As with a good painting, a successful garden design should consist of a focal point and an assortment of background elements to enhance the main feature. As with art the landscape designer ought to start the process with a vision of what the final result will be.

This lends itself to the following handful of assumptions about garden design.

Let’s start with the lawn. Open spaces laid to lawn are rather stunning and can make even the smaller gardens appear bigger. By adding too much planting once can ruin the effect by making it look too busy.

Trees are not necessarily bad, however, providing you keep a few things in mind. Firstly the tree or trees should not be centered on the grass extent, which would make it feel off-balance and kill the sense of space. Then you need to consider the type of tree, its structure, leaves and bark colors and whether it adds interest year round. Whether the trees you pick it fruit, flower or just turn an amazing shade in the fall can have an awesome effect over your overall garden design. You should also keep in mind where you are looking at planting the tree, and what you are planting it next to. Two species with widely differing spreading habits next to each other will make your garden look out of proportion and rather awkward. If planting trees close to your home you should avoid evergreens: they can give the house a very dark and depressing feel. You should always look at maximizing the amount of light inside, which can be counteracted by locating evergreens to close to the building.

Similarly the same considerations should be able to shrubs. When planning a clump consider their colors, fruiting and spreading habits as well as what time of year they are at their most interesting, from fall berries and colored barks in winter to spring flower explosions and summer foliage. You can also consider shrubs as a more attractive alternative to fencing. Hedges made with such shrubs, such as the Californian privet, can be both pretty and very effective. To close the chapter on shrubs let’s ad that local species tend to thrive and blend in much better than imported or atypical specimens: you want something that will adapt well and fit in with the rest of your scheme.

Your design may be laid out over a formal, straight-lined structure or a more lose arrangement. When planning paths consider where they are going, the overall visual effect they will have and how they fit it with the rest of your scheme. Straights and curves can both work in the right environment, but for this you need to determine the right balance to avoid a pompous, formal feel or a messy look.

Path can be made of pebbles, lawn or dirt. While you may not have gravel at hand and grass can be difficult to keep in a good shape, dirt paths are always a fairly straightforward choice. To ensure that this is so, you should always dig in an under layer of stones and make sure there are no dips towards the centre so as to provide good drainage.

Next on the list of things to consider is the use of climbing plants to help integrate or hide buildings and garden structures. You can pick perennial vines to mask an ugly piece of masonry or woodwork, or a colorful annual for temporary visual relief until you get a chance to remedy the root of the problem. Climbers provide a great way to make a man-made structure fit into the landscape by being literally tying it to the garden. In doing so it promotes harmony and can add a stunning effect to the design.

Adding flowers will also have a rather potent effect. While front and back gardens laid to lawn are usually best kept flower-bed free to keep the sense of space once can easily add a few small bulbs in clusters: a handful of early flowering bulbs will add color and give a very lovely spring feel to the scheme. While flowers tend to be popular options in front yards and to the side of homes do not forget to tend to the backyard, too: it would be a real shame to display stunning blooms out front only to be let down in the back garden! The backyard is also ideal for larger floral displays, in borders or flower beds.

Color can have a very big impact on the success of your design: because you most likely work with a relatively small garden the colors you chose should be sympathetic with the space, its scale and work well with one another.

As a conclusion let’s remember that the main purpose of a landscape design is to set off your home attractively: by selecting the right mix of open spaces, lines and planting one can achieve stunning results. Stick to one vision and do not change direction half-way through!

Andrew Caxton is a journalist who has written more articles and newsletters on this subject for http://www.lawn-mowers-and-garden-tractors.com You can find more information and resources on landscaping at his website.

Painters of Landscape

While few of us can afford paintings by the greatest landscape artists like Monet and Constable, reproductions give us an affordable access to their works to enhance our decorating schemes.

Amateur painters often chose landscape as a subject matter as they may not have access to decent studio space and therefore can more easily paint in situ. This was not always the case and the first Impressionist to take their easels outside were viewed as rather unconventional, as artists before them would have painted inside from memory or sketches.

Painting landscape is an art tradition common to many cultures, and it goes hand-in-hand with the popularity of the genre. This was especially the case in Japan, North America, the Netherlands, France and Great Britain until the latter part of the twentieth century as other forms of artistic representation, such as Surrealism and Cubism, for example, grabbed the artists and critics’ attention. Nowadays with the advent of video and installations landscape artists are becoming a rare, rather obsolete breed.

