Why should you care whether or not your landscaping matches your home’s architectural design? The answer is simple – because it matters.
When you take the time to make sure that the design flows with the architectural plan and layout of the home, it shows that you took the time to complete the thought. Landscaping isn’t just about trees, shrubs, flowers or plants. It is about broad ideas, feeling like your design can help you escape after a long day, and taking your home to the next level. It can be the difference between having enough curb appeal to set your home apart from the rest if you are selling. It can also be the breaking point that makes a would-be home buyer look elsewhere if it doesn’t seem like the design makes sense.
A very famous Architect by the name of Frank Lloyd Wright was famous for tying in architecture with nature. As they say “the devil is in the details” and Wright was excellent at crossing all of his T’s and dotting his I’s, leaving no stone unturned (no pun intended), in order to make a design feel like the homeowner was transported to some foreign, tranquil place. THAT is the difference between a good design and a bad one. If you can make someone feel like they stepped into a whole different world, then you have done the job successfully.
Nothing works when a home has no curb appeal. Have you ever driven through neighborhoods that have no trees, drab flowerbeds or worse – lawn ornaments in every crevice? They look awful. I’ve seen other homes with more lawn ornaments in the front yard than they have grass, which also stands to reason why the phrase “a little goes a long way” makes so much sense to me. When you carefully plan out how you want your landscape to look with the design of your home… you are making a statement. You are saying “This is MY home. I love and care about where I live.” Homes with dead or un-pruned trees, foot tall grasses and overgrown flowerbeds look uncared for, and it shows as such to the overall image of what the home might look like – on the inside.
Homes with Caribbean flair might be paired up with palm trees and volcanic rocks outlining the flower beds, but a home that is meant to be a “country farm house” wouldn’t fit the look. KNOWING what your home is conveying is the smartest place to start with, when planning out your landscape. Professionals know what will make your home stand out. Whether you need pruned topiaries at the grand entrance to your estate, or if you should have a Koi pond put in to fit the rolling hills where your homes sits, they know all the tricks of the trade. Country cottages wouldn’t have modern shrubs and grasses planted in their design and if they did, they would look ridiculous there. Trees, shrubs, grasses and even the COLOR of certain flowers all play a role in successfully conveying a look that the home is trying to show.
If you don’t know where to begin to get your home in tip-top shape, perhaps you should start at the simplest of places. Clear out your yard of all extraneous things – concrete statues, bird baths, toys in the yard. Then, cut and weed-eat your yard. Once you do this, you now have basically what can be called a clean slate. Stand back, take a few photographs and take a good visual assessment on what the house is saying to you. Is it modern? Is it contemporary? Is it clean lines? Is it Country? Once you figure that out, you can then start looking at different types of plants, trees, shrubs and flowers that are found in those types of landscaping. You can also take a few trips to some local greenhouses and talk to the professionals there, show them your pictures and get their advice. I personally have found tons of great tips on local business pages, where they talk about regular trimming and when it’s time to call an arborist. All the information you’ll ever need is Google search away, so don’t hesitate and research on.
In conclusion, you don’t always have to pay top dollar to make your house look like a million bucks. If you have the time and you want to make your house give a lasting impression, investing into a good landscape design could be some of best money you’ve ever spent.
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