Late summer is an excellent time to begin planning to renovate
your landscape. By
planning now, you’ll be ready to take advantage of the best
planting time in the fall.

Consider several items when creating a new landscape or
renovating an existing one.

Determine which sites in your landscape are in full sun, partial
sun or shade. This will
help you in selecting plants that will do well in the given
light exposure.

Consider, too, the mature growth height and spread of the plants
you’re selecting. One
of the most common mistakes is to put plants too close to each
other or under an
overhang, only to have the plants outgrow the site in a few
years.

One key to an attractive landscape is how the beds are laid out.
One easy trick is to use
a garden hose to outline the bed and experiment with different
curves and designs
before you dig.

Avoid using small, irregular curves in your bed designs. Strive
for large, broad,
sweeping curves that will accent your beds. Raising beds six to
10 inches by adding
organic matter can be another effective way to make the area
more attractive.

When determining where to plant your shrubs, remember the rule
of three. Always
plant in groups of odd numbers — 3, 5, 7, etc.

Don’t place shrubs in a straight row but in clusters. Stagger
them when laying them
out. Try to cascade your plants so the larger shrubs are in the
back and smaller plants
toward the front.

Pay attention to texture and color, too. Texture is the
coarseness of a shrub’s leaves.
It’s best to use contrasting textures of plants so one is in
front of the other. For
example, plant the coarse-textured dwarf burford behind the soft
texture of dwarf
yaupon.

Colors, on the other hand, should complement each other. A solid
bed of white pansies
in front of some dark green hollies is a good example. Avoid
mixing too many colors
into one landscape bed.

Use color to enhance an entrance and draw attention. It can be a
nice rock walkway or
something as simple as two flower pots flanking the door.

Use color, too, to control space. Warm colors (red, orange,
yellow) attract your eye,
fooling you into thinking they are much closer. Use these to
make a large garden space
feel smaller and more intimate. Cool colors, especially blue and
violet, recede so they
seem more distant. Use them to make a small courtyard feel
larger.

You may want to draw a base map of your house when redesigning
your landscape.
This could make it easier to plan the amount and location of the
plants. Take some
rough measurements of the outside of your house so you can draw
your plan to scale.

One final step is to individualize your landscape. Many
landscapes can be enhanced
with the simple addition of a rock walkway, window boxes or some
mulched islands.

You may not need to do a tremendous amount. Some landscape items
added to a bed
can spruce it up as well. Try adding an old iron bed, a tricycle
or perhaps a rusting
wheel barrow to your bed. You will be surprised how it can
highlight your landscape.

By following a few basic rules and planning now, you’ll have a
jump start on preparing
for your landscape renovation this fall.