Landscaping Ideas And Design Styles

After a recent server change, The landscape design site was offline for several days which caused a few pages to get lost. The landscape design idea gallery has been moved out of place. Also, the garden styles gallery was moved as well. We'll see about getting them back.

How To Fertilize A Lawn - Tips For Fertilizing Lawns

Properly fertilizing your lawn should be one of the simpler and less time consuming processes in your lawn care program. While you could get very technical about it, the basics you need to know are not as complicated as they might appear to be. Listening to some lawn care professionals and gurus explain detailed processes and equations might leave you a bit confused about the whole deal. However, you don't need to know all the details to have a beautiful lawn.

How much to fertilize, how often, when, and what formula to use are all the right questions. However, because of all the different variables ranging from soil type to location to hundreds of grass varieties and types, it’s impossible to give an exact lawn care program that would fit every lawn.

Testing the soil isn’t usually necessary for determining lawn fertilizer needs. If you’re having trouble growing a lawn, testing may be helpful to figure Ph and to see if a nutrient level is extremely high or low. Otherwise, they don’t give a good indication of the amount of nutrients your lawn needs.

You generally only need to be concerned with the three basic nutrients of Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium. Other minor nutrients such as iron and zinc are usually plentiful in the soil. However, in some instances such as my own yard, I do apply one application of fruit and nut tree food to the entire lawn every few years. I have several trees that take these nutrients from the soil. Still it’s not common practice and isn’t necessary in most yards, landscaping ideas, and lawns.

The right formula? I can’t give an exact. Just a guideline. The three numbers on the label (0-0-0) represent the product percentage of the three nutrients in order, Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium. A good mixture would be high in Nitrogen, low in Phosphorus, and medium in Potassium. An example might be 10-2-5. This is one of those areas that can get technical. However, if you're not inclined to study up in this area, just keep applications low and safe. Keep Nitrogen, the first number, at 20 or below.

As my own rule for staying on the safe side, and in my opinion is a better way to feed a lawn, cut the amount in half and apply it twice as often or even less often. For some nutrients, plants will absorb all that is in the soil until it’s gone, grow very quickly, and deplete the soil before it’s time to fertilize again. A continuous feed is much better for the health of the lawn, reduces the risk of burning, and is easier to get an idea of what feeding program your specific lawn needs.

Again, all of this can’t be placed in a given formula for all lawn types. When to fertilize, of course, depends on your area, time of year, weather. Your soil type (clay, sand, etc) will influence many factors including how often and how much to fertilize. So it’s best to follow the steps of starting with less and working your way up. It also helps to keep a journal to keep track of your results.

landscaping on a slope

As a follow up to my last main blog post on sloped and hillside landscaping - Landscaping On a Slope, you can now see the design plan for thos ideas and several pictures. See - Circular Driveway Landscaping On A Slope.

Landscaping On A Slope

Hillsides and slopes can be a challenge for landscaping projects. Coming up with ideas for usable space and drainage can be difficult.

We just added a video on our site of one of our designs of a circular driveway on a slight slope. See Landscaping On A Slope to see the video and hopefully get some ideas you can use to landscape a sloped area if you have one.

And don't forget our original directory of hillside and sloping design ideas. See Landscaping On A Slope Or Hillside for several more ideas from various professional designers and landscaping contractors.

Courtyard Garden Design

I'm very excited to finally start publishing one of our Mediterranean landscaping projects that we've created. Besides an amazing Enclosed Tuscan courtyard, there will be videos on creating waterfalls, walkways, curbing, sprinkler systems, lawn, and much more.

So far there are two videos out with the last one being courtyard gardens drainage which covers some preparation considerations and drainage issues.

All the videos and lessons in this series will be archived at Mediterranean Garden Design. I hope you enjoy and get something out of the series.

Landscaping On A Budget.

I just posted a detailed article on the site on how to save money in your landscaping projects.

Most articles related to landscaping on a budget only touch on one or two specific areas of design. The article landscaping on a budget details money saving ideas involved in the entire landscaping design process.

You should find it very interesting as it will give you some details for saving money in your landscaping that you probably haven't thought of.

Landscaping On A Budget.

