Landscape Design - Using Garden Art

Including art in your garden Design can be loads of fun and bring a unique quality to your outdoor spaces. Whether your selections are flamboyant or subtle, a small decorative piece or a major work, artwork of any kind in your garden can create a major point of interest for visitors and an ongoing source of inspiration for you.

For many people the idea of selecting garden art can be quite daunting so they hurry the process or avoid all together. Art has been closely linked with garden Design since early civilisations and still today has an integral garden Design function to play. With the right state of mind you can find the perfect piece of art to complement the mood of your outdoor world, no matter its size or layout, that will bring you pleasure for many years to come.

The choice of garden art available to Designers now is greater than ever before. From Iron and copper sculptures to marble figures, mosaic balls to plated tables, modern garden art encompasses all cultures and styles. Even for the most experienced Designers the choice can be overwhelming, so where do you start?

Be Passionate

The first step in selecting garden art is to trust your instincts. Chose something that you feel passionate about - not what is in style at the time or what you've been told to buy. Your own confidence in what you like is the starting point for selecting any artwork. If you aren't certain what you like be patient and find a piece that stands out or one you 'keep coming back to'.

Frame The Art

When deciding on a location for your new piece of garden art consider these points:

Think about where you will view the work from - the view from inside your home is just as important as from the garden.

Framing is equally about blocking details out as it is highlighting the piece - distracting elements must be blocked out to provide maximum impact.

Framing with plants will subtly blend the artwork into the garden.

Try an overhead frame like an arch or arbour - try framing your art with a pattern around the base such as paving, stones or a hedge.

Introduce a reverse frame by growing vines on a wall - place a sculpture in front of the wall and trim the leaves behind it.

Create A Statement

Always have a vision of the kind of presence you expect the artwork to have in your garden. Is it going to be a focal point or a finishing touch? Whatever piece you decide on it must draw your attention.

Consider what kind of lifestyle your garden is tailored to. Is your garden Designed for entertaining, relaxation, activity or aesthetics? Your selected artwork must blend and suit the 'lifestyle' of your garden. If it doesn't suit it will not work. For example, slate and stone sculptures will create a sense of oasis and relaxation, particularly when combined with water. Murals with colour incorporated or glazed ceramics will be more stimulating and better suited to entertaining areas.

Know your Garden Style

You must know and understand the 'style' of your garden. Japanese, urban, formal, cottage, Tuscan, country or other - you must consider your garden style to chose your artwork correctly. The art must compliment the style. Any individual piece can look terrific given the right setting. What is important is that the opposite is also true - any art can look awful if it clashes with the rest of your garden. Rustic farm style artwork will not suit a Tuscan themed garden. Likewise an abstract sculpture will look out of place in a country-style garden.

Also consider the association between materials and garden styles. Unglazed terracotta works for instance are associated with Tuscan gardens, marble pieces with formal gardens, timber and iron with country gardens. While your artwork should stand out in the garden, it should serve to highlight your chosen style, not detract from it.

Key To Success

The key is to keep the perspective of your entire garden in mind when choosing garden artworks. If you have a style already firmly fixed try taking some photos of your garden with you when shopping for pieces to compliment it. If you intend for the artwork to be a focal point of your garden, it is best for it to be part of the gardens original Design.
Try sketching your garden to scale and include the intended locations for your garden art. This will help to ensure that the pieces you purchase are the correct size for the locations. The most common error made when selecting artworks for the garden is purchasing items that are too small. To get a feel for how the artwork will impact your garden try placing an object of similar size in the location.

Be Practical

To conclude I will stress the importance of practicalities. These few tips will help ensure wise decisions:

Consider children in the garden - if they use the space for physical activity chose artwork that is not easily broken.

Avoid placing pieces on walls or steps where they may be easily knocked off.

Concrete pieces may crack if subjected to locations that are likely to have dramatic changes in temperature.

Water sculptures made from concrete should be treated with a proprietary sealing agent to prevent lime from leaching out.

Sedimentary stone based artworks such as limestone and sandstone are porous and can attract mosses and lichens.

Glazed finishes on artworks will ensure they don't fade or rust.

This practical advice should help you to choose artwork for your garden that blends in and creates interest as a focal point. If you have any further advice about selecting pieces for the garden let us know your ideas in the comments section below. Happy gardening!

