What Are The Most Important Factors In Landscape Design

A beautiful, enjoyable property is no accident. Gardens need cleaning up, tending, planting, and weeding. Lawns need the same, plus a lot of mowing, and trees need trimming and pruning. And all that is only touching on the maintenance aspects of gorgeous property. For most yards, at least ones that homeowners enjoy, someone, sometime along the long line, took the time to figure out what they wanted out of the yard. Landscape design is the first step to having a yard you love, use, and want to spend time in. Landscaping in Round Rock and the surrounding areas needs to consider the climate, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Here are what Progreen Landscape Solutions considers the most significant factors in landscape design. Climate Every property in the Austin metropolitan area will have a few things in common. We all deal with hot summers with varying levels of humidity, mild winters, and sunshine for most of the year. But, for many of us, that’s what we love about living here! Our nearly year-round sun gives us access to growing many species of plants. But, like in any area, some plants won’t grow here for the same reasons. Climate is the primary limiting factor to any landscape design. Microclimate Within climate, there’s the subcategory of microclimate. Your home isn’t going to be precisely the same as your next-door neighbors. Everything from how the wind hits to the location of your heat pump can affect what you can grow where in your yard. Lifestyle So you know what your yard can do. What do you want it to do? Or perhaps more accurately, what is the purpose of your yard? For some people, the backyard is primarily a decoration. You may only spend a little time out there, but you want it to look pretty or at least not ugly. For others, the backyard is the social center of their homes. It’s a spot for entertaining guests at outdoor dinner parties and maybe even the place to prepare the food. Finally, avid gardeners use their yards to relax with their favorite hobby and provide food for their families. What you want from your landscape might be the most critical question to answer before beginning to design it. Maintenance Within lifestyle, we have upkeep. For example, some homeowners want a yard that takes care of itself. Grass and perennials are perfect for those homeowners because they don’t take much time to maintain. For others, the yard is an expression of their artistic side, so maintenance isn’t a worry. Instead, the primary concern is how much they can do with their landscapes. Before we begin your landscape design, Progreen will ask you questions to understand how much time you want to commit (or you want us to commit) to maintain it once it’s installed. Aesthetic Appeal For most homeowners, the primary concern for their landscaping is how it looks, so much so that you may be surprised we’re just now getting to the aesthetic side of design. It’s not that aesthetic doesn’t matter. But the other factors have a significant effect on the aesthetics of your landscape, so if you don’t consider them first, you won’t like the final result. So we need to help you design a yard appropriate for your climate and lifestyle so you can enjoy its aesthetic and keep it looking good. Factors that go into aesthetics include height, color, and texture. A beautiful landscape is full of contrasts that somehow all work well together. How It All Goes Together Every piece of your landscaping affects every other element. We’ve already mentioned one of the most obvious when referring to shade. Trees create shade that can help or hinder other plant species depending on their needs. When designing your landscape, we factor in shade and how plants affect the soil when deciding where things go. We also consider your plants in the present and how they will be in the future. Energy One item that people don’t always consider when landscaping is how it affects energy use. Strategically planted trees can help to insulate your home from the harsh sun allowing you to spend less on your energy bills. Professional Landscape Design There’s a lot to look at when designing your landscape. And it’s not easy to know how everything will come together now and in the future if you don’t do it professionally. So Progreen recommends using landscaping professionals for your landscape design to ensure you’ll love your yard today and in the future.