Layer your flower borders in three rows: a back row (facing north, preferably) with the tallest plants, a middle row with the next tallest, and a front row composed of your shortest plants. Use repetition, both in the planting bed and elsewhere in your yard, to provide unity.
Year around interest: Do-it-yourself landscaping for four-season interest begins with a well-researched plant-selection plan. The goal is to have flowering trees and/or shrubs throughout spring and summer, fall foliage in autumn, and good structure in winter. This article describes how to achieve that goal.
Incorporate Hardscape: Don’t restrict your do-it-yourself landscaping to plants. Include hardscape features, too. Walls and fences make an essential design statement, as they frame your property. Decks and arbors are other important hardscape features. Patios and decks provide transitions from indoors to outdoors.
Install water features: Good landscape designs are anchored by focal points. One of the hottest trends is to use water features as focal points. Using pre-formed rigid plastic liners, durable pumps, flexible tubing, and cheap fountains, they’re also a lot easier to install than you think.
