The Beginner’s Guide to Landscaping
Landscaping isn't just pretty plants and freshly mown grass. It is the strategic process of planning, designing, and constructing a "plantscape" for your home. There are many benefits to landscaping; not only will it be an excellent project to get outside, but it also boosts your home's curb appeal and potential value!
When starting, it's essential to consider Utah's dry climate. Pick out drought-tolerant plants as they will require less water and are adapted to dryer climates. We'll share some landscaping design principles, plant selection ideas, and more to help guide you on your landscaping journey!
Landscaping Design Principles
Basic landscape design principles can be helpful as a guide for helping you create a beautiful space and know what to buy when you shop. Keep these elements of design in mind when landscaping:
Unity: Create repetition and consistency through plant selection so each plant feels like it should live next to the other.
Contrast and harmony: Contrast helps highlight elements in your design, and harmony helps unify elements. Consider complementary or bold colors in your flower choices.
Color: Color brings your space to life and adds dimension. There can be lots of gradation in greens to play with!
Transition: Gradually vary the plant size or color to create a subtle change to the space.
Lines: Lines create depth and distance. Add some with garden beds, walkways, and entryways.
Proportion: Proportion refers to the size of an element in relation to the other to create proper proportions visually in your landscape. No teeny wildflowers next to big trees!
Repetition: It's good to have several elements in your landscaping but not too many! Ensure you plan out how to use them to create repetition in a visually appealing way.
Using these design principles will guide you through creating a beautiful area that everyone will want to enjoy.
Planning Phase
Now that we have the basics down, the next step is planning out your landscape, including various plants and trees and where to put them. It's good to know the areas of your yard with the most sun and the areas with more shade. You also need to understand how water drains in your landscape for efficiency. The best landscape design will promote water movement away from your home and toward your grass, trees, plants, and flowers. For area planning, we recommend using the satellite view on Google Maps to take a screenshot of your garden to block out areas and determine the number of plants you'll need to fill it!
Plant Selection
Now that you've created a plan and know what you need, it's time to pick out the items you want to plant! Various indigenous plants in Utah help eliminate worries about plants dying in our ever-fluctuating weather and hot summers.
Also, choose hearty perennials so you won't have to replant every year. Here is a brief list of some perennial plants familiar with the local climate and would be a great addition to any landscape.
Great Basin sagebrush
Utah mountain lilac
Silvery lupine
Succulents
These water-wise plants can go long periods without requiring water, making for a great low-maintenance, visually attractive option. Any plant choice should be thoughtfully selected to match your plan and theme.
Hardscaping
Hardscapes are any landscape feature other than plants, including patios, retaining walls, pathways, benches, and pergolas. Adding these features helps to break up your plantscape design to bring in dimension and functionality. Hardscapes can also increase your property value and are low maintenance.
Creating your own beautiful landscape doesn't need to be difficult. Plan the work and work the plan to make your space as unique as you are!
