In The Homebuilding Industry,

A source of much gardening frustration is that beautiful flowering plant that looked so nice at the nursery, but never took hold at home.Since the same planning oversights seem to happen over and over again, I've enlisted the help of Jeff Davis of Scioto Landscaping in coming up with the following list of common outdoor living space mistakes - and how to avoid them.Solution: Start with a rule of thumb - for a new house, it takes a landscape budget of about 10% of the cost of the construction of the home to install a fully developed outdoor environment. The key is planning, and that's where a design professional can be a valuable partner in helping prevent costly blunders.Solution: Your ability to visualize creative solutions is limited by your experience.Solution: Arrange all of the table, chairs, benches, or other furniture on the ground first, and then plan the space around them. Build the decks and patios now and add the plantings later. You'll be surprised by the variety of creative solutions you'll find. Ask your landscape professional for tours of projects similar to yours. Even if the design evolves as it's executed, a clear road map will assure that a consistent character is maintained throughout. Like any other design project, a good landscape considers the entire environment. You'll get much more enjoyment from smaller areas of high quality than you will from cheap work spread over the whole landscape. But in the rush to get something started, good planning and design can be left behind. Determine which parts of the landscape are the most permanent and implement those projects first.Problem #1: Lack of an overall landscaping plan.Problem #5: All available options not considered. Like birds returning from warmer climes, they suddenly appear in front of homes throughout the neighborhood and get everyone to wondering "what is going on over there?"Spring is the time for home improvement projects to move outside.Problem #3: New plants are not thriving. A chaotic and disconnected landscape is the result if a coherent plan isn't prepared up front. Plantscaping work doesn't require a building permit, and there are endless resources available to help with the design and construction of decks, patios, pergolas, and screened porches. Many common plants are very sensitive to the amount of light and water they receive, and to the quality of the soil.In the homebuilding industry, the first sign of Spring is the sighting of the landscaping trucks.Problem #2: Decks and patios are undersized. Go to backyard garden tours, walk public gardens, hit the home and garden shows, and visit your local library.Solution: Start with an overall plan for the whole environment - including what not to do and where not to do it - and implement it in stages as time and budget permit.. Too many amateur landscapers choose plants strictly on looks without giving proper consideration to suitability. Just seeing a wide variety of landscape designs can open your eyes to new possibilities for your yard. It isn't uncommon to see a landscape begin with one style in the front yard, and finish with a completely different style by the time the work gets around to the back. Plan several smaller, connected areas for each outdoor activity or furniture arrangement and use a variety of materials; combine a wood deck with a brick patio, for example. A deck or patio may seem quite large when it's laid out and built, but it's often too small once tables and chairs are in place. A sense of scale is hard to grasp without the familiar architectural landmarks of walls, doors, and furniture..