With all this being said, let’s note, however, that most people still rather like landscape paintings. They usually convey a sense of emotional connection to the subject matter, which does not necessarily occur when one looks at a portrait or still life. This is particularly the case when the painting in question reminds of times past.

A number of very famous landscape artists became well known for concentrating on specific areas. In some cases it could almost be tantamount to obsession if you consider that Paul Cezanne, for instance, painted around eighty versions of the Sainte-Victoire mountain located near his home in Provence, France. He wanted to represent it as it looked to him throughout the year, with different weather.

In the seventeen century Holland saw the first European painters representing seascapes, Vermeer and Rembrandt. Since this time there has been a noted recurrence of sky and water themes for some landscape painters, like for instance the well-known English artist JMW Turner. Turner was fist noted for his representations of the sea and skies in violent storm conditions. This said his later works point to the future development of abstract painting by blurring the previously clear line between the water and the sky. French artist Claude Monet’s developed his technique for painting landscapes involving water by doing so in close proximity to his subject matter, which would sometimes involve painting from a small boat. American painters Homer and Wyeth, both renowned landscape painters, were also noted for the admirable way they managed to represent the effect of light on water surfaces.

Andrew Caxton is the author of many articles on different web publications, with subjects like lawn care published online for http://www.lawn-mowers-and-garden-tractors.com Find more publications about landscape design at his website.

Caring for a garden

It is fair to say that my parents and I do not get on and I actually find that they are a continual cause of aggravation. Despite this, I love hanging out at their place. This is because I find their backyard feels like I am resting in a tranquil haven whenever I visit. They don’t have anyone caring for the garden for them, and I really don’t have a clue how they managed to end up with a backyard that wouldn’t be out of place in a glossy design magazine.

Usually when thinking about stunningly landscaped backyards one tends to imagine them attached to some fancy estate in a rural area, with masses of space and mature gardens that have never been affected by any form of pollution - because that’s what you’re most likely to find if browsing through the pages of a garden design magazine. My folks live in an urban area, on a quiet road that is nonetheless in the center of a large city, so when looking at such magazines nowadays I to picture the designs they display in a built-up area.

The thing is, when I think of my parents’ garden in relation to their characters I am rather amused by the paradox: they’re regular working people who enjoy gardening, not the tender and calm earth-loving couple one could imagine by stepping into their stunning backyard. For them gardening is a like a dare, and they don’t shy away from the hard, physical work required to keep their green oasis looking like it’s ready for a magazine photo shoot. The resulting atmosphere is so peaceful that you feel you could stay in their garden forever.

Those gardening magazines do not tend to feature gardens designed and maintained by regular working people: you’d be excused to believe that in order to be successful at gardening your need to be a total nature-lover or retired! I think their writers would get a bit of a shock if they ever were to talk to my folks and realize how small a part nature plays in their whole scheme. For them it’s a very logical and almost clinical process that involves finding the right scientific balance between watering and sun exposure in order for their chosen plants to thrive and mesh together like well-oiled cogs that just turn out to be of the vegetal kind.

Andrew Caxton is a journalist who has written more articles and newsletters on this subject for http://www.lawn-mowers-and-garden-tractors.com You can find more information and resources on landscaping at his website.

From the time I was a kid I was an early riser, and from a young age I could not be persuaded to stay in bed after six AM, despite my parents’ best creative efforts to try and get me to sleep in a bit later. They eventually gave up trying and from then on I was allowed to get up, under the condition that I watch television quietly by myself. The main issue with this scenario was that at the time Sunday morning television was not really geared towards youngsters, so I started watching a show in which a rather odd Frenchman was going about painting landscapes using oil colors.

The only reason I watched this show was because at that time of the morning I had a choice between the weird Frenchman and his oil paintings, the shopping channels or religious programs. With time I actually became quite fascinated by his comforting voice and the way he was creating pretty landscapes with his colors and brushes. I became so fascinated, in fact, that I felt an urge to try it out myself, as he was making it look quite effortless. As a young kid, however, my art arsenal was limited to crayons.

It became my Sunday morning routine: I would get up at six in the morning, switch the TV on to the oil painting show and sit on the sofa, armed with paper and pastels to try and copy the landscapes showing in the program. I got some pretty impressive drawings, but didn’t quite compare with the sort of work the show host was churning out week in week out. It dawned on me that what I needed was oil paints, but being seven years old it proved to be a tall order: I couldn’t quite just go out and buy some, and I didn’t quite manage to get my parents to buy some for me either.

