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Preparation
To begin your garden
blueprint, get a blank piece
of paper and draw an outline
of your house, garage, storage
shed, swing set, deck, trees,
and any other existing
landmarks in your yard. Don't
forget to include walkways or
paths. You should also include
existing flower beds or
gardens. If you have children,
think about high traffic
areas. Don't plant a flower
bed in an area likely to be
the 50-yard line of the family
football game. Determine the
sun's pattern in your yard.
Use a pencil to color the
areas of your yard that are
mostly shaded. Make notations
for areas that get morning
sun, areas that get afternoon
sun, and areas that get full
sun. This is an important step
because the amount of sun each
area receives will determine
what plants you will plant
there.
Location
Location, location
location, Now that you have
mapped out your area and you
should have an idea of where
the most desirable spot is for
your garden. The next step is
to have your soil tested.
Before you can choose plants
and flowers for your yard, you
need to understand what will
grow best in different areas
of your yard. You should take
samples from several different
areas of your yard, since soil
can vary from one place to
another. Soil samples for Erie
county residents are
excepted at Cornell
Cooperative Extension of Erie
County. Once you
have the results, you may need
to take steps to improve the
soil before you can plant. |
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Garden
Design
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The Basics
Whether you plan on
"borrowing
ideas" or plan on
creating your own
landscaping design, you
should have at the very
least a basic
understanding of the
principles of landscape
design. This doesn't mean that you
have to apply every
principle to every part of
your plan. But just having
an understanding of these
principles will help you
generate ideas and
increase your creativity.
Great landscaping lies in
the eyes of the its
creator. So, while the
principles of landscape
design are great
guidelines to follow,
don't feel like they're
the "have to
rules" of
landscaping. Abstract and
creativity are allowed.
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A
simple way to create
unity in your
landscape is by
creating themes. And
one of the simplest
ways to create themes
is by using a little
garden decor. Creating
a theme garden is
easier when it's
related to something
you're interested in
or have a passion for.
If you're into
butterflies for
instance, you could
create a theme using
plants that attract
butterflies as well as
using statues,
ornaments, and other
decor that are related
to butterflies. Unity
should be expressed
through at least one
element in your
landscape and
preferably more. Using
elements to express a
main idea through
consistent style and a
specific theme is what
creates harmony.
- Simplicity is
actually one of the
principles in design
and art. It's one of
the best guidelines
you can follow as a
beginner or do it
yourselfer. Just keep
things simple to begin
with. You can do more
later.
Simplicity in
planting, for
instance, would be to
pick two or three
colors and repeat them
throughout the garden
or landscape. Keeping
decor to a minimum and
within a specific
theme as well as
keeping hardscapes
such as boulders
consistent is also
practicing simplicity.
- Balance in
design is just as the
word implies. A sense
of equality. There are
basically two types of
balance in landscape
design. Symmetrical
and Asymmetrical.
Symmetrical balance is
where there are more
or less equally spaced
matching elements of
the garden design.
With a garden equally
divided, both sides
could share all or
part of the same
shape, form, plant
height, plant
groupings, colors, bed
shapes, theme, etc.
You
may remember creating
something like this
when you were a kid in
art class at school.
Where you take a piece
of paper, splash paint
on it, fold it in
half, unfold it, and
then it magically
creates an interesting
symmetrical design. So
symmetrical balance or
design is somewhat of
a mirror image or
reflection.
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