In addition to improving your home’s curb appeal, a well-planned landscape design can transform even a modest yard into a charming oasis. But, between choosing the right plants to deciding on hardscaping features, it can be hard to know where to get started. Here are four popular landscaping styles inspired by gardens from around the world to inspire your own project.

1. English

Traditional English-style landscape design combines a love of nature with a classical aesthetic that invites the imagination on secluded strolls through secret gardens. Common features include ponds, cobblestone pathways, garden benches and sculpted hedges, with plants like hydrangea, boxwood, delphinium and English rose bushes.

2. Japanese

Japanese gardens combine carefully balanced elements to inspire tranquility and peace. Plants used in traditional Japanese landscapes include trees like atlas cedar, Japanese maple and cherry and flowering plants like star magnolia, azalea and chrysanthemum. Natural pea gravel walkways, rock gardens, bamboo fountains and koi ponds are just a few of the features that make this type of garden space a meditative retreat.

3. Mediterranean

Inspired by the casual elegance of the classic Mediterranean villa, this landscaping style combines formal elements like tiered fountains, columns and statuary with luxuriant plants that abound in texture, fragrance and color: trailing clematis, lavender, pear, olive and citrus trees, sage, rosemary and cypress.

4. Colonial

Colonial landscaping is characterized by symmetry and classic functional design. Large trees like magnolia, southern live oak and sugar maple create an impression of comforting permanence, emphasized by traditional features like white picket fencing, arbors and paved stone paths. Flowers that complement colonial style include hydrangea, phlox, lilac and echinacea.

Bringing Your Landscaping Dream To Life

Whether you’d like to create the perfect English garden or want your landscape design to be more eclectic, consider consulting a professional landscaping company before you get started. You should be able to find a business that can help you through every step, from selecting plants that will thrive in your region to designing a layout that fits your needs and vision.

From helping you select the perfect plantings to complement your home to installing hardscape features that transform the way you use your outdoor spaces, a full-service landscape design company can help your yard reach its fullest potential. Here are a few tips on what to expect and what to look for when planning your next project.

Horticultural Experience

Great landscaping begins with choosing plants that will enhance your outdoor spaces and thrive in the local climate. Make sure the business you employ has a dedicated horticulturist available to advise on which types of flowers, shrubs and trees work best in your region. They should also be able to answer all your questions about ongoing care like pruning, transplanting and fertilizing.

Creative Design Planning

Even small landscaping projects take planning. A good landscape designer will listen closely to your needs and wants and make a careful assessment of your property well before breaking any ground. During your consultation, the designer should be able to help solve potential obstacles and suggest layouts or features that you may not have thought of. Many companies will also create a digital landscape design that lets you visualize the end result.

Installation Expertise

If you’re installing hardscaping features like retaining wall or walkway, it’s a good idea to choose a company with its own team of builders. Your designer should work closely with masons to ensure that the project is coordinated from start to finish.

Ongoing Maintenance

A beautifully landscaped yard enhances a home in so many ways, but it can also take a lot of work to maintain season after season. Some landscaping design companies offer gardening and upkeep services. If you’d rather spend time enjoying your new yard than toiling in it, make sure to ask about options for ongoing landscape maintenance.

Finding the Right Team for the Job

Whether you’re planning a patio or looking to completely transform your outdoor space, it’s important to do your research before choosing a landscape design company. Make sure that staff have the gardening know-how, design aptitude and building experience to make your vision a reality.

From peaceful patio retreats to dramatic flowerbed spreads, creating a beautiful garden landscape design is all about the planning. Here are five quick tips to help you lay the groundwork for your next project.

1. Climate Considerations

Even the greenest thumb needs to take the local climate into account when choosing what to grow. Make sure to select plants with irrigation and temperature requirements that align with your region’s weather patterns. Native species are often a great choice, since they are already perfectly acclimated to local seasonal changes.

2. Soil Composition

While some plants thrive in dense clay, others prefer loose, sandy soil. Before planting, make sure to understand the drainage needs of the species you choose. Since plants also often have a strong preference for alkaline or acidic soil, it’s also a good idea to have the soil tested. If needed, amendments like lime, sphagnum peat or sulfur can help you achieve the right pH balance for your plantings.

3. Seasonal Color

Flowering perennials typically bloom for about a month during the growing season. To make sure that your landscape design incorporates color throughout the spring and summer, make sure to combine plants that flower at different times of year.

4. Mix and Match

Choosing plants of different heights, shape and texture creates visual interest and adds welcome variety to your space. A simple approach is to arrange plants in ascending order of height, from short blooms like petunia or impatiens to taller ones like sunflowers or calla lilies.

5. Hardscaping Features

Building pathways, retaining walls and other hardscaping features can help to frame the contours of your garden spaces and give you better all-season access. Retaining walls can also be used to make raised planting beds that provide excellent drainage.

Landscape Design Made Easy

Whether you know exactly what you’d like or you’re still looking for inspiration, a full-service landscaping company is a great place to start. In addition to providing horticultural advice on choosing and caring for plantings, many businesses offer design consultations and hardscaping installation to transform your yard from boring to blissful.

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