Landscaping and garden planting ideas.

I just got finished with an extensive blog post about plant selection that goes beyond the normal scope of choosing the right landscaping and garden plant.

The post goes into basic principles of garden and landscaping planting ideas as well as additional considerations in placement.

Xeriscaping

Xeriscaping (low water use landscaping) is getting a lot of attention due to an increased awareness in natural resources. Read xeriscaping principles and methods

More to come in a few days.

Social bookmarking and community for landscaping, do it yourself, gardening, home improvement, other diy information.

After spending a lot of time searching for a social bookmark sites specific to the do it yourself niches and finding very few, I decided to create one. www.diwire.net is free for everyone wanting to share or bookmark favorites or their own sites.

Do it yourself social bookmarking - landscaping - garden - gardening - home improvement

Just a quick note.

The Landscape Design Site looks a bit odd as we're changing templates. We've also added a video section to the site at Landscaping Videos. Of course, the videos there are our own as well as landscaping lessons and ideas from some of the better producers.

Soil Ph, The Taste of Dirt, and Organic Gardening

My Grandfather was an old world dirt farmer who depended on his crops for his living. That old man knew more about soil and dirt than anyone I've ever known.

On his farm there was never a need for chemical fertilizers and insecticides as his crops were healthy and produced incredible yields. He was completely organic, returned everything to the soil, and rotated his crops. And in return, his soil had a perfect ph balance. Or at least that's what he said.

Back then, there were no soil test kits or probes so folks tasted the soil to test its ph. If it was sweet, it was acid. If it was sour, it was alkaline. And I guess bittersweet was a perfect 7. I don't know. To me, most dirt just tastes like...dirt.

Anyway, the importance of proper ph has been known for a long time. Nutrient uptake as well as many other factors are regulated by ph balance. And plants are always healthiest, produce more, are more nutritious, and have fewer pests and diseases when ph is perfect.

Anyway, the point of this blurb.....

I was reminded of my Grandfather the other day as I consulted with a client about his yellowing Hollies, Nandina, and other Evergreens. He had already been to the nursery where they had given him the cure to his problem in the form of a sack of iron supplement.

Since I live here and have dealt with this same problem many times, I knew the problem wasn't a lack of iron. There's plenty of iron in our soil. However, the plants can't pick it up. It's locked in the soil because of improper soil ph. We live on a huge limestone shelf and so the soil is extremely alkaline.

So rather than drown the soil in toxic levels of manufactured iron supplement, we began a slow systematic increase in soil acidity with simple garden sulfer. Within a few months the soil ph will become more acid, the iron will become available, the tree will get healthy and green, and I'll get paid.

So, while you won't have to eat dirt because there are modern test kits and probes, there's no excuse for not knowing the ph of your soil. And actually, at the first sign of plant problems, you should look for visible signs of insects or disease and check the ph of the soil.

Ultimately and the biggest lesson learned from my Grandfather is organics. Before the extensive use of chemicals, folks did just fine and even better with rich organic soil. And while organics may not be practical in some of our modern applications, using it when and where you can will produce growing benefits to your gardening experience. Naturally balanced soil ph being one of them.

winter houseplant care - caring for houseplants

I don't know a lot about caring for houseplants. I could tell you a lot about outdoor landscaping plants but I couldn't tell you a thing about houseplant care. Well...except for my Ficus tree.

I have one plant in my entire home. A 7 foot Ficus tree. However, since it appears to be quite a happy little tree, I'd say I'm doing something right with it. Really, it just seems that taking care of houseplants is common sense.....for the most part.

Just like in landscaping, plants can add so much beauty and structure to the interior landscape. That sounds a little strange to me. Interior "landscape". Anyway, I've seen it done wonderfully but never really thought about it in my own house. My arguement has always been that it's just something more to take care of. And you're always having to get someone to take care of your plants when you go out of town.

However, being interior design challenged, this seems to be the simplest no-brainer way to add a little something to my home. I don't think I would go all out to the extent of landscaping the interior of my house but maybe you would. You may be interested to read Interior Landscaping and Indoor Plants for a more extreme approach to interiorscaping.

