A good landscape meets your needs. You can design and invest in an elaborate landscape, but if you can’t find a comfortable place to set up the barbecue and you love to grill, your yard isn’t much good to you. The following sections help you design a landscape that’s perfect for you.

How Long Are You Staying In Your House?

How long you plan to live in your house influences your landscape planning. If you’re only planning to live in your house a couple of years, concentrate on fast-growing trees and shrubs to give you a more powerful effect, sooner. Expensive projects, such as a deck or pool may add to your home’s value, but you may not recoup those costs before you’re ready to move. In general, the shorter your stay, the less complex your landscape plans should be.

How Much Of Your Yard Can You Use?

Most houses are plunked somewhere in the middle of the lot. Though the surrounding areas may vary in size, you almost always have a four-sided landscape — a front yard, a back yard, and two side yards. You may have difficulty overcoming the tradition that back yards are where you actually live, front yards are for show, and side yards are mostly ignored. Instead, make your entire landscape your living area. Using your entire yard allows you to take advantage of different times of the day when one part or another of your landscape is at its best:

• Shield the front yard with walls of greenery or a privacy fence: On weekend afternoons when the rest of the neighborhood is carousing in their back yards, you’ll have the front all to yourself. If you think that’s too bold of a step (and it may well be for your neighborhood), at least you can move some of your ornamental garden beds to the front instead of having a boring, look-good lawn. Be aware that you may need to keep your front yard neat to avoid neighborhood resentment and comply with your local municipality’s ordinances. If you’re inspired to plant a prairie or a naturalistic woodland out front, talk to your neighbors first (and call your local government) so that they know what you’re doing. Keep well-groomed paths so that the landscape looks guided instead of frighteningly wild.
• Back yards are usually safest for children’s play areas: If you’re a veggie grower with kids, put your garden near the play area, so that you can keep one eye on them while you weed the zukes. You don’t have to relegate vegetable patches to the back yard — put them wherever the light, soil, and convenience are best. A well-tended patch, planted in an interesting design of diagonals or squares with vegetables that are interspersed with flowers and herbs, has a lot of curb appeal. (Keep in mind that vegetable gardens definitely have an off-season that is less attractive.)
• Give yourself reason to linger in your side yard: Place a hammock or move a table and chair to the area. A sunny side yard can be the perfect place for a strawberry patch or a row of raspberries. You can also make your side yard a destination by adding surprises — a whimsical garden ornament, a small garden pool, or a dollhouse — to it.

How Are You Going To Use Your Yard?

Customize your landscape to your life by developing a landscaping wish list. Following are a few suggestions for your personal list:

• Cut fresh flowers.
• Entertain guests, play sports, and watch kids play.
• Grow vegetables and herbs. Click here for more on this topic
• Swim in a pool, soak in a spa, or watch fish in a small pond.
• Compost lawn clippings, raked leaves, and kitchen scraps.  ....read more