Landscape Design
Your home’s landscape design requires careful planning. Today’s homeowners are increasingly interested in spending more time outdoors and are investing in their gardening and hardscaping. Improving your landscaping will encourage you to spend more time outdoors. Use our landscape planning checklist to help you identify and implement the outdoor living space that you want.
1. What will best enhance your home’s curb appeal: flowers, flowering trees, ground cover, improved lawn?
2. What percentage of your yard do you want landscaped with trees, flowers or ground cover?
3. How much time are you willing to spend weekly on maintaining your landscaping?
4. Do you prefer a container garden, raised beds or an in-ground garden?
5. What landscaping features are very important, important or not important to you?
- Curb appeal
- Drought-tolerant plants
- Organic gardening
- Eco-friendly landscaping (water conservation, mowing, pesticides, fertilizers, etc.)
- Rainwater harvesting
- Native plants
- Plants that provide habitat and food for birds and pollinators
- Deer-resistant plants
- Turf grass
6. Which water-saving features are best suited for your landscaping: rain barrel, rain garden, ground cover planting, greywater capture, xeriscaping?
7. Identify problems and issues with your current landscaping: diseased or dead plants, dated or overgrown landscape, problems with critters, drainage or erosion issues, invasive weeds, steep areas, etc.
8. Do you want edible plants, and if so, what kind?
9. Do you want a built-in irrigation system?
10. Make a list the specific plants you want and the ones you don’t want.
11. Do you want plants with health benefits or medicinal properties, and if so, what health benefits do you hope to gain?
Planting for Wildlife
A variety of wildlife will be attracted by a well-planned landscape. Planting for wildlife will provide shelter and food year-round. Native plants are ideal because local wildlife is better adapted to them, and native plants are better adapted to the local climate. Here are some suggestions for plants that attract wildlife:
Fruit: Dogwood, American beautyberry, inkberry holly
Seed: Maple, pine, elm, river birch, magnolia, oak, redbud, hydrangea, coreopsis, black-eyed susan, purple coneflower
Hummingbird nectar: Buckeye, azalea, iris, verbena, beebalm, salvia, lantana
Shelter: Ash, pine, elm, dogwood, magnolia, oak, inkberry holly
Butterfly larvae host plants: Pine, dogwood, river birch, magnolia, oak, redbud, inkberry holly
Butterfly and other insect nectar: Dogwood, redbud, buckeye, azalea, hydrangea, inkberry holly, coreopsis, black-eyed susan, verbena, purple coneflower, beebalm, salvia, lantana
Edible Gardens
You don’t need a lot of space or special expertise to grow herbs, vegetables and fruits in your own backyard or on your porch. Herbs are easier to grow since they need less soil preparation and space than fruits and vegetables. You can grow edible plants together in the same bed with herbs and flowers; this is called “companion gardening”. Including perennials near your vegetables will help attract pollinators.
Plant natural repellants such as dill, garlic, onions, oregano, rosemary, chives and radish as part of your landscape design. Planting marygolds provide brilliant color as well as insect protection.
Give your edible garden a theme. For example, a pizza garden might contain tomatoes, oregano, rosemary and eggplant, while a Mexican garden might contain cilantro, jalapenos, tomatoes and onions.