Indoor Gardens And Terrariums are more my speed as they seem to be easy to take care of. Especially terrariums. I've always liked the way they're more like a showpiece than a plant. And being self contained, means less mess.

Anyway, as I started looking into this, I came across a few good articles that I wanted to share with you. I didn't mean to ramble on and get sidetracked. Anyway, if houseplants is your thing, you might find some fresh ideas in these stories.

5 Ways To A Greener Indoors
Taking Care Of Indoor Plants In Winter
Proper Care Of Some Houseplants

Off the subject. I also published another article this week as a list of what little Free Landscape Design Software I could find available. There's not much to speak of but it might be useful if you're planning any landscaping, designing, or or drawing.

Winter Gardening - Springtime Planting Ideas

I guess I must be ready for Spring. I was geared up to write a bit on Springtime planting and spring gardening. However, as I skim the headlines I am reminded that it's still Winter in most parts of the Country.

Caring For Plants In The Cold

I never really gave it much thought. Around here, once things (including my yard and garden) are put up for the Winter, I don't give them much thought until I dig them out in the Spring. However, I stumbled on a nice piece of information that reminded me that there are some considerations to keep in mind for your plants in the dead cold of Winter.

I'll use the word "considerations" here just to keep us safe from actually having to get out and do any of this. So check out Caring For Plants In The Cold if you might like to "consider" some tasks you can do pre-spring to keep your garden and landscaping in order.

Fluctuating temperatures harm your landscaping

I thought this was an interesting piece of news. While this may be something I'm aware of as a professional, I bet most folks never give it much thought. While it's generally not a problem for established gardens and landscaping, newly planted landscapes can suffer due to extreme fluctuation of temperatures in early Spring and Late Winter.

Even if your landscape or garden is well established, it's a good read for a few tips on protecting your plants in Winter. See Fluctuating temperatures harm your landscaping

A winter checklist for your home and garden

Here we go. I like checklists. You usually get at least one good thing you never thought of even if it's completely obvious. As well as a few gardening tips for Early Spring, this article looks mostly at indoor home issues such as energy savings and weatherproofing.

Actually, this is something you probably would already have done at this point - before it was freezing cold outside. It's still good info you can use next year. Read A winter checklist for your home and garden.

Planning A Springtime Landscaping Project?

O.K., one more thing. This is a piece I just created on planning your own landscaping. And since it's almost Springtime and I know lots of folks are "planning" to do some landscaping as soon as it warms up, I figured it would be worth mentioning here. The article Landscaping Ideas - Creating Do It Yourself Landscaping Ideas is based on a method we use to help consultees and clients come up with their own design ideas. It's a good exercize that will give you a few things to think about if you're planning to do your own landscaping projects.

I hope you get some good stuff from this. We'll talk soon.

Video Landscaping Ideas

Garden and Landscape Design

Video landscaping ideas, plans, pictures, videos

If you've ever visited a major video sharing site looking for specific information on gardening, landscaping, or home improvement, you're already aware that most of the videos are useless for your purpose.

Because of this, I decided to create a list of the best do it yourself landscaping and garden design videos I could find. The site is in the same format of the major video sites except it is focused on your specific needs and searches.

LandscapingVideos.com is brand new but growing daily. View how to landscaping - garden design Ideas videos without having to wade through endless movies just to find one with some good information.

I do hope you find the new resource useful.
Landscaping Videos.com

Free lawn care and turf grass information.

So what about the stuff that comes after the landscaping project is finished? To address part of that we're expanding the site to include a lawn care information resource.

As we build it we will include information on common turfgrass types, mowing tips, fertilizing, pests, diseases, sprinklers, etc.

The directory eill also include information on planting with seed and how to install a sod lawn.

Feel free to take a look at the new directory and check back as it will be growing daily. See it at: Yard, Grass, and Lawn Care.

Landscaping for curb appeal

In all honesty, most front yard projects we consult on could improve curb appeal simply by cleaning up and mowing the yard. However, some do require a serious landscaping makeover.

While most clients and visitors can never get on our list for a consultation, we haven't just left everyone out in the cold. We have created several free picture resources for you to get ideas from.

For pictures that deals specifically with front yards and curb appeal, see the gallery at Landscaping For Curb Appeal.

