Land escaping

Your yard can be more than just empty space, it can become a central part of your home and landscaping can make that happen. This doesn’t have to be a grueling or expensive venture on your part, just so you apply some of these landscaping tips.

Function
First of all, determine what your yard is primarily used for. Is it a place for the kids to play, somewhere to hang the laundry out to dry, or do you see it as a place to ease away the tensions of the day? The answers to these questions will help determine what kind of work needs to be done before you start landscaping.

Another useful tip is to determine how your landscaping can help with energy costs. You may not know it but trees and shrubs can help you cut down on your heating and lighting expenses.

For example trees planted on the south and west can help with shading your house, which helps cut down on air conditioning. If these trees are the kind that shed their leaves (deciduous trees) during the fall, it will allow more light into the house during the winter when it’s most needed. Shrubs planted a few feet away from the foundation also help keep the warm air in and the cold out therefore helping with the heating bills.

Hardscape and softscape

Hardscape refers to the “non-plant” parts of your garden (deck, patio, statues, fountains, walls, etc.). Softscape refers to the plants and the lawn.

If you’re just starting out, lay out the hardscape first before you work with the plants. This way, the plants aren’t in the way when you’re installing the necessary hardscape materials.

Walls have the option of being treated as hardscape or softscape. If you want total privacy, you may want to go with a hardscape wall using materials like wood, vinyl or masonry. Otherwise, shrubs and trees make for a more natural wall that give a more open look while still closing the view to other people.

Find a central focus for your yard
This can be anything from a statue, to the play set or even a single tree. Finding a focus for your landscaping gives you a point of reference so that you give your design a better sense of order rather than just having plants scattered everywhere.

These are just some tips to get you started. As you continue working on your landscaping, you’ll be able to come up with more ideas that are distinctively yours, making your home as unique as you are.

Nothing beats coming home to a house that welcomes you and makes you feel right at home. Whether it’s in the front or back yard, a garden has a lot to do with that feeling. That said, you just might consider taking the time to landscape your yard.

Don’t be intimidated by the term “landscaping”. It is simply done by adding and/or arranging things in your yard to make it both functional and pleasing to look at.

To help maintain the neatness and the look you’ve achieved with your landscaping efforts, these handy tools will become essentials in your yard.

Lawn mowers
If you have a sprawling yard, with a lot of space for lawn, you might consider investing in a power mower to save you the effort of using a push mower or clipping it manually with shears. Smaller lawns may merit the same equipment, especially if you have health problems.

Hoses and sprinklers
You’ll need to water the plants so find a hose that can reach the edge of your yard. Determine diameter of hose that can give sufficient pressure – too small and the hose May burst or too big and you may not get enough pressure.

Sprinklers are especially useful for big lawns since they save you the effort and time of watering by hand. There are sprinklers that require you to turn the faucet on and others that turn on automatically at a preset time.

Spades and trowels
Spades are smaller versions of shovels and are useful in digging up small amounts of dirt. Trowels are even smaller versions that can be used with the hand.

Both are used to dig up soil which you need to do occasionally to take out the weeds and to aerate the soil around the plants. Your plants will be much healthier if done on a regular basis.

Shears and pruners
Shears are a lot like big scissors that you use to trim hedges, vines and shrubs to keep them looking neat. Pruners are similar, although smaller, and are used for more delicate cutting within flower beds and for trimming roses and small shrubs.

Rakes and leaf blowers
Both of these tools tidy up a garden after pruning or during fall when the trees lose their leaves. Take care when using leaf blowers because when used thoughtlessly, you may end up being resented by your next door neighbors.

These tools help you maintain your garden and keep it neat all throughout the year. When used regularly, your garden will be neat and not look like a jungle.