Fraser is a Freelance Journalist, Author and CEO of Pro-Content Australia - providing professional online & offline content writing services worldwide.

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5 Useful Tips To Select A Landscape Design Services Company

It is indeed a pleasure to own a beautiful garden. Ask any person who owns a beautiful garden; they'll undeniably love spending time in it, but the envious looks from their neighbors will make them feel even better about their garden. If you wish to have a lovely garden then you should hire a Landscape Design Services company unless you have the necessary talent and the time to spare.

There is more to having a beautiful garden than just putting plants in place. The plants should complement each other and they should also be selected keeping the climate in mind. Further, the garden should be easy and inexpensive to maintain. Therefore, you should select a Landscape Design Services contractor who knows exactly what to do, and that too at a reasonable price. Be sure to use the following Tips when selecting a contractor:

1. Select an experienced landscaper because skill and knowledge are very important in this field. Even if you are considering hiring a lesser known (and therefore more affordable) landscaper, be sure that you only do this after seeing a few examples of gardens done by this person.

2. The landscaper should ideally be a member of industry associations.

3. It is best to avoid an extremely busy landscaper who will not have the time to offer maintenance Services. 4. Have discussions with more than one prospect in order to gauge their responsiveness and eagerness to landscape your garden. This will give you a good idea about whether the landscaper will customize a design for your garden keeping its shape and your needs and budget in mind.

5. A really good landscaper will provide you with a guarantee on the work, with regards to the total cost of the project as well as the time that will be taken to complete it. You can expect a slight degree of deviation from these terms, but there shouldn't ever be a very large deviation.

You'll find it easier to get the best possible work from a Landscape Design Services company if you do a bit of research on exactly what kind of garden you wish to have. You'll be able to communicate your needs correctly to the landscaper you eventually hire and this will ensure that your garden looks absolutely fabulous. Not only will a lovely garden give you immense pleasure but it will also ensure that your property rises in value, should you ever wish to put it on the market.

The right Landscape Design Services company will build a truly lovely garden for you. Get Tips on how to choose the right company.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Rizvana_Manzoor

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Garden Designs: Effective Ways of Creating a Stunning Landscape

No matter you have employed an amateur or a quality professional for designing your Garden; you have to follow the basic Garden design principles. Effective nursery Designs help the homeowners to create a Landscape as per their requirements, goals or desires.

Garden style elements literally consist of heavy Landscape layouts. These layouts include walls, decking areas, paths, water resources or sitting areas. Moreover, different plants have different set of horticultural needs. Their seasonal appearance, growing habit, growing speed and longevity are all vital nursery design elements.

Moreover, as a homeowner, you should always stress on the Garden's upkeep requirements. You must set a budget for the regular upkeep of the Landscape. Your budget will have a big role behind the plant choice. You must select the plants according to its growing speed, self seeding character, growing season, bloom time and a lot of other things.

Before framing the Garden design, you must focus on its use. The specific class and approach are very important for connecting the Landscape to the home or different structures within the surrounding areas. But, all these factors will heavily depend on your budget allocation.

Now, how will your dream Garden look? Effective Landscape Designs will help you to transform your dreams into reality. Innovative ideas, inspiring Designs for front or backyards will help you create a stunning masterpiece. Garden Designs consist of beautiful leaves, plant combinations, red and yellow flowers, vital interior decoration tips and Landscape aesthetics.

As a homeowner, you should always add plants having contrasting colours. Mixing pink, lavender, blue, purple or orange flowers together will certainly help you create a stunning Landscape. If you wish to add wildlife elements (like birds or butterflies) into your Landscape, you have to find some effective ways of attracting them to your nursery. Building a bird house or bird bath will certainly help you to attract the birds easily.

If you are passionate about Gardening, you will have a pulsating sensation during the growing seasons. It is never late to start your Garden designing work if you have a sound knowledge about plants. Choose the plants according to their climatic behaviour. If you are planning the nursery designing project in summer, it is better to opt for annual vegetables or flowers. But, if you do not have enough time, you must grow the plants in small pots or containers. This will help you to showcase your plants to the visitors.

No matter what you grow, never deviate from the basic Garden designing principles. This will certainly help you create a stunning masterpiece at home.

