The Golden State: Where & How to Live, Secure, Visit, Enjoy and Thrive in California

Small Home Landscaping

To fit these plants into their proper places, as well as to get the right effect, you need a plan. But a plan will do more. It will cut the cost of landscaping, result in a better arrangement of space and, above all, it will reduce the labor of maintenance. The latter fact alone will far outweigh the time spent in planning. In all successful landscaping the plan must come before the planting.

Your house was planned or it couldn't have been built. It was planned for rest, relaxation, livability. Plan your garden for livability, too. You probably never thought of that. But this is the simplest way to plan a garden. In planning for livability, the house becomes the central part of the scheme and the garden becomes an out-ward extension of the interior of the house, just as if you step from one living room into another. The porch or terrace becomes the connecting link between the house and garden. Then, just as in the house, the different parts of the garden are arranged for ease and convenience. True, the space is larger; it is exposed to the elements and the seasonal changes. But it is due to these that a garden has changing beauty and interest throughout the year. You do the planning and planting. Nature does the changing.

The materials, too, are different. Tables and chairs don't grow or move. That's what most people forget. The cute little 2 ft. plants you buy at the nursery will not stay at 2 ft. They'll grow up and out, hiding windows, crowding the door and giving you a shower when they get wet. They'll sprawl over the fence into the neighbors'yard and scratch the fenders of the auto as you drive into the garage.