This is our 6th home and as you might imagine, I have been developing my ideas more and more. In the meantime, 3 of our sons have gone into landscaping and they did the plans and designs of this home's landscaping.

Planning your landscaping

• What are your likes?
• Do you want a huge yard?
• Do you prefer a small postage size yard to maintain?

To begin with, you have to make a few decisions before making your landscape plans.

• Your area of the country will determine what you can grow
• What kinds of trees are you going to grow?
• Will you start them from twigs, or from well established trees?
• Are you partial to a color scheme?
• How are you going to irrigate?
• Are you having a deck? or ground level patio?

A wise avid gardener once told me not to plant a bunch of annuals in the front yard. By planting the re-occuring plants (perennials) in the front yard, you can have color continuously through the year. Perennials that flower at specific times in the year, provide color without the effort. She suggested we should save the annuals for a spot of color here and there in the yard.

Of course,that's only one opinion. In basic-landscaping-plans, like anything else, there are many ways to do it, and the fun thing is that anything goes so your ideas "reign". You're KING/QUEEN of your yard.