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Landscape Design Ideas For a Truly Relaxing Backyard

For most of us, life is really hectic with families, jobs and homes, taking most of our time. That leaves little time to enjoy outdoors or look for peaceful natural surroundings for relaxation. We generally tend to overlook the possibility of creating such spaces within our homes. Yes, you can create tranquil peaceful areas by designing the landscape in your backyard. Fortunately, there are numerous landscapes designs that help doing just that. Here are some of those:

Rounded Patios

Most people take patios to be rectangular or square for granted. You can find a lot of natural things to have rounded corners. Why not your landscapes? You can greatly enhance the looks of such a patio by including round furniture therein. You may even consider installing a fire pit or water element in its middle. Perhaps, you would like including a petite Zen garden in the middle of the enclosure or around it.

Fire Pits

Landscape designs need not necessarily have just flowers. If you possess more space, installing a suitably sized fire pit is an excellent way of creating warm and comfortable outdoor space. Consider using natural stones in striking shapes and colors. When you are on limited budget, it will be nice using bricks and concrete to get a modern look.

Water

Very few are fortunate enough to have a bubbling stream at the back of their home. However, one can consider having a fountain or small pond. The availability of ponds and fountains in a large range of shapes and sizes encourages their installation in a backyard of any size. If you possess plenty of open space and bigger budget, it may be worthwhile getting installed a petite waterfall along with a bigger pond. Birds could find this arrangement attractive for having an occasional dip and perhaps a quick bite while migrating to different places.

Aromatic Garden

Isn't it great to have backyards with pleasant smell? Yes, we all are receptive to smells. If you intend having a low-priced backyard, you should prefer smell to sight. Along with flowers and other plants, you could include jasmine, lavender and thyme to have an attractive landscape that smells good too.

Hedges

When you posses a bigger area and you have an equally generous budget, you may think on the lines of having bigger trees and shrubs. It's a great idea to include hedges in your backyard, as they create an all natural fencing that enhances your privacy, creating a cocoon for you in the backyard of your own home. Another natural plant that serves almost the same purpose is the bamboos. This quickly growing plant helps creating a warm and appealing space.

Butterfly Gardens

Butterflies are among the most beautiful natural living beings that keep reminding us of regeneration and rebirth. They are simply gorgeous. You can make your place attractive for butterflies by planting easy-on-the-pocket plants like oregano and marigolds. The best thing is that you can create butterfly garden even if you had only small area at your disposal.

We are a landscape design company offering a wide variety of services, from landscape lighting to drainage systems and sprinkler systems repair and installation. Our goal is your satisfaction.. Visit our website for your landscaping Houston projects!

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Landscaping Ideas - How to Make Your Yard Look Like a Little Heaven

 idea where to start? Keep calm and discover the amazing designs that will most surely charm you. Examples can appear out of nowhere. Whether you are driving around the block and notice a fantastic landscape or simply see one in a magazine, various designs are available. You can feel free to visit one of your neighbors and ask them about the way they have arranged their Yard. Did they use professional help or not?
You want to have an amazing landscape, but you have no

Patios

The patios or decks are the most popular ones when it comes to rearranging your Yard. They offer beauty and elegance to your entire landscape design. Not to mention that they can also be extremely useful in terms of functionality. They represent the perfect place to gather around your family and to entertain your friends. You can include a tiny patio in the garden area of your house. This will be the place where you relax and enjoy your coffee in the morning. What better way to drink it than outside, enjoying the first rays of the sun. This is an excellent manner to add great value to your house, increase your equity and surprise your guests with fantastic entertainment.

Fountains and gardens

In today's world, fountains have become extremely popular among gardens and houses. There are different models that will remind you of the traditional values or the modern influences. Whether you opt for traditional or you go with the European air of the villas, the charm of the fountain will hypnotize everyone.

Modern

The modern types of fountains use certain types of stones, rocks or ceramic pots. Their popularity has increased lately in the area of Landscaping. But of course, you can also encounter various others gorgeous and attractive styles that are on the market to satisfy everyone's wishes.

Rock gardens

This type of garden is also starting to get its share of fame. Why? Simply because they are extremely attractive. The only downside to them is that they do not include lots of plants. But the good thing is that they do not require a rigid maintenance, since they do not need to be watered or cleaned of weeds. Practically, any type of other hard labor is pretty much absent here. All you need to do is relax and enjoy the way in which your landscape makes you feel recharged.

