainder of the property. These landscapes develop with little consideration of an overall plan. The result can be rather boring.

A landscape should be a place to relax, to play, and to enjoy nature and being outdoors. Just like a home has ceilings, walls and floors, landscape spaces have ceilings of trees and arbors, walls of shrubs and vines, and for a floor lawns, groundcovers and hardscapes.

Landscape styles vary dramatically, from wildscapes that mirror the native look of the region, to traditional well-clipped tidy designs, to eclectic cottage gardens that defy rules and order, to…well you name it! But no matter which style you choose, planning and design are essential to success.

The resources in this section can help guide you through the process of planning a landscape that suits your tastes and interests, one that gets better over time and one that enhances the value of your property and makes outside a place you want to be.