Why do we need landscaping?

Economic Benefits:

Landscaping enhances property values

Proper placement of shade trees and evergreen reduces cooling
costs

Environmental Benefits:

One tree removes 26 pounds of carbon dioxide from the air every
year and releases about 13 pounds of oxygen-enough for a family of
four on a daily basis.

Plants control runoff and erosion

Plants reduce noise pollution up to 50 percent.
Plants creates green space for human rest & recreation.

Handling the existing situation:

We often have a “do it and forget it” mentality. Once a task is

completed, we do not give it a second thought. Instead, we move on
to whatever is next in line. That attitude may work in some areas, but it
certainly is not appropriate for the care and nurturing of your
property’s landscape.

Great landscaping does not stem exclusively from those days of

planning and planting. Your property is a growing, living thing. You
can set something beautiful into motion, but in order to get the most
out of your landscaping plans, you will need to conduct regular
maintenance. You will need to address the yard’s needs and to be
proactive in order to prevent the development of problems that could
completely derail your plans.

Begin the overall planning of landscaping area by taking a walk

around your place and the courtyard with a pencil in hand. Take an
inventory of what you have, what you would like to keep, what you
would like to add and what you would like to eliminate.

Avoiding large expanses of lawn can reduce maintenance. If you do

not need a large lawn area, select ground cover or other plants that
do not need continual trimming or cutting. Paving, broken up with
small areas of plants, is another way to reduce lawn area.

Making an overall plan that identifies all of the paving or the

carpentry needs, so that they can be accomplished at one time, will
same money. You may also get discounts by buying all your plants at
one time.

The biggest savings in cost come through proper planning. Planning

shouldn't be done in a hurry. Proper planning may require that several
weekends be spent looking through literature, looking at other yards
and public gardens, drawing up the plan, and then giving it a trial test.

FERTILIZATION

Fertilization is a perfect example of maintenance for landscapes. It is

one of those regular things that you simply cannot afford to neglect.
Every year, as the end of autumn approaches, you should apply a
final dose of fertilizer to your grass. The lawn will absorb those nutrients
and they will help to keep it strong, healthy throughout the winter, and
ready to explode into growth when things warm up again.

CLEANING

If your lawn is smothered in any location, it can do a great deal of

harm. Before the really cold weather sits in, walk your property and
carefully remove any debris from the lawn. Things like tree branches,
logs, your children’s toys or that shovel you have been meaning to put
back into the garage can do serious damage if left in place through
the winter. Smothered grass is less disease resilient and may even die
completely. You certainly do not want to usher in spring with a brown
ring in the middle of the yard!

If you simply “let things go,” you run the risk of undoing all of your hard
work and encountering disappointing results. Last year’s landscaping
accomplishment can become next year’s embarrassment if
maintenance is not taken seriously.

Remember, you landscape is not a pretty picture that, once painted,

remains in place forever. It is a constantly growing and changing
collection of living things. It is, in many ways, an organism unto itself. In
order to nurture it effectively, you will need to revisit it frequently. That is
what maintenance is really all about.
Other Landscaping Ideas:

Landscaping lighting:

Landscaping lighting is a wonderful way to add color and appeal to

your home after dark. Most of these lights are very easy to install and
operate on a low amount of electricity, with some even using solar
power. Landscaping lights can be purchased at most home
improvement stores as well as on the internet. They are available in
many shapes, colors, and sizes. The prices vary depending on what
you are in the market for. With so many options, you are sure to find
exactly what you are searching for.

Hardscaping:

This term can refer to any solid materials you use in landscaping at all.
From the borders you use for your boxes to stone paths that line your
lawn as well as the rocks .Even fences, gates, arbors, and gazebos
can fall under the title of hardscaping quite accurately.

Fencing:

Fences serve several purposes for your home. A nice fence can not
only keep pets & children in your yard, but they can also be a
beautiful way of marking property lines, giving privacy from neighbors,
or even just an accent to your landscaping.

AVOIDING COMMON LANDSCAPING MISTAKES

We live in a do-it-yourself culture. The upside to that reality is that

many of us get tremendous opportunities to try our hands and new
skills and to learn interesting things while saving money. The downside
is that we sometimes trade expertise and quality for that experience
and cost-effectiveness. Landscaping is a perfect example of this.
Everyone wants to take care of the job without calling the
professionals, but their lack of expertise can create problems.

Professional landscapers know the business inside and out. They

understand composition, they know which plants will compliment
others. They understand the soil, the elements and what things will
actually compliment the design of your home. You might think you
have a “great eye” and you may be a quick study. However, the
average do-it-yourselfer is not an expert landscaper.
As such, several common mistakes are repeated over and over again
across the nation’s lawns. Let’s look at four common landscaping
mistakes. By understanding the errors of others, you might be able to
avoid doing the same things!

RULING WITH A RULER--ERRORS OF LINEARITY

Many self-styled landscapers approach their projects as if the world

functioned exclusively along the rigid lines of grid. The natural world,
however, isn’t flat or square. It’s bumpy and curvy. It undulates and
sways. Professionals understand that and they try to work within natural
lines and to use the “imperfections” of nature to heighten aesthetic
appeal. Amateurs, on the other hand, often have a preoccupation
with trying to make everything square and straight. When everything is
straightened, it tends to create an uninviting and severe atmosphere.
Play with nature as much as you play against it.

NEGLECTING THE FRONT--FORGETTING TO PUT YOUR FACE ON

Most of us prefer some degree of privacy. Thus, we tend to spend the

bulk of our time in our back yards instead of in front of the house. As a
result of that preference, we also tend to have much larger areas with
which to work behind our house. Thus, it does make sense that most
landscaping work will occur in the back. However, too many amateurs
focus on the back yard to the near-exclusion of the front. There is no
“harm” in that, per se, but it does represent a wasted opportunity to
improve the value and attractiveness of your home. Make sure you
plot a course of landscaping success in the front yard, too.

LIVING IN THE MOMENT--IGNORING FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS

Those shrubs you plan on planting right under the bay window will look
great this year. And the next. After that, though, you had better plan
on a weekly trimming. You have three feet of clearance between
ground and window, and those cute little shrubs will grow ten feet high
if not held in check. You get the idea, right?

That’s just an example of a common problem experienced by do-it-

yourself landscapers. They aren’t forward thinking enough and that
can cause problems. You need to understand your plants, how they
will look now and how they will grow in the future. That kind of
knowledge can help you create better look and can save you tons of
work in the end.
*Some of the points listed are compiled from various sources.

Compiled by

Ar.G.Ram mohan Reddy