7 deadly sins of landscapings

Taken from msn:



7 deadly landscaping sins
From unnaturally geometric bushes to skimpy garden beds, our experts save you from your worst landscaping transgressions.By Christopher Solomon

Hey, Joe Homeowner: Drop that rake and fall to your knees like the sinner you are.

We asked a half-dozen certified landscape designers with the Association of Professional Landscape Designers what crimes against nature they regularly witness in neighborhood yards. And while everyone has his own pet peeves, a clear consensus emerged in the responses.

Call them the seven deadly landscaping sins. Don't be surprised if your home is guilty of more than one of the offenses, but fear not. For every transgression, our experts shared at least one way to atone.

Sin No. 1: The meatball shrub"One of the things that drives me crazy is the pruning of shrubs into boxes, balls, squares, triangles and rectangles," says Bobbie Schwartz, owner of Bobbie's Green Thumb in Shaker Heights, Ohio and author of "The Design Puzzle: Putting the Pieces Together" These giant blocks and spheres -- designer Rhonda Smith calls it the "meatball look" -- often occur close to the house. "That's why a lot of houses look like fortresses," says Schwartz, who lectures nationally on landscape design. "You can't see the windows, you can't find the doors. It makes for a very unwelcoming exterior."

How to atone: "I really think the trend is toward very natural, ecological landscapes," Schwartz says, echoing several designers. Sometimes large shrubs are aggressively manicured because they're simply too large for where they've been placed and they need to be removed, says Smith, owner of Exteriors in Merrimac, Mass.

But depending on the plant and its location, you may be able to let a shrub simply grow out and prune it more naturally, Smith says. Inexperienced homeowners usually just cut the newest growth on a bush to tame it. But instead, try taking out perhaps one third (at most) of the older wood in a lilac or other quickly growing plant, which allows the newer wood to be the dominant part of the plant and lets it grow in a more organic form.

If you're not an experienced gardener, and don't want to learn, don't expect a standard "mow and blow" company to do this for you, says Deanna Glory, of Deanna Glory Landscape Design in the San Francisco Bay area. Invest in a true gardening service -- or expect more meatballs. Sin No. 2: Marching flowers"Soldiering" -- the act of running single plants or flowers in a file beside a sidewalk or driveway -- is "out of fashion," says Mary Donovan, owner of Donovan Design in the Atlanta area. Why? It looks odd and unnatural to have a single flower occurring by itself -- and nature doesn't work in strict rows, anyway.

How to atone: "Now we plant in mass groupings, more like nature does," says Donovan. "Bunched together, in a bouquet effect, that attracts the eye." Shrubs, annuals, perennials -- everything can work this way. To accommodate this, beds can often break from the linear mold, too, and be more rounded and shapely.

"The only time you want 'one-sies,'" Donovan says, is with "a specimen plant. And that's usually a tree. You want it to stand out all by itself."

Sin No. 3: Dyed mulch "When I'm driving around, the first thing I react to is those new, strongly colored mulches, because the eye is drawn to those first, not the plants first," Donovan says about the reddish-orange, dyed mulch that has grown popular in the past five to seven years. "It really can stick out in the landscape. It doesn't look natural."

How to atone: Stick to natural mulch, and take your color cues from the natural ground materials of the area in which you live, Donovan says. For example, in the South, she suggests using pine nuggets, or chewed-up pieces of pine bark, or pine straw. "The landscaping is meant to do two things: one is to anchor the man-made structure to the land and the other is complement it," she reminds. "Mulch should be forgotten. It should not come forward to the eye."

Sin No. 4: Too much -- of everything Just as many people clutter the inside of their houses, they clutter the landscaping with too much stuff in too many hues. "In their attempt to beautify they don't know what to choose, and so they impulse buy," says designer Smith. "And they do this potpourri of everything."

The upshot? "They'll get this hodgepodge effect," says Donovan, who sees it often. But using lots of colors all over the place "produces chaos," she says. "That's too busy for the eye. It's like wearing too much jewelry." And often all of the colors don't complement the home -- one of landscaping's chief goals.