English gardens or lawns

The English cottage garden is another cool and inspiring topic for your house or garden. This does not include any formal plan and it's very flexible in design. The whole thing behind this concept is to allow the plants to grow as they please and develop in a natural state. These gardens have their own natural charm because somehow they make their owners feel relaxed and at peace just by exploring them.

And last but not least, there are the green lawns which are probably the most famous elements in the Landscaping plans. They seem to be absolutely normal, and lots of people use them because they offer house owners multiple possibilities. They can spend a lovely afternoon with their family or a crazy night with their friends. And they are also incredibly easy to maintain and to preserve, since they can remain fresh for a long period of time. You won't even have to think about your landscape. All you have to do is enjoy it!

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Design Ideas For Backyard Landscaping

Do you feel like your Backyard could use a makeover? Do you have great space but aren't sure what to do with it? Would you like to extend some of your home elements into the Backyard? If so, then you might want to consider Landscaping your Backyard. There are numerous Ideas and ways to create the yard of your dreams that can be both beautiful and functional. If you want a serene get away or a place for the kids to play, or maybe a little of both, there are some steps you should take to create the yard of your dreams.

Before you do anything, decide how you want the space to be used. Measure the area and realistically decide what you would like to have in that area. If you have a postage stamp size Backyard it would be impossible to create a playground, however you might be able to do a small garden get away. You may not be able to get everything you want into the area, but knowing what the purpose you want to use it for will go a long way in the planning process.

Next look at how much space you have available and what plants or elements you want in your yard. At this point you might want to also take a look at the soil and other elements related to how well certain plants will do. Decide how much sunlight your yard gets, how much rain, and the soil composition. Make sure you choose plants that will thrive in your individual conditions. Sure some plants look great, but if they all die midseason it won't look nearly as nice as you thought it would.

Next sketch out what you want your yard to look like. Have some fun, create mini gardens and walkways. Add in any special shrubs you would like as well as decide what plants you want where. If you want any structures, decide where you want them to go. This could include something as simple as a bench or as intricate as a fountain or covered patio. Remember to use measurements to see how well things will fit and try turning them or placing them at varying angles. Get creative, if you want to add certain plants but won't have room; try making curved areas or elevated plant area. Even container plants can be a great way to incorporate what you want.

Take a look at the existing features. If you have an old cooking pit decide if you want that in your Design or if it can be removed. The same goes with existing trees and shrubs. Keep in mind that it may be impossible to remove some items from your yard and you may have to include them into your Design. If you have a shed or other outdoor building, it is easier to create your Design around these buildings then to try to move them. With some creativity you can fit everything you would like into a great Backyard.

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Landscape Design Tips for Your Garden

If at all you're planning a Landscape Design project there are plenty of factors that you would need to keep in mind and come to a final decision only after you make sure that the Design in your hands is the best that you could come up with.

Landscape Design Tips

The following Tips would surely help you execute your plan well and even more, you would be able to make the right decisions and hence have a beautiful Landscape Garden in your front or backyard.

Does the Design blend with your home?

You need to make sure that the Landscape Design that you've come up with or the Design that you're Landscape Designers came up with are compatible with your home in a sense that it shouldn't stand out and at the same time it should be noticeable.

The colours and shapes that you pick need to go hand in hand. Don't try and pick everything that you could possibly place in your Garden as this would make it seem more like a jungle.

Uniformity in the plants as well

When planning your Garden, you need to make sure that you pick your plants well. See to it that you're Garden doesn't look like a rainbow. Pick your colours and plant plants with leaves and flowers of that particular colour in beds or any other Design that you think would look good.

Do you want to place benches?

If you're planning on walking in your Garden in the evenings and spending time there, you should probably thing of adding a few park benches as well. This would be a great place to spend your evenings after work.

If you've got kids at home make sure that you create a sought of play area too. Usually you wouldn't want them playing and threading on your lawns, so why not create a special spot just for them?

Repetition is good, too much however is bad

It's good to repeat certain Designs through your Garden as this would make it look better and people would notice the Designs. However, if you repeat too much it wouldn't look good. Therefore, every aspect of your Garden should strike a balance if you want it to look beautiful.

Flowers throughout the year

It is flowers that make our Gardens look beautiful and therefore you should make sure that you plant plants that blossom all through the year and therefore there would be at least one colourful spot in your Garden at all times.

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