A home's landscape design contributes dramatically to its appearance. When well done, the landscape creates a setting for the home that complements and enhances the architecture. An ordinary-looking home can be made eye-catching.
A grand, imposing structure will be anchored to its surroundings with an equally impressive landscape.
A well-designed landscape is a permanent capital improvement to your home-it contributes not only to the aesthetics of your home, as does the interior decor, but, also, to its' value, which its' furnishings do not. In addition to its other benefits, a well-designed, well-executed and well-maintained landscape can add anywhere from 10 percent to 40 percent to a property's value, according to real estate appraisers.
A home's landscape can be thought of as outdoor decoration, and just as there are unlimited ways you can decorate your living room, there are many ways you can landscape a house. The landscape style should complement the home's architecture, as well as create the outdoor feeling you would like to achieve. A country house might be landscaped with fieldstone walls, picket fences, and numerous flower beds to create the feeling of a country farmhouse. For a more formal appearance, a row of symmetrical trees, and a straight brick wall would complement an English-style estate house.
If you want to enjoy your property to its fullest, landscaping can create outdoor spaces that fulfill many of the same basic needs as the rooms of your house. The landscape design can create separate areas for relaxation, recreation, entertaining, cooking, and dining. Professional landscapers understand how to arrange, and integrate the softscape (plant, trees, bushes, and flowers), and the hardscape (paved areas, fences, walls, garden ornaments, and structures) into a pleasing and functional whole. Landscapers use construction materials, if possible, that match the construction of the house. This creates unity between the house and the landscape.
A professional landscaper selects the softscape to be used in a design for their ability to provide privacy, color, shade, noise abatement, wind screening, erosion control, cooling, and beauty, as well as for their ability to satisfy the aesthetic needs of a landscape. Different plants perform well in various regions of the country, but no matter where you live the landscaper will be able to assist you to choose appropriate attractive plants for your region.
Professional landscapers create pleasing environments by skillfully applying space, line, form, balance, pattern, texture, and color. He or she is a creative artist using your property as the canvas, and the hardscape and softscape as the paint.