How to atone: First, don't be scattershot. "I think one of the top things that people need to remember is to keep it simple," Smith says. "Buy five, seven, 11 of something, and combine it with another plant" and you'll get a lot more visual bang for your buck.

A very effective way to create unity with color is to use a monochromatic scheme -- that is, a scheme in which everything is related to one color, Donovan says. For instance, "You could work in the purple family -- purples and plums and lavenders." Some plants that would work in that scheme: loropetalum, an evergreen shrub with burgundy-colored leaves; camellias; clematis; Japanese maple; and Knockout Rose, a soft blue-red rose that's disease resistant and is very popular in the South right now, Donovan says.

Want a little more color? Donovan recommends a simple complementary color scheme: using two colors that are opposite each other on the color wheel, such as purple and yellow, for instance. "And you can always mix white in," she says.

Sin No. 5: Bad proportions Many homeowners don't have a good sense of what fits in their landscaping. In many cases, "People use things that are too small," says Daniel Lowery, a garden designer, consultant and owner of Queen Anne Gardens in Seattle. "It could be everything from trees, to shrubs, to containers."
Designer Smith recalls not long ago seeing, in front of a home and its large expanse of lawn, a prominent lamppost "with this teeny, tiny lamp at the top of the post."

Often, when people plant trees in their yards they make small islands -- too small -- that at 3 or 4 feet wide look adrift in the yard, with single flowers like polka dots, says Patrick Bones, owner of Brighton Landscape & Design in Tulsa, Okla. "For lack of a better professional word, it just looks twinky," says Bones, who is president-elect of the Association of Professional Landscape Designers.

Proportion cuts both ways. Recently, Bones saw in mid-town Tulsa, home to many old oil barons' mansions, a yard in which a landscaper had had plopped down giant landscaping boulders and a water feature. "It looks terrible. It's too bad, because they spent so much money," Bones says. "Those are the ones where I drive by and I just want to cry." Proportionality extends to keeping a home somewhat in the realm of the neighborhood's aesthetic, Bones believes.

How to atone:• Trees: "Houses are big, and trees should be bigger than houses," pronounces Lowery. "A small tree is 20 feet tall." Plant a tree that will mature into a grand addition, he suggests. "It's better to plant a younger tree. It's easier and less expensive, and there's a higher success rate."
• Pots and containers: "Containers, decorative pots, less than 24 inches tall and in diameter are a waste of money," Lowery says. "One or two big containers are much more dramatic than several 'wiener' pots," he says. Pots smaller than that look too small against the house and aren't good for plants anyway. "If someone's looking for compliments," he adds, "they'll get an 'oooh' out of a big pot; they won't get a compliment out of a little pot."
• Islands: If you've got a mid-yard island, expand its area threefold, and give those single plants some company, Bones suggests.
• Picture it: Wondering whether that lamp or fountain will work in front of your home? Don't guess; bring a picture of your house to the store, the experts advise.

Sin No. 6: Skinny sidewalks "Another one that drives me crazy is the narrow, 'contractor' sidewalk," says Schwartz, referring to the standard-issue residential sidewalk usually installed by a contractor when the home is built. That sidewalk is only wide enough for one person, shoots straight off the driveway and usually leaves room for only a narrow planting bed between sidewalk and house.
"Layering," the important work of placing two to three different groupings of plants of different heights and textures, can't be done in such a cramped space. A frustrated homeowner usually resorts to passé soldiering, Schwartz says.

In addition, says designer Glory, a concrete slab is invariably drab and excruciatingly boring: "It looks unfinished."

How to atone: Schwartz recommends widening, and meandering, the approach to your home. "It should be welcoming, it should be enjoyable, it could even be an adventure, depending on how it's designed and planted," she says.

The material itself needs to be spiced up, too, Glory says. "There's so much fun stuff you can do with concrete these days." Colors can be mixed into it (integral concrete); acid staining can give an old world look; and stamping can give concrete the very realistic look of stone, for example.

