The design of your front yard landscaping, your backyard landscaping, and in particular your hard landscaping, is subject to many factors that influence it in one way or the other. This is just your basic "make sure you thought of everything before landscaping" checklist. Of course, with every landscape design being unique, there may be other considerations not mentioned here. Of these factors we are all aware of and might even seem superfluous to mention, but none the less. Following is a brief discussion on these factors:
Do you live in the desert, on the coast, in the tropics, in the Mediterranean? The climate in essence determines the types of plants that you will use. Just imagine trying to grow tropical plants in a desert landscape. Here the main questions that you need to ask when designing your garden would be:
The types of soil influence drainage, condition and pH level. Of the different types of soil that one encounters the most recognizable for gardeners to note is the clay soil and the loam soil. The sandy soil is usually the one that we know almost instinctively should be enriched. Making the sandy soil into humus soil will be to the benefit of the plants that will be planted there. Heavy, clay soil does not drain well and you will be required to implement underground drainage or take the other option of mixing sand into the soil. Making soil amendments can be a limiting factor in that it may become quite costly. Other important questions that beg asking would be:
It is sometimes preferable to retain mature trees and shrubs, since these shrubs could be evergreen shrubs and even flowering shrubs which would be a pity to loose and even costly to replace at a later stage. You also have to bear in mind that of the available fast growing shrubs might not fit in with your overall design and plan for your garden. However, you could have it removed only if it does not fit into the overall front yard landscape or backyard landscape design theme that you envisage for your garden. Existing shrubs and trees and their relation to the landscaping and your new design should be noted. Ask yourself these questions when making a decision as to whether to retain or remove existing vegetation:
You might need to screen your garden if there is an unsightly wall between you and your neighbors or you might need to make use of screening plants for privacy purposes. Or large neighboring trees will compete with your garden in terms of sunlight, etc. You need to take this factor into consideration when drawing up your front yard and backyard landscape design plan.
Covenants and regulations of factors such as heights, wall types and structures will also impact on your front yard and backyard landscape design plan.
This factor goes hand in hand with municipal regulations. Water pipes, sewer pipes, underground cable all influences where and how you should design your garden. You for instance cannot plant large plants, or plants that have aggressive root systems near these conduits that hosts these services. In fact your overall front yard and backyard landscape design plan should indicate these services for more than mere reference purposes.
Functional and practical landscaping should be considered an outdoor extension of your home. There should be activity areas outside just as there are inside your home. These areas might include a living area, a kiddie’s garden, work area, public or entertaining area, entrances, and flower garden or vegetable garden areas. If you are serious about health then organic gardening and the accompanying vegetable container gardening would be the answer. The outdoor areas/ rooms should be natural extensions of your indoor areas. You should also consider asking yourself the following questions when drawing up your overall front yard and backyard landscape design plan: