Free Landscaping Ideas

I’m sure you know one of the first places you can go to get free landscaping ideas is your local nursery. It’s their business and they see a lot of different situations of micro environments around homes in your local climate. They know the best plant choices that will do well.

Magazines have some interesting ideas too, but translating them to what works in your area isn’t always easy. Another alternative is looking at landscaping existing in neighborhoods near you.

To give you an idea of where I'm coming from when it comes to landscaping ideas...I started and sold a successful landscaping design company. I'm happy to say it's still going strong today.

I learned from study and first hand experience some of the challenges with landscaping. Today I design and add landscaping that looks appropriate for the house I'm illustrating.

I've added sketches below to communicate the idea of landscape silhouettes as they look against the home.

When it comes to DIY landscaping projects here are some of the questions I ask myself:

• How much maintenance do I want to deal with?
• Is this a sunny or shaded area?
• Do I want a lot of annuals for color or do I want perennials?
• What scale and size plant will fit in the area its going? (Keeping in mind the mature size)

I’ve noticed that it isn’t uncommon for people to plant shrubs to close to the house or to close together. Today most plants are marked with the correct information so there are no excuses to getting it right.

Here are a couple examples that show the bigger picture and something to think about. The subject of silhouette as a landscaping design approach is a good starting point.

This silhouette is more unifying and pleasing to the eye.

Here is the final landscape version I came up with for this rendering. I chose to keep it simple so the emphasis is on the house.

You get the idea? I know this may read quite subtle and something a lot of people would not pay much attention. It's about the details and scale. Not all houses are alike, but it's something to keep in mind.


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