When choosing and setting out plants in the front yard or any landscaping for that matter, you need to consider more than just how things will look. You should also consider other factors such as sun or shade, duration of sun or shade, soil type, purpose, the elements, and what specific plants will require or do in the future. There are also a other considerations such as how close to plant to the home and its foundation.
When setting out plants in the front yard, place small shrubs and bushes 4 to 6 feet away from the home. If set closer than this, they could be deprived of sunlight or rain because of a wide overhang from the roof. They could also get fried from intense heat reflecting off of the wall. Placed away from the home in a wider staggered row rather than a narrow row, they also add a 3d effect to the landscape that makes the home seem more substantial.
Another consideration that most folks don’t think of is the long term effects of planting around the foundation of the home.
Keep in mind the space that plants and their roots will occupy at maturity. Roots are a powerful force that can find their way through rock. They also don’t seem to have much trouble with foundations.
Most plants, of course, require water. Watering, and especially flooding plants and beds around foundations creates a potential for a damaged foundation. This doesn’t always happen but it does happen. If you’re going to have plants close to the home, spot watering individual plants, a drip system, or even a low profile spray is safer than flooding the entire area.
Lime leach from concrete is a problem that I see quite often. It’s such a common problem because it takes a long time to show up. Over time, lime leaches out of the concrete into the soil causing the soil to become alkaline. If the ph of the soil gets too high, plants will start to look sick and yellow. Usually, keeping the beds tilled with a lot of organic matter will buffer and prevent this problem. Adding sulfur and organics to beds that are already affected will help turn the problem around.
The main thing to keep in mind when setting out landscaping plants, along with how they’ll look, is what they will do in the future. Whether it’s front yard landscaping, backyard landscaping, or any other part of your landscape, keeping these main points in mind could possibly save you a lot of frustration and money in the future.
Written by Steve Boulden. Steve is the creator of The Landscape Design Site which offers free landscaping ideas to do it yourselfers. For more front yard landscaping ideas, visit his site at http://www.the-landscape-design-site.com.
Front Yard Landscaping Lessons - Driveway Access Ideas
To create inviting, attractive, and easy entryway to your home and property, functionality of the landscape should be your first concern. Plants and other elements should be secondary concerns. And since the main function of front yard landscaping is generally access to the home, our first design focus would be how and where are we going to enter and exit our homes.
To what extent you can plan landscaping the front yard may be limited by some factors that you can’t control. The size of your lot, how your home faces the street, and property lines can all be limiting factors. Careful planning and consideration of these factors will help you reach a medium of functionality and beauty in the front.
I know that this seems basic and obvious but many times folks simply just don’t know where to start or go with their design. So as a starting point, by first laying out your needed access paths, you could possibly be laying out the framework of your entire design. Not only will laying out these areas take up a lot of space, but it will also create shape, areas to design around, and a visual direction for your ideas.
Usually, the most dominant access use in the front yard is for vehicles and parking. So we’ll determine where we and our guests are going to park, drive, and turn around. Also, we’ll decide where our walkways, sidewalks, and paths will lead from these areas to the home.
Your driveway should not only lead to entry points but should also allow for off street parking. The entrance of the driveway should be wide enough to comfortably drive in and out of. It may be desirable to also have a way to turn around inside the driveway. Having a turn around area is an added safety factor to keep from having to blindly back out onto busy streets.
If you have enough space, a circular drive is usually the best access to entries along with the safety factor of drive through. It also provides an opportunity for creativity as you can create some design on the inside of the outer circle of the driveway.
If a complete semi-circle drive isn’t possible, you may have room for a regular drive with a simple cutout addition. This cutout can also be used as additional parking when needed. It doesn’t need to be paved or even the sam material as the rest of the drive as it won’t receive the same amount of use as the rest of the drive.
Simply widening the driveway in an area can provide additional parking as well as enough room to turn around. Again, this area doesn’t have to be totally improved. It just has to drain well and support the weight of a vehicle.
By first addressing your vehicle access to your home, you’ll be taking care of a large portion of the front yard design. Then by adding sidewalks and other foot access from driveways to the home, you’ll possibly have the entire framework of your front yard landscaping created. And then deciding on secondary design elements such as plants and ground covers will be a much smaller task and much easier to visualize.
Written by Steve Boulden. Steve is the creator of The Landscape Design Site which provides free landscaping ideas to do it yourselfers. For more front yard landscaping pictures, visit his site at http://www.the-landscape-design-site.com.
The Salvation Army at Christmas
The Red Kettle campaign, first started in San Francisco in 1891, has traditionally been The Salvation Army's most prominent fund-raiser. In 2004, the kettles raised over $100 million in communities nationwide, with the nickels, dimes, quarters and dollars all remaining in the towns where the money was deposited into the kettles.
The funds the Salvation Army raises goes towards supporting:
* Drug abuse treatment and many other social service needs.
* Many of the 37 million people in poverty
* Senior and child care
* The Army gives food and toys at Christmas
* Utility and homeless assistance
From its humble beginnings as a fundraiser started by a Salvation Army captain in San Francisco in 1891, the Red Kettle Campaign has grown into one of the most recognizable and important charity drives in the United states.
As part of the campaign:
* Last year, the funds helped the Salvation Army provide assistance to more than 31 million Americans in need.
* More than 25,000 Salvation Army volunteers ring bells and solicit spare change donations to the iconic red kettles
* Holiday shoppers in 2005 contributed a record $111 million nationwide with nickels, dimes, quarters and dollars
The history of the Salvation Army began with a man named William Booth, who was an ordained Methodist minister, aided by his wife Catherine, and formed an evangelical group dedicated to preaching among the "un churched" people living in the midst of appalling poverty in London's East End. Booth's ministry recognized the interdependence of material, emotional and spiritual needs. In addition to preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, Booth became involved in the feeding and shelter of the hungry and homeless and in rehabilitation of alcoholics and ended up building one of the world's largest charity organizations.
Booth and his followers, originally known as The Christian Mission, became The Salvation Army in 1878, when that organization evolved on a quasi-military pattern. Booth was known as "the General" and officers' ranks were given to his ministers. The Salvation Army has functioned successfully within that unique structure for more than one hundred years. As of 2006, its outreach has been expanded to more than 100 countries and is able to help the less fortunate and those in need all over the world.
Alex consults for a model shop offering pedal cars for kids and very realistic model cars. Alex is a car lover.
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