The Golden State: Where & How to Live, Secure, Visit, Enjoy and Thrive in California
Improve Your Home Landscaping
Garden books are filled with formal plans for perfect gardens and grounds, but you will want to consider not the perfect garden in itself, but the one plan that will be perfect for your particular family. Analyze your family, its needs and habits; then design your grounds to best satisfy its prejudices, desires and demands.
The thing to do is hold a family council and talk over what you want to do. Of course, you will be governed by questions of cost and available space. Draw a plan of your property in fairly large scale about 1/4 inch to the foot. Now make a list of the things the family wants, such as a barbecue, tool house, drying yard, rock garden, fences, playhouse, badminton court, better lounging facilities.
Unless you are fortunate and have spacious grounds, you probably won't be able to work everything into your program—but with planning, you can do things gradually. You can plan your garden so that it never looks bare and yet is always roomy enough for the additions you intend to make in the future. And some projects will serve more than one function. For example, if you need a driveway and have young children, a blacktop that can be used for hopscotch and bicycle riding will serve a double purpose, and easily justify its cost. Or a fence that cuts off an unpleasant view can also act as a windbreak and a handsome background for a lounging area. A retaining wall can double as a rock garden when planted with hardy dwarf shrubs and other rock-garden species.
Generally, most grounds are divided in three ways: the public area, the area that can be seen from the street; the service area, which includes garage and parking facilities, delivery facilities, clothes-drying equipment, outside storage space and garbage disposal; and the private area, located in the rear of the house. Here is your back yard, available for games and lounging; a terrace or outdoor dining area; the children's playground and a garden with flowers, fruits, vegetables, walks and, perhaps, pool.