For thousands more pictures that cover many design styles including front yards, see the galleries at Landscaping Ideas Pictures and Landscaping Pictures.

Another good front yard ideas source that's not my own is an ebook from Kevin Wood. 197 Ways To Create Curb Appeal. For those of you who have never heard of him, Kevins business is in helping people sell their homes so he has a lot of simple and quick and simple ideas for landscaping the front of your home.

You can get your copy along with some free landscaping software by Clicking Here.

One more design on our site worth looking into is Curb Appeal Landscaping. It's a cool design where we use our hardscape materials to create all season interest.

All season interest is something that most folks overlook. And of course this can also be created by adding some evergreen and semi-evergreen plants. But you're sure to get some neat ideas from this one design. Go and check it out.

Landscaping A Culdesac.

It's been a while. I know. However, I, like most landscaping professionals, am so busy this time of year that there is hardly time for anything else.

I have managed to squezze a little time out to get our popular newsletter out which has a great cul de sac landscaping idea as the main landscape design lesson. Lots of other great stuff as well.

I also got up to speed by creating a few of my own free landscaping ideas pages at squidoo.com. It's pretty cool as anyone, including yourself, can create pages on anything you like.

Not much time but I'll try to post more soon.

Home Landscaping Ideas

As a part of my individual regular landscaping study, I regularly make the time to visit landscaping and gardens designed by do it yourselfers and homeowners. There are always a lot of individual touches for each yard that differ in degree of design, budget, and creativity. However, the main deciding factor that I've seen between fantastic landscaping ideas and not so great is the amount of planning that goes into each yard or landscape.

It's clear that planning everything and getting a vision may be hard and confusing for beginner do it yourselfers. However, no matter how long it takes, you should never leave out this part out. It is essential to the final constant growth, effectiveness, functionality, and appearance of your garden design. Take the time to plan. Remember the following hints. They could be helpful for getting your vision on paper and finally to your yard.

In the first part of the design process you might find it helpful to think in the abstract rather than specifics. A lot of professional landscapers design in this way. As opposed to getting hung up on specific flowers and plants that you would like to grow in your landscaping plans, think in terms of size, colors, texture, shape, and function of the plants and flowers needed in different areas. Specific plant types can be picked and researched after the plan is finished.

A common design block is not being able to look past what's already there. Even though it's great to include existing elements and views that are pleasing, your landscaping ideas should not be restricted by a lot more than resourcefulness, location, and budget. It's very valuable to see beyond what you already have and start with a fresh design in mind.

Try outlining or copying your dream landscape into your space as though you have a blank flat dirt lot to start on. Look at landscaping pictures and use the whole design in your yard if you want to. Change it, adapt it, or use another. The point is to plan without restriction and then change it and work with what you've got.

Try not to fill your head with each aspect of the landscaping plan. Focus on accessibility, purpose, shape, etc. Rather than thinking of exact materials for patios, fences, decks, pathways, walls, and other hardscapes, focus on the shape, size, function, convenience, access, and necessity.

A final hint is to keep it simplistic by keeping elements to only a few and then repeating them. You could also try making a focus in each main area. This could simply be a lamp post, entry door or gate, or even a bed of roses. Keep focal points to no more than one as too many will compete for focus and confuse the view.

Landscaping Contractors - Designers - Hiring a skillful and reputable landscaping contractor needs to be addressed in the same way as any other type of construction project. Acquiring several different quotes for your design and project is a good idea. Hiring a landscaping designer and contractor based completely on the lowest bid price isn't generally the smartest way to go. In all areas of construction, credibility and reputation matters and really should be given the same regard and weight as the quoted price.

Finding a design build company with a perfect reputation may not be as simple as you may think. Nevertheless, a contractor that finishes landscape and garden design projects on time, has good service following the sale, quality, and original design ideas should really be considered as a prospect.

Any extremely low bid should be looked at with some reservation. But even still, reputation should still come into question. If the landscape designer in question has a radiant reputation and design, you might just have the right designer. But usually, with any quote that's way below the others, there's a chance of some cutting of corners if the landscape project does not go as planned. Just be aware of that.

