home gardening projects

Lawn & Garden Decor

Easy Tips on How to Create Your Ideal Landscape Design Using Decorative Garden Items

Creating a beautiful lawn involves more than just throwing down some grass and adding a few decorative garden items. Before you begin adding garden decor to your yard, it's a good idea to have a plan prepared. First, jot down the overall dimensions of your yard, taking into account sunny/shady areas, water drainage, seasonality (of both plants and garden decor) and the type of look that you want to achieve. You should also consider the following criteria in deciding what type of decorative garden items to add to your landscape.

Sunny or shady?

How much sun/shade does your yard receive? In determining where to add your plants and what types of plants to add, it's always a good idea to know how much sun/shade your plants require. Once you've learned this, you can choose the best place to plant your garden. It's also advantageous to use plants and flowers that are indigenous to your location.

Group Accordingly

How much water does your plants/garden require and how is the drainage situation? Since some plants require an abundance of water and others are to be watered sparingly, it's a good idea to group the garden plants based on their water intake as well as how much drainage there is available.

Your Color Palette

What colors do you want in your landscape? Grouping plants with a similar color palette will give your landscape design a more cohesive and professional look. For example, you can choose plants, flowering bushes and even trees based on what color they will produce. Of course if you're going for a country-themed garden, then as far as color is concerned, anything goes.

To sod or to seed... that is the question.

Seeding

There are a couple of key differences between laying sod and seeding your yard. Seeding is less expensive and will have a stronger root system, yet if you choose to lay sod, you will obviously see the results sooner and your grass will be relatively weed-free in the beginning. If you choose to seed your yard, be sure there is moist soil up to 4-6 inches deep. After seeding, water only as needed - stop watering when puddles begin to appear. It will take approximately 6-12 weeks for the seeds to become established.

Sod

If you're going to sod, make sure the dirt is prepared - wet the area and once it begins to dry, rototill the area so the dirt is loose. After you cut and lay the sod, it's a good idea to keep the sod moist for a couple of weeks. Once your grass is ready for mowing, you can either mow vertically, which will make your yard look longer, or horizontally to make your yard appear wider.

The Finishing Touches

Once you have your garden planted, it's time to start adding some decorative garden items to complete your landscape design.

Lawn Edging & Flower Bed Borders

Lawn edging and flower bed borders come in a variety of styles and colors and can be used in many places in your landscape design.

If you want to add an edge around your lawn to keep your grass separate from your garden area, check out the Curv-Rite Lawn Edging Kit, which is a green aluminum edging that can curve to any shape you need. This lawn edging kit blends in nicely with your lawn and can be cut to any size.

If you prefer the natural look of wood in your garden, get some standard 2 x 6 or 2 x 8 pieces of lumber and add some Wood Connectors and you can create a beautiful raised garden bed in just minutes.

Decorative Garden Borders

If you want to add a decorative border around trees or your garden or if you want to create a beautiful flower bed in the middle of your landscape, check out the Bedrock Garden Border or the Stonewall Border, both have a snap-together installation and can be set up in almost any configuration.

For more of a country-cottage looking garden, add some lattice and slat designed garden fencing to your landscape. Resin Decorative Garden Fences look like painted wood fencing, but will last year after year without painting or sanding.

Garden Pathways

Once your garden has been planted, you're going to need to add a pathway. The most time-consuming and important part in adding a pathway through your garden is sketching it out before you purchase the materials. Once you've determined where you want the pathway to go and how much land you will want to cover, the next step is to figure out what type of materials you will want to use.

Deciding which type of walkway you will want to create depends on what type of atmosphere you are trying to establish in your garden. If you like the Zen look, then adding a Wooden Walkway that will blend seamlessly into your yard is the way to go.

A quick and easy way to light your garden pathway is with the Solar eClips™ Light String. Each string has 14 single LED lights on a 50-foot cord and their solar panels charge in direct sunlight during the day to provide up to 8 hours of light at night.

Outdoor Fountains & Ponds

Add some tranquility to your garden by adding an outdoor fountain or a pond to your landscape. Before deciding on what type of garden fountain or pond you are going to purchase, you should make sure you have sketched out where the fountain and/or the pond is going to go. The garden fountain or pond should be the focal point of the landscape. Garden fountains come in a variety of styles and shapes so determining what type is best for your garden is really just a matter of preference. When adding a pond to your garden, make sure you add a 1-2 ft walking border so you can access the pond for feeding your fish or keeping it clean.

If you're looking for an old-world take on a classic accessory, the stone-looking Hexagon Garden Fountain is a 2-tier outdoor fountain that sends water spilling over the top tier to the bottom bowl in a classic fashion. This outdoor fountain can be used with a solar pump so you can place it just about anywhere in your garden where the relaxing sound and sight of trickling water is needed.