|
Planning Your
Landscape Project
1. Start Small
2. Site Preparation
3. Plant Selection |
|
With the new landscape season
now upon us, you may be thinking about doing one of
those HGTV do-it-yourself landscape projects.
Thanks to HGTV, Sunset Magazine, and the internet,
many homeowners are inspired to add more color and
interest to their landscape, but then they go
outside to figure out what they can do in their
yard, and suddenly, all of the inspiration is
extinguished by a flood of questions—“What should I
plant?, Where should I plant it?, How do I do it?,
Will it look nice when I get done?, Will I be able
to keep it looking good in coming years?” |
|
The third key to successful landscape projects in
Wyobraska is plant selection. Plant selection is to
some degree, of course, a matter of personal
preference. But as a general rule,
do-it-yourselfers in Wyobraska may want to work hard
to avoid two types of highly promoted and
highly used landscape plants—small shrubs with
colored foliage and many of the traditional spring
flowering shrubs. The reason is simple—Wyobraska’s
soil’s and climate are not very friendly to small
shrubs or to spring-flowering shrubs. Small shrubs
often have thin . |
|
Previous Articles
Fractions March 15
Yardner March 8
Urban
Legends of Trees March 22
Que
Serra, Serra March 29
Grocery Store or Garbage Dumpster Plants April 5
2006 Articles |
|
Gardening and yard work remains the number one hobby
in the United States, and many homeowners enjoy the
physical work of doing yard care and landscape work,
but it is also true that many homeowners feel
insecure about their knowledge of plants and
landscape work, and thus approach do-it-yourself
landscape projects with apprehension. Over the past
20 years I have had the opportunity to work with
many homeowners as they undertook do-it-yourself
landscape projects, and there seems to be several
keys to successful project.
The first key is to start
small. Don’t try to redo your entire landscape at
one time. Successful do-it-yourself landscapers
tend to start with a small project, do it
successfully, and then use the knowledge and skills
they gained to take on other, often bigger, projects
in their landscape. Examples of good starter
projects are to redo the “foundation beds” or
landscaping around the front of your home. Another
easy project is to start a perennial or landscape
border in your back yard.
The second key to undertaking a
successful do-it-yourself landscape project is to
understand that the plants are only a small part of
it. A successful landscape project is usually going
to involve 6 steps. 1. Removing existing plants
and/or sod and establishing a proper grade (slope of
the soil) for the landscape bed. 2. Amending the
soil—sulfur, compost, and starter fertilizer are
essential soil amending ingredients. 3. Installing
appropriate edging if any of the bed edges are
adjacent to lawn areas. 4. Selecting and planting
the plants. 5. Installing appropriate
irrigation—generally some type of low-output
irrigation. 6. Mulching, preferably using a
shredded wood mulch and no plastic or weed barrier.
So when planning your first project, be aware that
buying plants and planting them is only one of
several steps. A good approach is to do steps 1-3
one weekend, and then do steps 4-6 another weekend.
|
|
stems which dry out in our long
winter season causing their appearance to decline in
just a few years. And spring flowering shrubs often
find that their blooms are greeted with a late
spring freeze or snowstorm—leaving the homeowner
waiting for another full year to see their prize
plant at its bestInstead, try to select plants which
bloom or are at their best in mid-late summer, or
which are attractive in winter. That list includes
ornamental grasses, summer-flowering shrubs, summer
and fall blooming perennials, large deciduous
shrubs, and evergreen shrubs and trees. Mix and
match these types of plants, and you’ll likely be
pleased with the results. A good rule of thumb
for landscape plant selection is the Rule of
Thirds—use 1/3 evergreen trees or shrubs, 1/3
deciduous trees and shrubs (medium to tall shrubs
especially) and 1/3 perennials and ornamental
grasses.
Finally, a word or two about
maintaining your do-it-yourself landscape project.
“Low maintenance” is the popular request for
landscape projects. Homeowners want an attractive
landscape, but they don’t want to be a slave to it.
They want a little yard work, but not a lot. I like
to tell homeowners that the key to a low maintenance
landscape is doing a good job of installing it. The
soil amending helps plants to be healthy and
fast-growing—virtually eliminating any problems with
insects or diseases. Drip or other low-output
irrigation takes care of the watering. And mulch
eliminates any weed problems. Presto—a low
maintenance landscape.
An example of a project to
avoid is to try to get something to grow in that one
spot in your landscape where nothing seems to want
to grow. These spots are often in out-of-the-way
places like along the south side of the home or back
by the air-conditioning unit. These are good
projects to put off until you have a little more
landscape knowledge and experience.
|