Designer Landscape Styles
Written by Elizabeth Wood
Editor In Chief, United Home Improvement

Your first concern when starting a new landscaping project is the style. The style of your landscape should match the style of your house, but it's also an indication of your personality and style. Before selecting a landscape style, there are several factors that should be considered.

• What level of maintenance accommodates to your everyday life? Do you enjoying spending time in your garden or are you looking for the appeal without the heavy keep up?
• What shapes and sizes will match your architecture best?
• What kind of light does your yard receive? What type of weather does it receive?
• What do you plan to use your yard for?
• How much traffic will it be getting?
• Which style best suits your personal taste and creates the curb appeal most desired?
• What features of your yard are you planning on keeping and what features will you sacrifice?

There are several distinct landscape styles to choose from. Each of these styles expresses a single character and unique style. Often a homeowner will integrate aspects of many different landscape styles and create a unique design suited to their needs.

Style Options:

Formal Landscape: This style using straight lines and geometrical shapes to create an orderly, closely managed garden effect. Much maintenance is required for the formal appeal.

Informal Landscape: This style uses curved beds creating a very random appearance. Those with family's consisting of young children prefer the informal design.

English Garden Style: This style can be varied; including both formal and informal layout. The lawn, surrounded by perennial borders, hedges and gates, and benches are some of the key aspects of the style.

Oriental Landscape: This style incorporates rocks, evergreens and water. It includes a variety of striking plants, stones, and water structures.

Woodland Landscape: This style requires the least amount of maintenance because it is created by letting the wild life grow in its own unique way. It blends in with the woodwork and sloping ground.

Organic Gardens: Organic gardens avoid the use of chemical treatment on plants, and instead used natural fertilization and pest control.

Xeriscape Gardens: This style utilizes the amount of water used for your garden by integrating low water plants and flowers. The design is created to reduce water evaporation.

As a homeowner, look at where you spend most of your time and really focus on ways of enhancing that area and the view from those places. Once you have seriously reviewed what you have to work with and what appeal you are keen to, you should know what style your landscape will be and what function it will perform for you. As always, a professional landscape designer can help you with these decisions.

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