Looking around for a creative solution to my problem I thought that my mother’s make-up bag would be a fairly good approximation of an artist’s oil painting materials. I found a disused box to mix the colors on as if it was a pallet. I then set out mixing all the various types of make-up with a smooth texture that I could find: I also discovered that I could also tone down the color of lipstick, blusher and eye-shadows by simply adding a bit of light tan foundation. The blusher came with an application brush that turned out to be perfect for painting, and the mascara brush helped achieve really neat texture and shading.

My artistic future was however nipped in the bud as soon as my mom realized what had happened a few hours later, and I was told never to paint again. This also killed my next idea which was to start painting using foodstuff. In the end I stopped watching the show altogether as I found it way too frustrating not to be able to come up with my own creations too.

Andrew Caxton is a journalist who has written more articles and newsletters on this subject for http://www.lawn-mowers-and-garden-tractors.com Find more publications about landscape services at his website.

Using Brick in Your Backyard

Bricks traditionally used in landscaping projects are available in a variety of size and coloring. They are a great material to use outdoors and can give an attractive, classical feel to most homes. They not only can help you tie your design scheme come together but are also useful to remedy some common landscaping problems, and instantly lift a previously messy grass patch for example. The good looks and easy maintenance of brick is its only advantage: brick is also a very hard-wearing and long-lasting material.

Using Brick For Terraces

It is very straightforward to create a great brick terrace out of nay outdoor space: the only things you will need, in addition to your time, is brick and some mortar. You can chose to put the bricks down in rows that all face the same direction, or be a bit more creative by laying them following a basket weave pattern. This is simply achieved by alternating vertical and horizontal bricks.

Using Bricks in The Garden

For many years now garden designers have found many advantages to using brick, which makes it one of most common materials used in landscaping projects. They are widely used to mark the limits of a various areas of the plot, or to built beds for flowers and vegetables. They are also quite useful when planning water features: used as a surround material they will add coziness and permanence to the design.

Using Bricks for Paths And Walkways

It can be quite useful to use a liner made of landscape fabric underneath bricked paths as this can prevent the material to crumble over time and sink into the soil. Should you also use a basket weave design when laying your path in such a way will guarantee a pleasing a compliment-fetching result!

Further Ideas in Using Bricks Outdoors

Garden areas that would otherwise not be very well defined, as well as flower beds, can greatly benefit from the use of brick. It’s also a good material to consider for pathways instead of grass for brick paths are hard-wearing enough to support busy foot traffic. Whether laid flat so it can be mowed over or stacked, bricks will help you create a neat and attractive finish in your backyard.

Brisk is a very common material that you can easily find and purchase from garden stores or building merchants. You may even be able to recycle old bricks: a simple clean-up will have them look as good as new in no time.

Andrew Caxton contributes adding long articles on lawn care for http://www.lawn-mowers-and-garden-tractors.com You can find more information and resources on landscaping at his website.

Using A Bridge In Your Backyard Design

You may want to consider building a bridge in your garden if you have enough space for it. It can really add a rather original and attractive angle to your design scheme. Overall adding a bridge would a fairly quick process, and there are quite a few ways to go about it.

Add a pond and a bridge to your landscape

Ponds are a great focal point in any garden and also add a very chilled and relaxed feel to your overall design. For instance you could locate the pond close to your patio or decking, then add a path and bridge so you can easily cross the expanse of water. It is guaranteed to add quite of bit of pizzazz to your decor!

Doing It Yourself vs. Hiring A Specialist

If you’re planning to add a bridge to your back garden, you can either decide to do all the work yourself, or get a professional in to get the job done. This last option may work out to be rather costly so you may want to consider building the bridge on your own - this would also give you greater satisfaction showing off your handiwork!

How To Go About Building A Bridge In Your Yard

In addition to some creativity you will need basic materials such as timber and nails to build a footbridge to go over an existing water feature like a pond. Then, before you get started in earnest you will need to consider the particulars of your backyard such as whether there will be a path going from the patio to the bridge, how long the bridge needs to be and what shape would best fit with the rest of your scheme.

How to Get Started

Before you get digging you should plot out the area where the pond will be using paint. Once this is done you can get your spade out, remembering to dig a few inches deeper that the intended depth of the finished water feature, say about 15 to 20″.