Sin No. 7: House-hugging plants and their bad beds "Most homeowners plant way too close to their home," Bones says. "It's like pieces of furniture pushed up against the wall." One reason for this may be that homeowners confine themselves to the shallow beds that surround most suburban homes. To landscape designers, these beds – installed for reasons of haste and expense by contractors -- are like fingernails on a chalkboard. "In a lot of homes the beds look like Band-Aids, instead of skirts" that would flatter the edifice, Schwartz says. And when homeowners jam plants and shrubs into them, they're overcrowded to boot.

How to atone: First, deepen those beds. A general rule of thumb is to extend planting beds adjacent to a house out about one- or two-thirds of the house's height at that location. When you're in the home you should be able to see out into the beds, Smith says.

Next, "You need to pull the shrubs away from the wall,” Bones says. You should be able to walk between your plants and your wall. If you do opt for foundation plants, plant a dwarf variety that will not grow too large and intrude upon the house, Smith suggests.
And if you’ve got existing gigantic plants that are smothering your windows? Consider the hatchet. "We're doing one today," says designer Bones. "Ripping everything out that the builder put in."

Finally, get away from the everyday, suggests Schwartz. "I hate normal foundation plantings," she says of the ho-hum evergreens and hostas that everyone uses.
Add textural contrast to give your home's exterior an updated look, she says. Think trees with interesting leaves such as sweet gum and acanthus, for example. "What you want is the contrast, so that all the leaves don't look the same." Schwartz says. "I would add ornamental grasses, I would add flowering deciduous shrubs, I would add perennials."

One final piece of adviceDraw up a plan before remodeling your home's landscape, so the final result will have a unity and coherence to it, and you can tackle pieces one at a time.
Tackle a plan yourself, or consider hiring a landscape designer. Cost of a plan from a designer ranges, depending on region and on the scale, from about $500 to $750 in the South to $1,000 to $2,500 in the Northeast. .

