Landscape Gardening

Landscape gardening is basically the design style characteristic of the English gardens dating back to eighteenth century, particularly with the work of Lancelot 'Capability' Brown. It became popular in the nineteenth century when the classical style emphasizing meandering curves and clumps had become old-fashioned. Garden contractors started using the term 'landscape gardener', in the twentieth century.

Landscape gardening is concerned with the following:

• Preparation of plans and drawings and scheduling landscape construction.

• Preparation of specifications and quotations.

• Arranging areas for landscape gardening.

• Analysis of gardening sites and clearing debris for landscape gardening.

• Estimation and ordering of landscaping materials.

• Selecting the plants and materials needed to create landscapes.

• Setting out and installing 'hardscape' (e.g. brick and stone walls and paths, timber features) and 'softscape' (plantings) structures.

• Constructing and decorating steps and garden walls. Landscape gardening also involves construction of fences, trellises, pergolas, ponds and fountains.

• Construction and installation of equipment like ferneries and barbecues. Some of the interesting things that you may install include play structures and garden furniture.

• Creating various paths, steps and paved areas. They can be constructed using paving materials, gravel and timber.

• Performing 'formative' (shaping) pruning.

• Maintaining and repairing gardening equipment.

Landscape gardening provides solutions for maintaining parks, playgrounds, etc.
Personal gardens can also be designed using landscape designing. The designer can work on horticulture, water, outdoor play/education for children, storage, ornamental features, recreation, entertaining, wildlife, lifestyle, security/privacy and a lot of other options while doing landscape gardening. These main categories will help the landscape gardener focus on the detail when he actually gets round to designing his own garden.

Greenhouses can also be built using landscape gardening and they can be included inside the garden together with a cold-frame. Furthermore, the landscape gardener or planner can include ornamental horticulture such as fancy home grown vegetables, herbs, fruit trees, bushes, etc.

Entertaining features are a part of landscape gardening as well. BBQ area, a seating/dining area, space on the lawn for activities are all entertainment options that can be included in personal gardens. These entertainment facilities differ according to the requirement of the business or the individual who owns the garden.

Proper planning must be done to ensure that each and every landscape gardening option has a proper space. Landscape gardening helps the gardener explore endless possibilities. For instance, if there is no room for the fruit trees, then perhaps during landscape gardening, the planner could grow fan-trained specimens along a fence, or as a division between two parts of the garden - trained along horizontal wires or perhaps as a dwarf tree in a large patio pot. The greenhouse can be used to raise bedding plants.

In landscape gardening, the gardener must be aware of the prevalent trends so that he can design the landscape accordingly and the requirement of the actual garden owner can be fulfilled. Landscape garden planning should be made flexible and it should be designed in such a way that it will save a fair degree of space and mess and be picturesque at the same time.

Landscape gardening can best serve the individual who’s designing his own landscape, such as setting up his own personal garden. He can make it romantic when designing his own garden, since he is 'living' in the area that he wants to design!