Turn your garden into a beautiful sanctuary with these simple landscaping tips. This article will allow you to create that gorgeous scenery you see in home and garden magazines—even if you don’t have big trees or expensive plants. Even just a few bushes and artfully arranged potted plants will turn your backyard into a feast for the eyes and a haven for the spirit.
The first step to a beautifully landscaped garden is uniformity.
Choose plants and garden accessories that complement each other. Pick a theme and then build on it, letting it guide your choices in terms of what kind of plants to buy and the kind of décor you will invest in. Read magazines or look at websites for inspiration. Save pictures of the gardens you find beautiful and post them on a mood board. Do this even before you get serious about landscaping the garden. Allow time to let your true preferences emerge, especially if you can’t decide between themes. (Our article on discovering your personal decorating style may also help.)
The second step is to understand the kind of soil you have and picking plants that will naturally flourish in it. You need to know the soil type and the soil ph. This will make it easier for plants to grow well. You also prevent wasting money on plants that will just wilt and die no matter what you do—simply because they aren’t meant to be grown in that particular type of soil. It also helps to buy native plants.
Aside from soil, plants need space to grow. Some varieties have roots that tend to sprawl across, taking a lot of space. Others seem to multiply, well, like weeds. Why do you need to know this? If your plants look too crowded, or grow too far apart, your garden won’t look proportional. Good landscaping involves spacing plants appropriately, and that means knowing how much space your plants need.
You can also borrow this trick from professional landscapers: scatter wood chips around bushes and trees to cover the dirt and simultaneously repel bugs. The wood chips also break down, enriching the soil and helping your plants flourish.
Photo from cebucity.olx.com.ph