list of deer resistant plants

List of Deer resistant plants
Scientific Name
Abelia x grandiflora
Abies
Abies balsamea
Acer griseurn
Acer palmatum
Acer pensylvanicum
Acer platanoides
Acer rubrum
Acer saccharinum
Acer saccharum
Achillea
Achillea filipendulina
Achillea millefolium
Aconitum
Acorus gramineus
Acsculus arguta
Acuba japonica
Aegopodium podagaria
Aesculus parviflora
Aesculus x carnea
Agapanthus
Agapanthus africanus
Agastache foeniculum
Agave americana
Ageratum
Ageratum houstonianum
Ajuga reptans
Albizia julibrissin
Alchemilla
Allium
Allium christophii
Allium neapolitanum
Allium ostrowskianum
Aloe
Alyssum
Amaryllis
Amelanchier arborea
Amelanchier canadensis
Amelanchier laevis
Amorpha canescens
Anchusa
Andromeda polifolia
Andropogon gerardii
Anemone x hybrida
Anemonella thalictroides
Anethum graveolens
Anisacanthus wrightii
Antirrhinum majus
Aquilegia
Arabis
Arabis caucasica
Aralia spinosa
Arctostaphylos uva-ursi
Arelia sieboldii
Arisaema triphylum
Armeria maritima
Armoracia rusticana
Aronia arbutifolia
Arrhenatherum elatius
Artemisia
Artemisia dracunculus
Artemisia schmidtiana
Artemisia tridentata
Arundo donax
Asarum canadense
Asarum europaeum
Asclepias incarnata
Asclepias tuberosa
Asimina triloba
Asparagus officinalis
Aspidistra lurida
Aster
Astilbe
Athyrium filix-femina
Aubrieta deltoidea
Aucuba japonica
Aurinia saxatilis
Bambusa
Baptisia australis
Baptisia tinctoria
Beaucarnea recurvata
Begonia
Begonia semperflorens
Berberis
Berberis koreana
Berberis thunbergii
Berberis trifoliolata
Bergenia
Bergenia cordifolia
Betula albo-sinensis
Betula jacquemontii
Betula lutea
Betula nigra
Betula nigra 'Heritage'
Betula papyrifera
Betula pendula
Bignonia capreolata
Boltonia asteroides
Borage officinalis
Brugmansia
Brunnera macrophylla
Buddleia davidii
Buxus
Buxus microphylla
Buxus sempervirens
Cactaceae
Calamagrostis acutiflora
Calamintha
Calendula officinalis
Callicarpa americana
Calluna vulgaris
Calycanthus floridus
Calycanthus occidentalis
Camassia leichtlini
Canna x generalis
Caragana arborescens
Caragana aurantiaca
Caragana frutex
Caragana maximowicziana
Caragana pekinensis
Carex
Carex pendula
Caryopteris clandonensis
Catharanthus alba rosea
Catharanthus rosea
Ceanothus velutinus
Cedrus deodara
Celastrus
Celastrus scandens
Celosia
Centaurea cineraria
Centaurea cyanus
Cephalotaxus
Cephalotaxus harringtonia
Cerastium
Ceratostigma plumbaginoides
Cercidiphyllum japonicum
Chaenomeles japonica
Chaenomeles speciosa
Chamaecyparis obtusa
Chamaecyparis pisifera
Chamaerops humilis
Chasmanthium latifolium
Cheiranthus
Chilopsis linearis
Chionanthus retusus
Choisya ternata
Chrysanthemum maximum
Chrysanthemum parthenium
Cimicifuga racemosa
Clematis
Cleome hasslerana
Clerodendrum fargesii
Clethra alnifolia
Colchicum autumnale
Colchicum speciosum
Colocasia esculenta
Consolida ambigua
Convallaria majalis
Coprosma repens
Cordyline australis
Coreopsis
Coreopsis lanceolata
Coreopsis verticillata
Cornus alba
Cornus capitata
Cornus drummondii
Cornus florida
Cornus kousa
Cornus sericea
Cornus stolonifera
Correa pulchella
Cortaderia selloana
Corydalis
Corylus
Cosmos bipinnatus
Cotinus coggygria
Cotoneaster
Cotoneaster apiculatus
Cotoneaster congestus
Cotoneaster dammeri
Cotoneaster horizontalis
Cotoneaster salicifolius
Crataegus
Crataegus laevigata
Crocus
Croscosmia
Cryptomeria japonica
Cupressocyparis x leylandii
Cyclamen
Cyclamen hederifolium
Cyrtomium falcatum
Cytisus
Cytisus scoparius
Dahlia
Daphne
Dasylirion
Delphinium
Dennstaedtia punctilobula
Deutzia
Dianthus barbatus
Dianthus caryophyllus
Dicentra eximia
Dicentra spectabilis
Dictamus alba
Digitalis
Digitalis grandiflora
Digitalis purpurea
Diospyros texana
Diospyros virginiana
Dryopteris
Dryopteris marginalis
Echinacea angustifolia
Echinacea purpurea
Echinops ritro
Echium fastuosum
Elaeagnus angustifolia
Elaeagnus commutata
Elaeagnus pungens
