Landscaping Design Principles

If you are thinking of learning more about landscaping design, whether it is for your own garden or for a family member, you need to make sure that you know the basic design principles of landscaping. Like any art form, to become good at landscaping you first need to know what the rules are so that you can create something that looks good from the beginning. Of course, once you have some experience then you can think about breaking these rules to develop your own unique style, but to begin with you should stick to the basics.

One of the most important principles of good landscape design is using color effectively. There are three primary colors - red, blue and yellow. Then there are colors you can make with combinations of these such as green and purple. When you are landscaping your garden you should think carefully about the color scheme so that you can make sure everything blends in well together and doesn't look out of place.

Another important design principle is called line. This refers to the way that the human eye will move over the landscaping. When you are designing your garden you should think about how you want the viewer's eye to be naturally drawn when they first look at the garden. You can change the line by creating curves in flower beds or even by using different heights in the garden. Using a landscaping design software can really help to see how your lines will appear in real like once you have created the garden. Another principle you should be aware of is the form of your garden. While the line refers to the outer edges of different parts of the garden, the form is more related to how things look as a whole.

The final principle of landscape design that you should think about is the texture. This doesn't just refer to the kinds of material you use in the garden but also the thickness and other features of the plants and trees that you use.

Remember that although these are four separate principles, you should make sure that they all work well together if you want to create a beautiful garden. Landscaping design isn't easy, but by paying attention to the various different factors and making sure that they complement each other it becomes a lot easier to get right. Landscape design software can really help as it allows you to get an overview of your garden before you start to build it. Keep in mind that it is a great tool, but not essential if you can't afford it.

Ken Asselin is webmaster for the Landscape Design Ideas series of Information websites. You can visit his Landscape Design website at: Latest Landscape Design Ideas.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kenneth_E_Asselin

Landscaping Lighting and Its Importance in Home Landscaping Design

Landscaping is an extremely important aspect of outdoor home improvement. Landscaping if done with careful planning can add tremendous value to your home. However landscaping is not just about planting plants and creating greenery around your home yard. Lighting, water supply and other accessories are equally important in home landscaping Outdoor lighting plays a vital role in outdoor home improvement.

There are two basic purposes why lighting in landscaping areas is extremely important.

1) Security of the home surroundings
2) Enhancing the existing landscaping with special purpose lighting.

Outdoor lighting makes your home yard safe and also makes it easier to use it during night hours. A well-lit home yard will keep the trespassers away fro the fear of being caught.

Many times special purpose lighting is done using flood lights, spot light to enhance certain areas of the landscaping garden to add visual qualities. Apart from using lighting for visual pleasure it is very commonly used along the pathways in a garden. This is typically done for walkways those connect areas into indoors of the garden.

Adding light posts at regular intervals can add not just enough value but also interesting spots. I most cases these lighting consumes electricity however now the modern solar landscaping light s are becoming more popular amongst homeowners.

Solar landscaping lights save lots of energy by reducing electricity bills. However using these lights require careful planning because they need enough direct sunlight to store in the form of electricity which can be consumed during night hours.

If a landscaping garden has a water fountain then lighting can be used to create dramatic effects with the help of color lights. Rock gardens is a common place where such kind of light are used.

Many times landscaping lights are inserted into the compound wall for general-purpose lighting so that they can define the boundary of the plot surrounding the home building. These lights can be used of low voltage that consume low electricity and are covered with rain protecting glass so that they last longer.

If you are planning a lighting project in your garden it is necessary to start it in the early stages of planning. This is because the electrical wiring in most cases is buried underground.

Creating an electrical layout during early stages of planning helps to save lots of time and money. There are several services running in a garden such as electrical, plumbing etc. All these services must run independent of each other in such a way that hey do not interfere with each other even during repair work. Landscaping lighting can add tremendous value to your garden if planned carefully and with a definite purpose. Overuse of lights must be avoided in the garden due to the obvious reason of more electricity consumption.

Did you know? You can drastically cut your electricity bills by using outdoor solar garden lights! Visit http://www.outdoorsolargardenlights.net to grab some great information on solar garden lights.

Copyright Samir Joshi

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Samir_Joshi