Cleaning Up The Rubble

As you need you will unearth pointed rocks and hard roots that could pierce through the lining of the pond: you therefore need to remove all debris that can get in the way, leaving the surface even. If this is not done properly then you run the risk of the overall result looking off once the pond is filled with water.

Using a Layer Of Sand

In order to help keeping the pond liner firmly where you need it to stay you can use a layer of sand underneath. You can always cut any additional material that is not required but you should keep enough liner to put over the edges of your pond. A useful trick to make the liner more flexible and help it stretch is to leave it to warm up in a sunny spot first.

Putting The Bridge In

When you are finally ready to install your footbridge in its intended location you should position stones all around the edges of your pond. You can be quite creative there and add even more interest to the feature by choosing rocks of particular shapes or color. As you put your bridge in place ensure that it is completely stable and is properly anchored, so you can enjoy its great decorative effect straight away.

Andrew Caxton contributes adding long articles on lawn care for http://www.lawn-mowers-and-garden-tractors.com A website with tips on landscaping.

Getting Inspiration For Your Backyard Designs

It’s not so difficult to come up with professional looking results when it comes to landscaping: you too can have a yard that looks like a garden designer waltzed in to give it a complete makeover. The inspiration should really come from within: you can do it if you give your design a bit of thought and are not afraid of getting to work yourself.

Planning The Design

As with most design projects the first step of a successful landscape scheme comes from careful planning. A great piece of advice is to start your project with a pen and paper before you go anywhere near a spade! This will allow you to visualize the space you have to work with. You should always spend as much time as needed just thinking your ideas through. You should also keep in mind that there may be some existing features in your backyard such as building structures or trees that you will not be able to move, so take them into account in the planning stage.

Look Around For Inspiration

There are plenty of places that you can check out for landscaping ideas so if you are not too sure how to go about looking for inspiration you can start browsing the gardening press or take a stroll around the aisles of your local garden center. Wherever you go for a drive or a simple walk in the neighborhood, keep an eye out for interesting ideas in other people’s properties: this can also help you get a better idea of how things will look once your once garden is done.

Picking Suitable Plants And Features

The actual space that you are working with dictates what you should or shouldn’t use. For instance, how is the garden oriented, what area receives the most sun and whether there may be any water draining problems inherent to the plot. Once you are fully aware of the conditions you can make an informed choice when it comes to selecting the right plants for the space.

Using Artificial Materials

There is a vast array of man-made materials at your disposal to build walls and delimit the various areas of your design. This is also true of using artificial materials to add break up an otherwise flat extent, or make a feature out of existing bumps. Things you can use for this purpose are only limited by what you can get your hands on to and your imagination: you may want to consider rail sleepers, timber of even boulders for this. Being creative needs not be costly!

Keeping Your Backyard Looking Neat

You should always ensure that you have the kit and know-how to keep your new design looking neat and tidy at all times. A bit of careful maintenance will go a long way. For instance make sure that your plants and flowers are kept in the best possible shape with adequate feeding and watering. If you have used rocks and stones you should likewise keep them looking their best in the long run with regular cleaning.

You too can have a great looking garden by using a bit of imagination, and large amount of elbow grease. Your efforts will be repaid with long-lasting results!

Andrew Caxton is the editor and journalist of many information websites like http://www.lawn-mowers-and-garden-tractors.com, who has written more articles and newsletters on lawn care. You can find more information and resources on landscaping at his website.

If you want to incorporate your backyard landscaping ideas and make them a reality this year, then you can begin right away, even without having an overall design or a big budget. There are some simple and inexpensive things you can do to improve the landscape of your yard, and then you can add more ideas and plans little by little, over time, as your time and budget allows you to.

Some people begin with their backyard landscaping ideas by using potted plants, because these are easy to take care of and can be moved indoors if the weather turns cold or if you need some greenery inside the house to help with the interior decor. Potted plants such as tomatoes also provide food for the table, and many people make an herb garden with such things as lavender, thyme, rosemary, basil, and even hot peppers, in boxes or pots in the back yard or on the back patio.

Another set of backyard landscaping ideas revolves around recreation. Many people don’t have the time or interest to deal with keeping a garden of flowers or vegetables, but they are interested in having games to play in the yard, especially during the warmer times of year. You can easily set up games such as yard darts, horse shoes, croquet, badminton, and basketball in the yard, and you don’t have to invest lots of money to have the facilities set up and ready to go. And if you have kids, a sandbox is a great way to take advantage of some yard space, and to keep the kids happy. You can also but a portable swimming pool in the yard, and if the children are finished with playing in the sand, they can rinse off by going in the pool, before coming inside and tracking sand on the kitchen floor.

