When a professional landscape designer and builder is involved in an estate landscape design, very careful planning and techniques are required to provide your home and grounds with creative, unique, and functional outdoor rooms and fabulous gardens. Estate garden designs used to be formal, but have given away to being an extension of the estate they surround.
With estate landscape design there are many design elements that can be a part of your design plan to maximize the beauty and functionality of your property. The designs can range from old world Mediterranean to large formal estate designs, or can be designed to give a more informal atmosphere. You can have a country design with a country garden feel. The possibilities go on and on.
The materials used for your design, as well as the plants, paving and accessories will depend on the style of your home and the outdoor theme you wish to go with.
Your Estate Garden with Color Throughout the Year
Evergreen shrubs and hedges are a good start and can be planted in specific designs and patterns that can be intertwined with other plants and flowers.
More extravagant designs would include:
1. Labyrinths – which are found in many estate landscape designs would be considered private areas in your outdoor design, and usually include curving paved pathways surrounded by very tall hedges for almost total seclusion.
2. Knot Gardens – Are a formal garden planted in squares that not only includes green shrubbery, but gardens with a variety of colorful plants and aromatic flowers such as violas and thyme as an example.
3. Parterres – Are laid out in a symmetrical pattern of four squares divided by gravel paths.
4. Sculpted shrubbery or topiaries can be used to accent entranceways or other focal points of your estate.
Of course there are a variety of gardens that can be added to the landscape, such as rose gardens, or any kind of perennial plant or flower, and all of this can tie in to complement your greenery.
Paving Considerations
If you do a lot of entertaining, your estate will need space for parking and movement of vehicles. The paving design you choose is important in the overall landscaping scheme.
You could consider for instance a motor court, a circular driveway, or a paved terrace, and the choice of materials used are important because these areas are sometimes a focal point for the entrance to your structure.
There are many different materials for this type of hardscape design, which includes slate, concrete, bluestone, limestone, flagstone, brick, and a wide variety of pavers.
Accessories that Add a Final Touch to an Estate Garden
Fountains, statuary, and outdoor furniture are standard accessories. You could also add:
A greenhouse
Arbors covered with flowering vines
Loggias – Open air living rooms you can fill with furniture, plants, and flowers.
Pergolas – Commonly made of wood or stone and be placed throughout different areas of your estate garden.
Or you can add your own gazebo or pavilion.
There are so many ways to accessorize an estate garden to add even more beauty. You can add a large pond to the design surrounded by beautiful plants and flowers. You could even add a bridge over the pond.
Estate landscape design is an extremely detailed type of garden planning that will require great care and careful placement of the elements. That is why an experienced, professional landscape architect is a wise choice who will then draw up your plans and then proceed with the installation of every component for a magnificent estate garden.
If you are contemplating landscaping for your property or estate and you are in Sarasota or the surrounding areas, visit us at:
http://RChristopherBerryman.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Alexa_Jones
Creating Activity Areas in Landscaping
Certain factors come into play when designing your yard. A well-planned landscape should suit your lifestyle, your family’s needs, your site’s plot plan, and topography. Of course, there is also personal preference as well as the fact that your landscape should complement the architectural style of your home. In general, it helps if you decide whether you want a landscape design that is formal or informal. Think about your hardscape needs and permanent structures first. Any structures such as greenhouses, tool and storage sheds, garages, etc. require level topography along with easy access for traffic, be it pedestrian, wheelbarrow, lawnmower, or vehicular. Once structural and traffic considerations have been planned, then you can consider where to site your gardening areas and plantings.
The topographical features such as slope, soil, rock, and water features, and drainage need to be assessed. You should note where drainage measures may be necessary as well as areas that will require special irrigation for adequate water. It is also important to note how any modifications you make to your site’s topography might affect your abutting neighbors. A small pond added to your site or the redirection of a stream on your own property can affect your neighbor’s ground water table. Drainage problems may be resolved with a simple fix or may require expert advice and correction. Site modifications may not be necessary, but may be desired. Adding a raised bed, fence, or berm at a boundary for privacy or noise buffer or installing a koi pond can add interest to your yard. Just be sure not to create unnecessary drainage or irrigation issues as you beautify your lot.
If your lot is sloped, retaining walls, other hardscape features, and plantings can be used to prevent erosion. Ground covers and low-lying shrubs like junipers are usually adequate for gentle slopes and are pleasing to the eye. Steeper slopes benefit from some sort of retaining wall, the material for which should be well-suited to your overall landscaping theme. For less formal landscapes, natural materials such as smooth, rounded stones for a wall or wooden railroad ties blend nicely. Mulching steeper sloped areas and adding permanent or at least low-maintenance plantings is wise, bearing in mind that any part of your yard that has grass for groundcover will need to be mowed.
Traffic patterns, activity areas, general landscape theme, and specifics of garden beds’ shapes, placement, and layout need to be functional as well as aesthetically pleasing. Once you plot your activity areas, you’re ready to plan your plantings. Color, texture, height, and other creative factors can be considered so your yard can evolve into a place of enjoyment and beauty.
Article from The Landscape design Site.com which offers free landscape design plans, pictures, and landscaping software reviews. For more design ideas and information, visit http://www.the-landscape-design-site.com.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Steve_Boulden
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