A well put together residential landscaped property is not only beautiful but will add value to your home as well. There are many homeowners who try to achieve a professional looking landscape but fall short just from lack of education. Learning the process of bringing a yard together and blending in with the natural elements and your home’s exterior can help you plan your own fabulous landscaping dream.

There are hundreds of options in landscaping designs but they all have one thing in common, simplicity. Keeping your colors to a minimum of two or three basic choices will keep your blend easier to work with and not make your yard look overly busy. Only choose one theme and stick with it. You may like colored rocks or lots of butterflies but too much of a good thing can go bad in a hurry.

Two types of balance exist in landscape design, symmetrical and asymmetrical. A symmetrical image is when you have a mirror design all the way around the boundaries. Totally even and balanced in design is a good way for a beginner to start with a landscaping project. However, if you are the creative sort, asymmetrical can work if you balance the theme throughout the project. For instance, you may have a line of bushes along one border but not on the opposite border. You don’t have to run out and buy matching bushes to have a symmetrical balance but use your imagination, using like colors or theme to blend in the complete appearance.

Repetition is important in any landscaping design. Consider a house that has different sized windows all around. This looks tacky and unprofessional even though each window may have its own unique style. Using the same design over and over again will bring unity and structure to a scene. If you begin with a pattern of flowers or shrubs, don’t stop with one look and begin with others as you round the property. This is not to say that everything should be repeated exactly but a flow and ebb style should be consistent.

Decide on whether you want to pursue straight lines or a curvature. Curving lines can add a gentle, more natural grace to your surroundings while straight lines are more direct and strict in their presence. Whichever method you choose, stay with it. Switching from curvy lines to straight lines can make an abrupt looking change instead of harmony. You might compare to planting a couple of tall bushes in the midst of shorter, dense ground coverings. It will make you wonder why you would want to damage such beauty.

Landscaping design can be fun and interesting with so many different ideas and natural plants at your fingertips. Play with your favorite types and remember the lessons in achieving a unified look that will not only bring out the beauty of your yard but also your home as it blends into the complete atmosphere.

If your gardens need a “makeover” to make it look wider and clearer
yet more colorful, you need landscaping services to help you get exactly
what you need. While landscaping involves the extensive planting of new
shrubs, grass, or trees in selected areas in your yard, this should be
done carefully to prevent a crowded look. What you would want is to make
your surroundings look fresh and welcoming.

You should start the planning process by measuring
the space. This can help your landscaper determine how to make the most
of your space as well as select the most suitable types of plants and
flowers. This also helps determine the style and theme of the landscape
that would work best with your building or house.

Designing your
driveway is part of the landscaping process. Whether you like your
driveway curved or straight is up to you, but this can also depend on
what is good for the space. For example, if you live in an apartment
building, a curved driveway leading to the parking area can make the
place look more spacious, and it makes traffic more fluid.

The
same goes for walkways; curved walkways through a garden give the
illusion of length and space. The curves also create spaces for shrubs,
small trees, or even vegetable patches or playgrounds, if your space
allows it. Walkways may consist of a simple concrete path, or one made
of bricks, stones, or hopping stones.

If
your space allows it, water forms or irrigation systems can keep your
grass and plants fresh and teeming with life. Children would be
delighted with a fish pond or small artificial falls with its relaxing
rush of water. Chicago landscaping architects can help you manage this
project and help you create a good irrigation system.

Chicago
landscape design involves the careful selection of plants and shrubs.
Many popular species for landscaping are potentially invasive species
that somehow “escape” the premises. When choosing these
plants-particularly tropical or subtropical species with no natural
predators or competitors-you may need to hire a skilled gardener to keep
them under control. Fortunately, some local plant species may be
quickly subdued.

The landscapers Chicago homeowners hire would be
happy to help you select an overall theme for the landscape design.
Minimalist modernist styles with Asian influences have been popular
lately. However, if you prefer something grander, like having a small
forest or a topiary maze, you may discuss that with your landscaper. For
more information, see LandscapingIdeasOnline.com.

What exactly is it that makes landscaping around a hot tub so different from normal landscaping? The hot tub may be elevated. Of course you can just add a bed of mulch, but your hot tub area will look as cheap as the landscaping cost.
Landscaping designs around your hot tub area don’t have to be elaborate. They can be quite simple and still look very nice. Planters and pots filled with flowers and greenery create a nice look. Add a few shrubs and flowers that you like to add color to the surrounding. A large pot on each side of the hot tub steps with a small tree in each one will give your hot tub a welcoming and lovely look.
When it comes to the area around your hot tub, it’s important to have landscaping ideas for privacy. One way to landscape around your hot tub, with privacy in mind, is a screened in gazebo. A gazebo will help to make the hot tub the focal point of your backyard, while allowing you to comfortably use your hot tub in rainy weather. To make it look nice, you can add a couple of simple planter boxes around the outside of the gazebo. If you’re not a gardener, you could choose to plant some low maintenance silk flowers instead.
It would be virtually impossible to enumerate all the possible ideas for landscaping around hot tubs. Let us concentrate here on an Asian themed hot tub that would be a wonderful addition to a yard. A walkway with plants lightly draped over it offers a combination of shade and sunshine and provides an Asian atmosphere as well. You can also rim the tub with cedar planters filled with trees and other plantings appropriate for the weather in your area. That will give your hot tub the sense of permanence one gets with in-ground tubs.
The ultimate landscaped hot tub would be an in ground hot tub next to an in ground swimming pool. A nice compliment to the beauty of the hot tub and pool would be with a little tropical jungle. Again just take some attractive flowerpots and place them in two clusters of 3 because odd numbers always look better. If you use three different sizes for each cluster this will create a terraced look. Using hibiscus flowers, a small palm bush that won’t grow too large and some ivy that will naturally flow down the pots creating a tropical area.
With all of the ideas for landscaping around hot tubs that are out there, I can only touch upon some of the many possibilities. However, while you landscape, remember that you must allow the hot tub a path to drain when emptied. Otherwise all of your beautiful landscaping efforts could get flooded while the hot tub refills. Get creative and express yourself as you design your very own backyard oasis.

There are many reason such as improving the appearance of a yard, increasing the value of your home and adding to its beauty. Whichever the reason, you need to look for a great design that will perfectly fit with your yard. The information on these designs is easily available in various sources such as landscape magazines and websites, which will provide you with the essential details that are required in your project, alongside the photos of the landscapes that are well designed. It is important that you check them out and then pick the one that suits your needs.

The type of landscaping idea you will select will depend on quite a number of things. The first thing to keep in mind is the style of your yard. This includes the shape, the presence of other features such as swimming pools and the size. Since you will be exposed to a large number of ideas these main features will help you determine the idea that will fit your home. Some of the ideas are meant for regular landscapes while others are meant for those with irregular shapes. You need also to check on the size and look for those ideas that will ensure all the space in the land is appropriately used as desired.

The other major thing that will determine the landscaping idea you will pick is the budget. Some of these ideas are simple and you can do them on your own. Others are complex and may need a professional to help in effectively carrying out the work. The level of complexity will also determine the amount of money you will need to get the tools and carry out the process so as to achieve the look you desire. For this reason, carry out a research on the types of ideas that have captured your eyes to find the price range so that you are in a better position to come up with an effective budget. Asking some of the professionals in this sector will also help you a great deal as they are knowledgeable about the things that are required.

With this in mind, you need to ensure that you have made the necessary preparations ahead of time so that you avoid the last minute rush and ensure that you have collected the necessary materials. You should also inform yourself in all the details in order to get a head way in carrying out your landscaping project and to help you tackle the problems that you may face along the way.