Landscaping and Exterior Decorating Home

Four Unique Ideas In Landscaping

One great thing about landscaping and gardening-it's not like auto mechanics.  It is more comparable to art.  There is no right and wrong way to go about planning a unique design-it's all up to your tastes and creativity.  (Provided your plants grow correctly and don't mysteriously die)  In celebration of imaginative gardeners everywhere, here are four unique landscaping designs to consider for your next project.

1. Circular Designs

Why be an old square when you can shape your garden in circle?  Beds and walkways should be created from the same material as the home; it can be anything from brick to cobblestone or flagstone.  Different levels (raised heights) can also complement the design as well as create the illusion of more space. 

2. Use Household Items In Your Planting

Some landscapers have incorporated unused household items into their flowerbed, such as old bathtubs, sinks or children's swimming pools.  These items can be cleaned, filled with dirt and used as a unique plant bed.  These items provide good drainage and bring a unique accessory to a colorful garden.

3. Swimming Pool Design

Design your garden and walkway around a swimming pool.  Not only can you plant trees and bushes around pools, you can also put a brick walkway from the pool all the way around the backyard of the house.  Use different colored bricks to highlight a patio area and include chairs, a table and of course, an umbrella. 

4. Butterfly Garden

Create a garden that especially attracts butterflies for twice the beauty.  Butterflies are pretty enough to be called airborne flowers.  Why not cultivate a garden that attracts butterflies?  The best way to attract is to plant a wide variety of food plants as well as wild plants.  Butterflies can more easily locate groups of the same plants than a bed of different flowers, so plan your garden accordingly.  Plan your garden so that there are plenty of open areas for sun basking, but also remember to include some areas of shade for when temperatures get too hot.  Puddles are attractive to male butterflies and food plants to females-where they might lay eggs.  A butterfly garden is a colorful garden paradise! 

The right flowers and the right colors are just half the fun.  The more unique your beds and landscaping designs, the more beautiful your garden will look.