Landscaping Design - A Simple Guide

Landscaping Design - Plant Selection

Plant selection is one of the most important aspects to any landscaping design. This is actually one of the most important secrets in successful landscaping and one that you have to take very seriously into consideration. First you should know that there are certain growth habits and characteristics that need to be recognized.

Before you choose the plants for your landscaping design you need to consider the size that plants reach at maturity, light requirements, heat and wind tolerance, and soil preference. By taking into consideration these characteristics about different plants you will be able to determine which are going to work best in your landscape.

Landscaping Design - Zoning

You will also need to consider the aspect of zoning in your landscaping design. It is extremely important that you know which planting zone you live in and then plant accordingly. There are going to be certain plants that you are not able to plant in your yard, depending on where you live and how close it is to the road, for instance.

Landscaping Design - Color

Also when planning landscaping design, you need to factor in color. Colors that are similar to each other are going to have little contrast and will basically blend in together so you want to put plants of opposite colors beside one another. This will result in the greatest contrast and will have the best overall effect on your design.

If possible, your plant selection should include silvers and reds, silvers and purples, silvers and yellows, and other similar color combinations. Many people forget how important color is in landscaping and a lot of people do not think outside of the box, other than the basic green. There are tons of landscaping plants that you can use which come in bright vibrant colors and you should definitely incorporate as many of these as you can.

The height of your plants is also going to play an important role here, and you typically want to keep the smaller plants in front and then have the larger plants in the back. You can also use plant height to create natural focal points, for instance if you have a couple of shrubs on each side of your driveway that you want to make as one of the main focal points in your landscaping design.