Things to Keep in Mind When Planning Your Landscaping
Landscaping Regulations
The biggest regulating authority that most homeowners need to appease is the neighborhood homeowners' association (HOA). The HOA gains its power from the neighborhood and tries to keep everyone's home value as high as possible by holding everyone to the same standards.Read your HOA guidelines before starting any landscape planning. It will dictate standards for items like water features, the size of sheds, the types of trees and shrubs, privacy standards, and landscape submission protocol. If you don't follow your HOA guidelines, the association may fine you or take legal action against you.
Landscaping Issues – Buried Cables, Wires or Utility Lines
Before you make plans, have the city mark your yard so you'll know the location of any buried cables, wires or utility lines. If you call 811, which is the toll-free national "Call Before You Dig" number, an actual person will come out and mark your yard. Plan your landscaping around what the worker identifies.The city will use colored flags or marks to note areas where you should not dig. The following color guide will help you determine what things are in your yard:
- Red - Electric
- Orange – Communications, Telephone/CATV
- Blue – Potable Water
- Green – Sewer/Drainage
- Yellow – Gas/Petroleum Pipe Line
- Purple – Reclaimed Water
- White – Site of Intended Excavation
Landscape Blueprints
When planning your landscaping, it's essential to make a blueprint. Even if you do not need to submit one to an HOA, you need one for yourself and anyone helping you. Creating an outdoor space is not like decorating an indoor space. While you can easily move a couch from one side of the room to the other, it will take much more work to move a flagstone walkway.If you want to create your own landscape design, consider downloading free 3D landscaping software from CNET. These programs take your tree, deck or patio selection and put them into a printable plan. If you don't want to use software, don't skip making a blueprint — even if it looks more like a stick-figure drawing than a masterful piece of art.
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Planning Lawns, Trees and Shrubs for the Seasons
Grass in the spring and summer makes for a lush feeling, while trees that change color in the fall will welcome cooler days. Evergreens are great for the winter and are perfect for hanging lights from when the sun goes down early. A mixture of annuals and perennials will keep your flower area looking good every year while allowing you to replace certain flowers or plants with your new favorite selections.
Hardscaping
Landscaping with non-living materials, often referred to as hardscaping, provides you with the chance to create a beautiful and unique yard. You can use a variety of materials from colored stones to interlocking pavers to garden statuary. Consider how you will use the area when you create a hardscape design. For example, you may want a fire pit with stone benches rather than a lawn. Buy top quality materials when the project will be subject to a lot of use or extreme weather.Keep in mind that you can blend hardscape elements with landscape elements. You may want to create garden paths from interlocking pavers or flagstone rather than using an organic material, like moss. Likewise, you can consider incorporating an ornamental tree surrounded by stone architecture rather than having the entire area devoted to a garden.
Professional Landscaping Help
You can find landscaping companies for all stages of y our project. You can hire someone to design and draw your landscape or to build your design. You can even have the whole process done for you or have someone help you with certain parts of the job.Whether you're doing a major landscaping project or a small redesign, you'll be happy when you keep the aforementioned things in mind. For more great landscaping tips and information, check out our DIY blog.