Advice on Landscaping your Property

Landscaping is the best way to improve the look and value of your home.

Landscaping refers to any activity that modifies the visible features of an area of land, including but not limited to:

1. living elements, such as flora or fauna; or what is commonly referred to as Gardening, the art and craft of growing plants with a goal of creating a beautiful environment within the landscape.
2. natural elements such as landforms, terrain shape and elevation, or bodies of water;
3. human elements such as structures, buildings, fences or other material objects created and/or installed by humans; and
4. abstract elements such as the weather and lighting conditions.

Landscaping is both science and art, and requires good observation and design skills. A good landscaper understands the elements of nature and construction, and blends them accordingly.

Most landscaping projects consider the following:

Flower Beds or Gardens - often you can enhance an area by removing the weeds out of an unused section, planting a flower bed, mulching, or adding flowering plants and flowers

Trees and Shrubs - Lighting and perspective can be enhanced by adding trees and shrubs to give focus to existing features, or provide shade

Water Features - Not only do you get the visual effects, but also the audio. Many find it very relaxing to hear running water and a small fountain or pool can add a variety of ways to make your property more attractive.

Fencing and Hedges - If you choose a hedge, you get the beauty of flowering plants, as well as the protection and privacy or a regular fence. Not to mention the birds and local animals will love you for it.

Stonework and Statues - Stone paths, garden gnomes, impressive statues and such all have their place depending on the size of the yard you are working with. Obviously an impressive statue of two people would be much better suited on a manicured acreage than on a 20 sq ft front yard. unless that is the effect you are going for. Gravel walkways and stone paths also help clean up and improve the appearance of a property.

Ground layout and Sculpting - If you are resodding your lawn, or are in the construction stage of your home, NOW is the time to think about how you want the terrain to look and feel. Pay particular attention to the way water will flow - the last thing you will want is a flooded basement.

Paths and Trails - If you have the space, adding trees and hedges can create a buetiful maze, or if you have a wooded area, paths through it to highlight the beauty of nature is always a good idea.

History

An early Greek philosopher known for his view that "all is water," spent a considerable time thinking about the nature and scope of landscaping. Some of his students believed that in order for human activity to be considered landscaping, it must be directed toward modifying the physical features of the land itself, including the cultivation and/or manipulation of plants or other flora. Thales rejected this notion, arguing that any aspect of the material world affecting our visual perception of the land was a proper subject for landscaping. Both Plato and Aristotle praised Thales' analysis as a model for philosophy. In the early 20th century, British philosopher G.E. Moore cited Thales' reasoning as one of the few historical examples of how philosophical inquiry has led to genuine human understanding and progress.

Philosophers in the 17th century debated whether visual beauty was a necessary goal of landscaping. With the advent of the positivists by the early 20th century, however, most western philosophers had rejected the notion of an objective esthetic standard for any form of art, including landscaping. Practitioners since the mid-20th century have experimented with jarring visual panoramas that are now generally accepted, at least in western societies, as falling within the scope of landscaping.