If you’d like to design your landscaping, there are a few tips you might find useful. Of course, it’s always best to talk to a member of the Westwood team for free, personalised advice – but there are also 4 essential landscaping tips to consider while you’re just gathering ideas:
1. Start Small
Not all landscaping is done with involved plans and detailed sketches! There’s nothing wrong with starting small and building on your ideas as time passes. This way your ideas will flow and the end result will appear organic, and not forced. Start a board on Pinterest, or even start an old-school paper-and-paste scrapbook. You can then collect images of things you’d like to use for your own landscapes. Soon you’ll find your individual ideas merging and inspiring new points and details! This all works to make your own landscape unique and inspiring.
When you’re ready, use these ideas when you talk to an expert. Some ideas may be impractical, requiring specialised maintenance or pest control solutions, while others might be easily implemented. You’ll never know until you talk to a professional, so make sure you give us a call!
2. Think About Access Routes
This is always an important yet difficult plan to get right: there may be large machinery or vehicles needed to complete your ideal landscaping, and planning when and where they’ll be needed is a real skill. There’s nothing more demoralising in the landscaping trade than having to undo and then re-do work that was already perfect, because equipment or vehicles need to develop another part of the landscape. Save yourself time, money and heartache by consulting with a professional, at the very least in the initial stages: a realistic plan and schedule can be a true lifesaver later on.
3. Don’t Over-Do Focus Points
Unless you’ve got acres and acres of space, chances are you’ve got more ideas than you have area to work with. Limit yourself to no more than two main focal points – one if your space is limited. Too many focal points can look crowded, even tacky, and take away from the entire point of landscaping: creating a beautiful, relaxing, and functional space. With landscaping, the old adage really is true: less is often more!
Focal points can be large plants, such as trees, the way a certain view is framed, or an architectural feature of your home. Whatever it is, allow your common sense and inherent taste to shine through. If you’re worried about whether a certain design feature is “too much”, it probably is. Keep your design features classy, on the side of minimalism, and understated to prevent them becoming dated.
4. Keep Maintenance in Mind
Certain landscapes, especially overly symmetrical ones, are often a no-go, unless you can afford a professional maintenance contract which visits at least once every three weeks. It’s always a good idea to consider how difficult a landscape would be to maintain at all stages of the design process. What seems like a good idea can prove to be back-breaking or very expensive to maintain, ruining the entire point of a beautiful landscape: your enjoyment of it. Talk to a professional about labour-saving design features, which can make a landscape look far more expensive and meticulously kept than it really is.
Come Back Next Month for More Tips!
That’s it for our 4 essential landscaping tips! We’ll be back next month to talk more about landscaping tips you can use in your own designs. Until then!
