Landscaping - Gardening - Lawn Care

7. Maintenance Miseries
Anything can look great on paper, but a year down the road, cool ideas can turn into problems. Will you really tend that shrub rose or aggressive vine? Will you really keep the fence painted and sealed? Will you clean and maintain your pond properly? Plan plants and features that you know you can handle.

8. Neighbor Envy
Don't lust after your neighbors' lush landscapes. Although you can steal an idea or two, it's a mistake to copy too much. Your soil, your site, your conditions, and your tastes will be different. A landscape should be a personal thing, and you'll enjoy it most if you create it for yourself.

Design Flaws

9. Too Many Straight Lines
There may well be some loose landscape gene that compels people, when faced with a new landscape, to carve it into straight lines. Though some straight lines may be needed to underscore your design, don't fret over making paths and bed borders beeline straight. Curves, angles, and free-form flowing edges are the way to add interest.

10. No Sense of Boundary
The landscape begins at the edge of your property, not at the edge of your house. Professionals often use some element -- a gate, an arbor, a small fence, a hedge, or a border garden -- to create a sense of entry into the landscape, whether you're entering it from the front or side yard.

11. Severe Lines Along the House
House foundations claim more than their share of gardening go-wrongs. Rather than string a line of shrubs along the house, bring the foundation plantings out into the yard with various levels of plants, deeper borders, and curves. A sidewalk that meanders to the door, rather than parallels the house, will help, too.

12. No View from the House
Force yourself to sit at the kitchen table or in the study, and look out at your landscape-to-be. What would you like to see? Plan views from inside looking out. Otherwise, you may end up seeing the back of a shrub or wall.

Better Homes and Gardens

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