For lots of information on
backyard landscape designs and other landscaping related topics, visit
The Guide to Landscaping at
http://www.guide-to-landscaping.com

If you look around you will see that a lot of gardens the world over follow the same basic pattern: a lawn, some trees and flowerbeds around the house. It doesn’t have to be that way and you can come up with a more individual design for your backyard by creating a stylish and beautiful effect with rocks.

Smarten Up Your Garden

The fist thing to consider when looking at ways to spice up your design scheme is to examine your lawn. If you do not get much use out of it, then it’s probably not necessary to keep it: you can remove it and prepare the soil for more visually stimulating plants with simple tools. When you start digging to prepare for planting make sure you remove any stones that would be in the way, and take this opportunity to add a watering system.

The Ideal Footpath

It is always worth considering adding a proper path for visitors coming to your house so they do not have to use the driveway or walk through the lawn. If you ensure it is kept neat you will avoid dragging muck into the house. It is worth considering using stone paving or rocks to achieve this: just make sure that all the stones you use are standing firm on the ground and do not move about when stepped on. You can easily create more visual interest by adding turns and curves to the pathway.

Making Sure The Rocks Stay Firmly In Place

There are a couple of steps you can take to ensure that the rocks you use do not move. Firstly you need to dig the soil underneath each of them, approximately four or five inches deep. Then you want to add a layer of pebbles on the newly dug soil before laying the rocks and stones. With these simple precautions they should be safe to step on and remain stable over time.

Planting Scheme

You can give your new landscape a defined structure with the addition of trees and shrubs. As a rule you should start with planting the larger specimens, and then gradually move down the list until you get to flowers and small plants. It’s usually a good idea to introduce perennials to a garden that features rocks as they can lend their vibrant colors and good looks to the decor. You can use river pebbles and rocks as a great substitute to mulch in order to keep weeds at bay.

The Icing On The Cake

To finish off your new landscaping scheme you should look at adding climbers around the garden. Climbing vines also add a great finishing touch to porches and woodwork. They will bring an air of Italy to your design! Be creative with the way you use rock features. For instance statues can give play a very decorative role and tie in together your stone scheme.

Andrew Caxton is the author and editor of many lawn care articles and newsletters published at http://www.lawn-mowers-and-garden-tractors.com. You can find more information and resources on landscaping at his website.

Using Specialist Software Packages For Landscaping

Garden design software packages are a really good way to get some inspiration for your landscaping project. If you are currently shopping for some great ideas then landscaping software is a good place to start as you’ll likely find what you’re after. If you are so inclined you can also consider creating your own landscaping software to spread your creative vision.

Help Wanted

By getting your hands onto a piece of landscaping software you should gain access to a great source of inspiration for your own designs. The program will enable you to visualize your ideas directly on screen so you can see on your computer what your various ideas could look like. This is a great way to help you fine tune the garden design that will work best for your plot, with a few mouse clicks. The program can also show you the results like if it was an animated movie, letting you see the design from various angles.

Detailed Instructions

Most garden design software packages come complete with a step by step guide on how to achieve the look that you are after, helping you along the way to bring your project to completion. It’s a great tool if it makes it easier for you to see how something is being done first before you get your tools out and your hands dirty.

Build Your Own Software

If you have a creative mind you should consider coming up with your own garden design software package: with the help of a solid marketing plan it can be a perfect tool to get your ideas across to many and show off your portfolio. It can be a very effective tool for generating landscaping work leads. You can build the program from the comfort of your own home, following the guides and techniques you can find online or in specialist stores.

Where To Get Ready-Made Garden Design Software

Landscaping programs are readily available from many retailers. For instance have a look around computer and electronics stores. Mail-order catalogs are also a good place to start, as well as the internet, so you could order your software online. Prices and performance vary widely but as a rule of thumb the most feature-packed packages tend to be more expensive.

Whether you intend to sell your own ideas or are simply looking for some landscaping inspiration, remember that garden design software packages are a great place to start. You will get much more from it than you would out of non-interactive sources like photographs.

Andrew Caxton is a consultant who writes on many consumer topics like lawn care for http://www.lawn-mowers-and-garden-tractors.com. You can find more information and resources on landscaping at his website.