Most people who own a yard will do not much more with it than mowing it now and than and making it tidy. Especially during our working life the yard usually needs to take as little time as possible. Unless gardening is your hobby or you have some extra time on your hands because you are retired for example, the yard stays a boring piece of land around your house. However this is not necessary, with some good landscaping designs you can make a real garden from this land and it does not need to take you much time at all.

Where to start with landscaping designs?

First of all you need to know where you should start with getting some good ideas for that boring piece of land around your house, the best thing you can do is take a bike and start by looking around in your own neighborhood, are there yards or gardens that you like? What did your neighbours do that catches your eye, what kind of greens did they use, what kind of flowers, do they have slopes or structures you could copy. Make notes when you move around with your bike. Looking at how your neighbors are doing it is a good way to get some ideas but you should not emulate their designs.

The next thing you need to do is to look at your own yard and see how the sun is moving through it and where the shade is during the day. Where you would like your sitting area and where you would like a pool, if you have space for a pool. And there are much more of these things you can visualize in your mind. There is however a limit to your imagination, the plants you imagine need to be able to grow in your climate and this is something you can also see in your neighbours gardens, what plants do you see that do extremely well in your climate and which ones do you like?

Let your imagination flow

There are some elements in landscaping that are popular with many people, for example in many yards you see trees with circular flowered borders under them and if you think this would be a nice element for your own yard you need to think about the place where it would be in your design, is it sunny enough, are the flowers you would like to use suitable for shade of the tree, and will they grow on the root system of the tree?

You should also think about trees and bushes, these are the most important feature points in a garden and you need to plan exactly where they need to go, you need to think about how big the trees will be and in how many years. You need to know if the trees and bushes need to be pruned and when this needs to be done. And you need to ask your self if the amount of work they require is possible for you. But bushes and trees are very important for structure, shade and privacy so they are something you should do some research about.

For more information about landscaping design and all the things you should think about before you get your hands dirty you can read about it on hour site, there are many tips about landscaping, (organic) gardening, low maintenance gardening and much more.

For those who are looking to do something that’s a little different with their garden, tropical garden design might be the way to go. By using plants that come from warm climates, you can take what was once a typical yard and transform it into a jungle landscape that can stimulate the imagination and give your yard the feel of something exotic. While it may seem to be a daunting task, tropical garden design can be achieved with a little work.

Will the Plants Grow?

The main barrier that prevents people from trying tropical garden design is the worry that the plants that they choose won’t grow where they live. However, there are many plants that will still grow well in more temperate areas, such as palms, bamboo, rhododendrons, varieties of ferns, and banana trees. Any one of these plants alone can add an exotic feel to your tropical garden design; together, they can make a virtual jungle.

It’s true that some plants will flourish in the summer and flounder in the wintertime. In this case, transplanting some plants inside for the winter will keep them thriving and ready for replanting when the freezing weather is over. When in doubt, your local gardening society can be a great source of information on growing varieties of tropical plants in your area.

Creating Your Garden

One of the great things about tropical garden design is that except for some watering and perhaps transplanting plants from outside to inside when winter hits, tropical garden design is fairly low maintenance. Tropical environments are characterized by lush growth, and as such, you can let your garden grow without worrying about weeding; the extra plants will simply add to the green. You can use large plants like palms and bamboo as the backdrop for shrubs and brightly colored, tropical flowers.

One great idea for tropical garden designs is to use some of the taller plants, such as bamboo, to enclose a small clearing, which can have smaller plants, a sitting area, a hot tub, or just a nice, grassy patch to sit down in. The dense growth that plants like bamboo provide means that you can use your tropical garden design to create a private little outdoor area.

If your home has kids, they’ll love the idea of a garden that incorporates what they might see as a secret area, and you just might like it yourself! So don’t let the fears of your climate stop you – find out what plants you can gather to incorporate tropical garden design into your yard.

The city garden needs to be an oasis from the world outside, a haven that you can relax in. Three starting points to get there.

1. Enclose the garden. With luck the city garden already has walls round it – they may look ugly and depressing right now, but that is going to change. If the garden doesn’t have walls, put up some sort of boundary fencing between it and the neighbors. Panel fencing is relatively cheap and easy to put up. A feather board fence will last longer and need less maintenance but takes more time and skill to erect. Once you have your boundary wall or fence, turn it green. Do this either by growing clematis, honeysuckles and climbing roses up it, which will be lovely in the summer, but less interesting in winter, or by having a line of small This will also prevent any problems with roots going through into neighboring gardens.

2. Pave the centre of the garden. Lay stone slabs down in sand to make a paved surface. Otherwise, in a small space you will have a mudbath in winter and a scorched area in summer. Leave a good yard round the outside of the paved area, filled with gravel to allow drainage from the slabs. The better quality slabs you can afford, the better the end result. If you can only afford concrete, have a gravel garden instead and grow herbs which will self-seed into it.

3. Round the outside of the paved area grow a selection of perennial flowers and small bushes in front of the trees or climbers. Grow your plants in containers, not plastic if you can avoid it. Unglazed clay pots are lovely but will crack in freezing conditions, so go for wooden tubs, stone troughs or glazed pots. The container method allows you to move plants around and change the appearance – important in a small space. If you want a garden that will require very little care, grow rosemary, bay, sage and lavender, all of which grow into good sized bushes and keep their leaves and colour throughout the year without any attention, apart from a little protection for the bay from frost.