Saturday, November 29, 2008

A wonderful backyard landscape

A good backyard landscaping idea is one that everyone can make use of. There are many different backyard landscaping ideas and most of them are pretty good but to find the one that is right for you and that is just what your yard needs may take some reading. This article will help you to find the perfect backyard landscaping idea for your home.

A good backyard landscaping idea is to use evergreens. The use of these fabulous trees will do o much for any yard. They will add a stately nature to the feel of your home while keeping it welcoming and warm. Many people like to use deciduous trees in the yard and this is always a good idea but it is the evergreens that will give the yard the structure and the stability that it needs for a good backyard landscaping idea and design.


You need to look for a backyard landscaping idea like the one above that will benefit you all year round. Deciduous trees will not be gorgeous in all seasons, most perhaps, but not all. Evergreens on the other hand are always fantastic and they look as beautiful in the winter as they do in the summer and this is why they make for such a great backyard landscaping idea. The key to any great landscaping design is to find a backyard landscaping idea like this that will keep your yard interesting no matter what time of the year it is.

Another good backyard landscaping idea is to use hardscape. This is the use of things like rocks, fences and walls. These can make your yard look very interesting during all of the seasons. You can have climbing plants on it in the summer and spring and pretty trees around it that will look great in the winter. When looking for a good backyard landscaping idea you need to look for other options besides just plants. There is much more to landscaping than just plants and trees.

Walls and fences can frame your property beautifully and using them is such a great backyard landscaping idea because they will just accent all of your other wonderful backyard landscaping ideas. They will frame your yard as a picture frame frames a gorgeous painting. Look at this kind of backyard landscaping idea as well in your search for the one.
The author has been designing and installing backyard landscapes for 20 years. Check out all the free information and videos here.

Backyard landscape using drougt tolerant plants

When North American landscaping enthusiasts get together to discuss landscaping trends for the new millennium, the word drought is on their lips with an alarming frequency. A relatively new concept for the mainstream is also cropping up more and more, as a solution to drought and the economic costs it brings: the use of xeriscaping plants, in lieu of lawns. It may be time to look into the cheaper landscape alternative represented by xeriscaping plants.

Pronounced as if it began with the letter z, the use of "xeriscaping" originated with the Denver Colorado Water Department in 1981. A compound of the Greek xeros, dry, and "-scape," as in landscape, "xeriscape" landscaping essentially refers to a creating a landscape design that has been carefully tailored to withstand drought conditions.

Xeriscape landscaping can take many forms. For some landscapers, xeriscape landscaping simply means grouping plants with similar watering requirements together on the landscape. This makes for more efficient watering. In my opinion, this policy is more a manifestation of common sense than of true xeriscape landscaping. There is a theme that runs through landscapes that can more properly be pointed to as examples of xeriscape landscaping. That theme is a challenge to the hegemony of lawn grass. And herein lies the inevitable resistance to the use of xeriscaping plants.

America's love affair with the lawn is a well-documented chapter in the annals of landscape design history. The assumption that a landscape will have lots of grass and that it will stay green all growing season is as firmly rooted in the American psyche as the assumption that a house will have windows. A major premise of xeriscape landscaping, by contrast, is that turf grass is problematic, because it is a water-guzzler. Not that all practitioners of xeriscape landscaping totally eliminate lawns, mind you. Some simply switch to types of lawn grass that demand less water (possibly making aesthetic concessions in the switch). Others cut back on the expanse and expense of lawn, relegating the lawn area to an accent on the landscape rather than maintaining the lawn in its position as the dominant element.

Then what, you may ask, fills the void in xeriscape landscaping left by the receding lawn? To some degree, the answer to that will depend on your location. In the southwestern U.S. cacti and extended patios may dominate, perhaps entirely eliminating grass if the lawn area is small. An extended patio is simply an enlarged patio that takes up space where lawn grass would otherwise be planted. In regions not quite as desperate for water, the answer may lie in ground covers, shrubs, mulches and a reduced lawn area.

But almost regardless of where you live in North America, you should start considering cheaper alternatives to lawns. While many are aware of the danger posed by drought, relatively few seem willing to make concessions to it and look for drought-resistant alternatives to lawn grasses. Many homeowners simply watch helplessly as their lawns die sooner and sooner each summer. Else they pay dearly for the water required to prolong the lawn's life, as water becomes less and less cheap. Automatic irrigation systems, incidentally, can end up saving you money in the long run; you can learn more about them in my FAQ on lawn irrigation systems. Nonetheless, water restrictions of increasing severity are a fact with which we may have to live for the foreseeable future.

Rather than bemoaning the loss of lawn space, think of the present predicament as an opportunity to experiment. In addition to extended patio areas, walkways and other hardscape elements, a myriad of interesting xeriscaping plants and themes can be incorporated into a xeriscape landscaping plan.