LANDSCAPING TIPS
Landscaping tip 1 - Plan for Year-Round Appeal
Evergreen plants retain their leaves or needles all year long, so they’re constantly providing cover and colour - This gives you some interest even in winter. Evergreens strategically located near the house, such as in front of corners, can help soften its vertical lines, giving it a more inviting appearance. Some well-chosen and located plants can also improve the whole landscape of your property.
Landscaping tip 2 - Connect Points of Interest With a Path
Instead of trudging down the garden, resulting in a worn path of dead grass and mud, create an attractive walkway using concrete stepping stones, natural flagstone, decorative block paving, gravel, or something more out there like sunken railway sleepers. It’s all about connecting the elements in your garden to pull those elements together to form a connected landscape.
We advise constructing a path, walkway, or any other landscaping feature from material that’s the same or similar to what’s used on the exterior of your house, such as bricks or stone, because it will tie the path visually and aesthetically to your home. You can also use the material to provide attractive edges along the path.
Landscaping tip 3 - Break up a Boring Garden with a Big Rock
A simple but unexpected way to make a statement with your garden is to plonk down a giant rock or two. We’re talking about the kind of rocks that are too big to fit in your car. Having a boulder in the landscape will break up the monotony with something different.
Not sure what type of rock to get or where to put it? Get advice from a professional landscaper, and make a statement in your garden in Hitchin!
Landscaping tip 4 - Bring a Corner to Life with a Berm
A great way to add interest to your garden landscape is to build a berm - a mound that you can cover with planting, a rock garden etc. Berms add colour and texture to an otherwise flat, plain garden with coloured stone, flowers, or foliage. They can also add height by being built as a mound. You can place them anywhere, although they’re especially effective in corners of the lawn as corners can be unused, with a berm in a corner providing a new focal point.
Landscaping tip 5 - Make a Water Feature Look Natural
A water feature, even a small, self-contained one that stands alone on a patio, should look like it belongs in its surroundings. You can use natural stone to build it up, possibly the same stone found elsewhere in your garden.
However, it’s best not to use too many materials or the effort may backfire - A good rule is to use no more than three elements in one place, or the area can get too ‘busy’ and ruin the desired effects. Less can be more in this case.
Landscaping tip 6 – Add outside seating
Installing a patio near the edge of your garden, away from the house, provides an outdoor escape. Concrete will do, or you can use stones or paving. Building it near trees or tall plants will give the area some privacy, while chairs or benches let you sit or lie down to read or doze.
You want to keep it 6 to 8 feet from your house. You can maximize it because it is usable space. You can leave the house and have flowers around you on a patio. Wherever you are in Hitchin, this can benefit you.
Landscaping tip 7 – Combine a Variety of Plants
Homeowners are encouraged to choose a diverse range of plants that bloom at different times so ornamental leaves will be visible all season long. Otherwise, if all the flowers bloom at the same time, they’ll look attractive during that time but will lack colour the rest of the year. An example is to use the perennial Rozanne geranium because it blooms from June through October. This can really enhance your lovely garden in Hitchin. A good gardener will provide you with ideas for suitable plants for your space.
Landscaping tip 8 – Give the Landscape a Rustic Look
Local garden centres can sometimes sell old-fashioned items and materials that create a rustic appearance. You can get the look you want from different elements. You can creatively incorporate these elements into your garden to achieve the style you want.
Landscaping tip 9 – Create Curved Lines Instead of Straight Ones
Landscapers often add edging around flower gardens, the house itself, and sometimes paths and driveways. Installing the edging in creative curves instead of perfectly straight lines adds appeal and character. Adding long, serpentine edges can improve the edge of the garden straight away.
The edging is permanent, so it enhances the landscape all year long. The edging is there 12 months out of the year, so it is always adding a subtle, very attractive feature. This is an easy way to go from boring to beautiful. If you live in a hillier part of Hitchin resulting in different ground levels of you garden, you can also use edging to delineate these levels in a formal attractive way.
Landscaping tip 10 – Illuminate Focal Points and Paths
Attractive landscaping deserves to be seen after hours, which is where landscape lights come into play. The lights play many roles, from adding to the home’s attractiveness to illuminating steps and paths for safety, to showcasing points of interest in the garden. Placing lights alongside paths and walkways is one of their most common uses, although that doesn’t mean they have to be set in straight lines at prescribed intervals. You can place them on alternate sides of a path so they won’t be in a conventional line. Brighten up your garden in the winter months and make it more inviting for late night summer drinks! (Your Hitchin friends will want to spend more time with you too.