Always ask for references from every one of the landscape designers you prospect. In my own company I display a list of past designs, pictures of past landscaping designs, and the opportunity of a
personal tour of my finished landscape design projects.

Once you've narrowed down your prospects, you'll be set to make an informed decision that's based on far more than only price. Your decision is going to be based on your gut feeling, the most appealing landscape design, the company's reputation, and of course, price.

Realistic and reasonable estimates usually will be in the same or similar price range. I believe we should spend slightly more for ingenuity and credibility but I do not think anyone has to get burned.

The most popular landscape companies in my area aren't those that regularly bid the lowest. Typically, they're the ones that have long-established themselves because of high quality, impressive landscaping design plans, and reputation. And yes, they regularly do cost more. But, of course, the price is relative when you factor in follow up and service after the sale into the cost. Credibility and reputation really does pay for itself.

Landscaping Ideas And Planning Do It Yourself

As Springtime approaches, the landscaping and outdoor projects that were put to sleep for the Winter start to return to our thoughts. And for first time do it yourselfers, the almost frustrating task of putting a landscaping plan on paper begins.

In a few cases, a creative garden design can be as easy as drawing a few circles and placing a few groups plants to the idea. However, it's usually not that easy. For most first timers, creating practical and delightful landscaping ideas can be quite difficult.

Creating functional good looking landscape designs requires a focus on purpose, vision, applying a few basic principles of art, and a little bit of knowledge about plants. The first of these focuses is the purposes and functions of specific areas. Knowing every function your garden will perform can actually make the design process much easier.

Focus on function of the overall design will help to determine different areas of your landscaping which are simpler to achieve and envision. Whether your purpose is only to cover an area with rocks or mulch, the end result should be clear in your head.

Different areas require different purposes. Front yards typically have a different purpose than a backyard would. Designing and making good front yard landscaping ideas will often focus on getting access to the front of the house. Walkways and driveways generally take up most of the space in the front yard. After these major areas are designated, it can make the rest of the design process much easier.

The backyard, on the other hand, is where most folks will spend most of their time. So backyard landscaping ideas normally will be focused on entertaining, privacy, and areas for children to play in. While creating a backyard design will generally be more detailed, deciding the purpose of the major design areas will help lay out the major groundwork for the entire design.

Having a clear focus of what you want your finished landscape to do needs to be on your mind from the time you start creating a landscaping plan to the time you're finished with the project.

It is not always easy for a do it yourselfer to realize the many functions that landscapes perform. There are several galleries on our site containing landscaping pictures to aid you in coming up with ideas. Looking at other peoples designs will not just help you create ideas but will also show function and objective which can be applied in your own landscaping projects.

About Desert Southwest Landscaping Ideas

As the popularity of desert southwest style homes increase so does the style of landscaping that fits the homes. And while the design style is expected to have somewhat of a dry desert landscaping atmosphere, it can be so much more colorful and alive than most people imagine.

There are a few different aspects of thought that go into designing a desert landscape. While Southwest is generally the style of design, planned xeriscaping (zee-ri-scaping)is more of the method, principles, planning, and maintenance of a water wise landscape.

When most folks first start to look into this style of design, they generally have a dull vision of cactus, rocks, and a fake dry riverbed in their yard. But as you can see in our design at Desert Southwest Landscaping Ideas, the design can be very colorful and beautiful. Plant selection is almost endless with the types of native and adaptive plants available in most areas.

Native plants right from your own backyard can give you a list of plants that you know will grow well in your area. And in most cases they look great and tie the landscape to the surrounding area. See the native plants database for a list of ideas, pictures, and examples of plants native to your area.

Since this design style is becoming popular, I've added several related resources to the site. Along with the few mentioned above, there is also the Southwest Landscaping Ideas And Pictures Gallery which is a collection of designs from assorted professional designers.

There are also several of my own Southwest desert ideas at the Xeriscaping Ideas Gallery. There are also more explainations and guidelines behind the creation of each design.

Take a look at the design example I mentioned earlier at Desert Landscaping Ideas. It's a great example of the simplicity and beauty of Southwest Landscape Design.

For a list of several of my articles on design and designing see Landscaping And Garden Design Articles.