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Thinking through what you want to be able to do in your landscape, maintenance, and how to have a positive effect on the environment really helps guide the rest of your project toward a long-lasting and beautiful landscape.

The Sustainable Urban Landscape Information Series (SULIS) is a collection of advice and how-to articles on landscape design, plant selection, implementation and maintenance. These articles form a curriculum for landscape designers as well as easy-to-follow instructions for home landscapers.

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Landscape professionals typically have a degree in landscape design or a related area, or are licensed as a landscape architect. Some garden centers offer full service landscape design, implementation and maintenance services.

While Master Gardeners are volunteers and not allowed to accept payment or work on private properties as part of their volunteer hours, some are professional gardeners, designers or landscape architects by trade. A county program may have a website or newsletter for volunteers where job postings can be published. You can send a job description for your landscaping project to the Extension Master Gardener program in your county.

To reach students looking for seasonal work or alumni in the landscape business, post a job description on GoldPass: Job, Internship and Volunteer Listings. GoldPASS is the U of M's online database to help connect students and alumni with employers, volunteer organizations and internships across the country. Posting is free, easy to do, and open to anyone.

This helpful tool, which was created by AD editors, is an open-access list of AD-approved architects, interior designers, and importantly, landscape specialists. Homeowners or anyone seeking design talent can search the online platform by profession and location to find the perfect horticulture professional and hire a landscape designer for their next project.

A good landscape design includes hardscape and softscape elements. Hardscape elements are non-living items such as rocks, walls, patios, arbors, or water features. Softscape refers to the living elements, such as gardens, lawns, shrubs, and trees.

When designing a residential landscape, the most important step is to put a plan on paper. Developing a master plan will save you time and money and is more likely to result in a successful design. A master plan is developed through the 'design process': a step-by-step method that considers the environmental conditions, your desires, and the elements and principles of design. The goal is to organize the natural and man-made features in your yard into an aesthetic, functional, and environmentally sustainable landscape.

The five steps of the design process include: 1) conducting a site inventory and analysis, 2) determining your needs, 3) creating functional diagrams, 4) developing conceptual design plans, and 5) drawing a final design plan. The first three steps establish the aesthetic, functional, and horticultural requirements for the design. The last two steps then apply those requirements to the creation of the final landscape plan.

It is essential to note all the existing conditions on an accurate base map when doing the site inventory (Figure 2). Utilities such as power lines, septic tanks, underground utilities and roof overhangs determine plant location. Use a surveyor's plat of your property for the boundaries and location of your home. Measure and note on the survey other structures and hardscape such as patios, driveways, or sidewalks. It is very important to hire a surveyor if you do not have a plat; guessing the location of boundaries can be a costly mistake.

There are many different landscape design themes- from simple to complex, but it is helpful to choose one to guide your plant and material selection. Think of a theme as the inspiration for your garden. Many people find it helpful to look in gardening magazines and books for ideas. This is a good start, but be aware that the gardens in the photos were picked because they are outstanding examples. Look at the photos with a critical eye to gather ideas that you can adapt to your passion level, your budget and your site. Before choosing a theme it is important to look at the surrounding views of your property. Decide if you want to open your yard, close your yard, or a little of both, to these views. In other words, do you want the garden to enclose the space around you and relate mostly to the house, or do you want the garden to open views and look outward, relating to the surroundings? This will give you a starting point to think about a theme. Care should be taken to choose appropriate themes for your yard based on the architecture, the type of neighborhood, the topography, and the regional landscapes. This is called "sense of place", which means it fits with the surroundings.

There are both form themes and style themes. Every garden should have a form theme, but not all gardens have a style theme. In fact, many residential gardens have no particular style except to blend with the house by repeating details from the architecture such as materials, color, and form. All gardens, however, should use a form theme to create spaces for activities. In a form theme the organization and shape of the spaces in the yard is based either on the shape of the house, the shape of the areas between the house and the property boundaries, or a favorite shape of the homeowner. The form theme determines the shape and organization (the layout) of the spaces and the links between them.

Because architectural styles typically fall into a formal or informal category, the landscape theme tends to be either formal or informal (Figure 6). Formal architectural and garden styles that can be used for inspiration include French, Spanish, Italian, and Middle Eastern. Less formal designs include Oriental, English, and American. Style themes can also apply to the planting plan and may include tropical, desert, meadow, woodland, marsh, or coastal plantings. Themes can be as simple as a color mix or plants with a distinct character- such as grasses-used repeatedly in the composition.

The yard is an extension of the home where a variety of activities take place. A yard can generally be divided into three areas: public (the front yard), private (the back yard), and service (typically the side yard). The location of activity areas depends primarily on the type of area, the size of space needed, the type of activity, and the desired proximity to other activities and structures. A few examples of spaces include the front entry area that brings you and your visitors to your home, a cooking/eating/entertaining area (patio or deck), a play area, a dog run, a secret garden/relaxation area, a vegetable garden or hobby area, and a trash/compost/work area.

Pedestrian circulation in the landscape should move people through the yard and provide organizational structure. Outdoor rooms are typically linked by pathways, steps, and walkways, or openings with gates or arbors that encourage exploration and use of the entire yard (Figure 8). These spaces can also be linked by visual features such as a creek bed (wet or dry) that meanders through or beside several spaces, or a garden wall that begins at a patio, moves along a turf area and ends along a planted area.

Using similar hardscape features and repeating plants pulls the eye around the garden. Important points along the way can be emphasized with plantings or features that draw attention and encourage movement in a particular direction. Moving along the path takes a person from one area to the next and allows the user to have a variety of experiences. In an informal garden the curves and bends of the path should partially conceal what lies ahead. This provides a sense of mystery that promotes exploration and discovery of the landscape.

From a design perspective, plant materials have three major functions in the landscape: aesthetic, structural and utilitarian. Aesthetically, plants create a visually pleasant environment and structurally plants organize and define spaces. Plants are utilitarian because they can transform the environment for the comfort of the user by modifying light, temperature and humidity. Plants can also be used to control noise and odor, and provide food for homeowners and wildlife.

For structure and utility, trees and large to medium shrubs are the most important plants in the landscape, they contribute the most to microclimates (Figure 10), spatial organization, and security concerns. The size, form and texture (density) are the three dominant characteristics that determine how the plant can be used to make more pleasant microclimates and create a more functional, organized, energy efficient yard.

Important points in the garden should be highlighted by the use of unique plants, distinct structures, or garden ornaments. Marking thresholds or entrances to spaces can be done with gates, arbors, and steps, or through the use of unique and colorful plants. The form and/or style theme of the garden will often help determine the important points and how they should be highlighted. Some styles have signature elements, such as a type of statuary or water feature, that are the hallmark of the style. Other important places in the yard are focal points, which is used to visually organize a landscaped area. The type of focal point often depends on the viewing perspective. Different perspectives or viewpoints can reveal different compositions in the landscape that may require a variety of focal points. Contrasting texture, shape, size and color will capture and hold the eye.

Detail in the landscape is derived from the visual quality of plants, hardscape, and garden ornaments. Sensual qualities such as scent, sound, and touch also add detail to the landscape. Various combinations of form, color, texture, and size create aesthetic qualities. Plants come in various forms-such as round, columnar, weeping, and spreading, that compliment or contrast with each other depending on how similar or different they are (Figure 13). Form is the most enduring quality of a plant and thus the most important characteristic. ff782bc1db