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Composing the Picture: Taking Stock

© Georgene Bramlage

No matter where you live, you, the homeowner, can spot a down time for your yard. Most world climates have seasonal changes, spring, summer, autumn, and winter that last about three months and bring changes in temperature, precipitation, and/or length of daylight. These down times also change the use and demands of your landscape.

In middle parts of the Northern Hemisphere, warm spring days occur in March, April and May; June, July and August bring hot days and warm nights; and in September, October, and November, autumn days become cooler, leading to the winter cold of December, January and February. In the Southern Hemisphere, seasons reverse and homeowners in places such as Australia and New Zealand experience summer in December, January and February.

Equatorial and polar regions may not experience seasons or temperature changes but those living close to these areas do encounter environmental changes. In parts of the tropics rainfall varies greatly, creating a wet season and a dry season. In areas close to the poles, day lengths vary leading to a light season and a dark season.

I believe that one of these down times is the best time to begin or continue the landscape planning process. At those times, the "bare bones" of a piece of property, or even one of the little gardens that most of us have accumulated, can be seen the best.

Once house and property measurements are recorded in a notebook or on a piece of graph paper for inclusion in a base plan, homeowners can begin to take stock of their own and their family's lifestyles. Conclusions arrived at during this period of fact-finding can be recorded in a notebook, and of course modified when necessary, ready to be included into the master plan.

Launch this period of taking stock by equipping yourself with a loose-leaf notebook and then begin answering these six questions:

1) What do I like in a home landscape, and what do I detest?
2) When will the yard be used?
3) How will the yard be used?
4) Who will use the yard?
5) How much time and money can be allowed for implementing the overall plan?
6) Who will do the work?

Study garden magazines, design books and plant catalogs. Clip pictures and ideas that appeal to you from the magazines and catalogs and copy them from the landscape and horticulture books. Start lists of items you absolutely can't tolerate. Look carefully at yards in your own and surrounding neighborhoods. Invest in a point-and-shoot camera for spontaneous discoveries and observations. If you think a homeowner might be touchy about pictures, ask permission first. This part of taking stock can be ongoing. Just remember to include all of your observations in your notebook.

The copyright of the article Composing the Picture: Taking Stock in Home Landscaping is owned by Georgene Bramlage. Permission to republish Composing the Picture: Taking Stock in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.