What Goes Into Landscape Design?
You can picture what you want your outdoor space to look like when you’re finished. And you can look out your window and see what it looks like now—it’s just a matter of all those steps in between that’s the problem. Designing landscaping from scratch isn’t easy, which is why many homeowners call in the professionals to help them. Let’s take a look at what goes into creating the perfect landscape design.
Basic landscape design concepts
The first thing you should do is consider everything about your yard as it currently exists. For example, you want to understand the topography of the site, the right type of soil to use for planting and regional climate factors that will affect gardens, trees, shrubs, etc. You may want to draw the property as it exists now and label each area for how much shade and sun it gets. This will give you a basic understanding of the microclimates when you begin to select plantings. The same goes for the site’s topography—considering how the water drains is crucial. You don’t want to inadvertently overwater or underwater plants.
Consider a theme
Just like with your home’s design, you want the outdoor design to appear cohesive. A theme is a great way to accomplish this when designing landscaping from scratch. A good way to start is to consider the home’s architecture. You want to complement the home’s style with the landscaping’s appearance. Determining a theme will create helpful limits on the types of decorations, structures and plantings you use. If your stylistic preference is for neat lines and geometric shapes, that will look a lot different than a more natural approach. You may even want to limit the number of colors to avoid clashes as well.
Picking landscape features
Once you have a sound idea about your general direction, then it’s time to begin getting specific. All these items are worth considering:
● Walkways: Adding pathways can create visual interest and provide useful function. Once you’ve decided the placement of your walkways, then you should evaluate which material you want, such as stone, brick or concrete.
● Patios and decks: Homeowners love to have outdoor gathering spaces. These tend to be the center of a property’s outdoor space
.● Structures: Whether it’s a pergola, a gazebo or a picket fence, adding a structure can tie together the look of your landscaped yard.
● Other elements: There are plenty of decorative elements to consider—from window boxes to outdoor lighting to ponds and waterfalls. This is the part of the process where you can let your imagination run wild.
These basic landscape design concepts are intended to get you started. When you want to work with professional landscape designers with plenty of experience behind them, choose the pros at Rainforest LA, Inc. With more than two decades in the business, we’re ready to help you design a beautiful, functional outdoor space you can enjoy for years to come. Give us a call today to begin designing the landscaped yard of your dreams.