Elaeagnus umbellatus
Endymion non-scriptus
Enkianthus campanulatus
Epimedium
Eragrostus curvula
Erianthus hyemalis
Erianthus ravennae
Erica
Erythea armata
Erythronium
Eschscholzia californica
Eupatorium coelestinurn
Eupatorium purpureum
Eupatorium rugosum
Euphorbia
Euphorbia marginata
Fagus sylvatica
Fargesia
Festuca glauca
Ficus
Ficus carica
Forsythia
Forsythia x intermedia
Fothergilla
Fraxinus excelsior
Fraxinus pennsylvanica
Fraxinus velutina
Fritillaria
Fritillaria imperialis
Gaillardia pulchella
Galanthus nivalis
Galium odoratum
Gardenia
Garrya lindheimeri
Gaultheria procumbens
Gelsemium sempervirens
Geranium macrorrhizum
Geranium sanguineum
Gerbera jamesonii
Ginkgo biloba
Gladiolus
Gleditsia triacanthos
Gloriosa superba
Gordonia lisianthus
Gypsophila
Hakea suaveolens
Hakonechloa macra
Halesia carolina
Halimodendron halodendron
Hamamelis virginiana
Hedera helix baltica
Helenium autumnale
Helianthus
Helichrysum
Helictotrichon sempervirens
Heliotropium arborescens
Helleborus
Helleborus niger
Helleborus orientalis
Hemmerocallis 'Stella de Oro'
Hesperis matronalis
Heuchera micrantha
Hibiscus syriacus
Hippophae rhamnoides
Hyacinthus orientalis
Hypericum calycinum
Hypericum prolificum
Hyssopus officinalis
Hystrix patula
Iberis sempervirens
Iberis umbellata
Ilex aquifolium
Ilex cornuta
Ilex crenata
Ilex glabra
Ilex opaca
Ilex verticillata
Ilex vomitoria
Ilex x 'John T. Morris'
Ilex x 'Lydia Morris'
Ilex x aquipernyi
Illicium
Imperata cylindrica
Ipomoea
Iris
Itea virginica
Ixex cornuta
Jasminum
Jasminum nudiflorum
Juncus effusus
Juncus inflexus
Juniperus
Juniperus chinensis
Juniperus communis
Juniperus horizontalis
Juniperus sabina
Juniperus scopulorum
Juniperus squamata
Juniperus virginiana
Kalmia latifolia
Kerria japonica
Kirengeshoma palmata
Kniphofia uvaria
Koeleria glauca
Koelreuteria paniculata
Kolkwitzia amabilis
Lagerstroemia indica
Lamium maculatum
Lantana camara
Lantana montevidensis
Lathyrus odoratus
Lavandula
Leucojum
Leucojum aestivum
Leucophyllum
Leucothoe
Leucothoe axillaris
Leucothoe fontanesiana
Leymus arenarius glaucous
Liatris
Liatris spicata
Ligularia 'The Rocket'
Ligularia dentata
Ligustrum
Ligustrum vulgare
Limonium latifolium
Linaria vulgaris
Lindera benzoin
Liquidambar styraciflua
Liriodendron tulipifera
Liriope
Lobelia
Lobelia cardinalis
Lobelia laxiflora
Lobularia maritima
Lonicera
Lonicera sempervirens
Lunaria annua
Lupinus
Lupinus texensis
Lychnis chalcedonica
Lychnis coronaria
Lyonothamnus floribundus
Macleaya cordata
Magnolia grandiflora
Magnolia x soulangiana
Mahonia aquifolium
Mahonia bealei
Malvaviscus arboreus
Marrubium vulgare
Matricaria
Matteuccia struthiopteris
Matthiola
Melampodium
Melampodium leucanthum
Melia azedarach
Melianthus major
Melissa officinalis
Mentha
Mentha spicata
Mertensia virginica
Metasequoia glyptostroboides
Michelia fuscata
Microbiota decussata
Mimosa borealis
Mirabilis jalapa
Miscanthus floridulis
Miscanthus sinensis
Molinia caerulea
Monarda didyma
Muscari
Myosotis
Myosotis alpestris
Myosotis scorpioides
Myosotis sylvatica
Myrica californica
Myrica cerifera
Myrica pennsylvanica
Nandina
Nandina domestica
Narcissus
Nepeta cataria
Nephrolepis
Nerium oleander
Nicotiana alata
Nolina
Nolina parryi
Ocimum basilicum
Onoclea sensibilis
Ophiopogon japonicus
Opuntia
Origanum majorana
Origanum vulgare
Osmanthus heterophyllus
Osmunda cinnamomea
Osmunda regalis
Oxalis
Oxalis oregana
Oxydendrum arboreum
Pachysandra procumbens
Pachysandra terminalis
Paeonia
Panicum virgatum
Papaver orientale
Papaver rhoeas
Patrinia scabiosifolia
Pediocactus
Pelargonium
Pennisetum alopecuroides
Pennisetum orientale
Pentas
Perilla frutescens
Perovskia atriplicifolia
Petroselinum crispum
Phalaris arundinaceae
Philadelphus
Philadelphus coronarius
Phlomis
Phoenix dactylifera
Phormium tenax
Phyllostachys aurea
Physostegia virginiana
Picea
Picea abies
Picea glauca
Picea glauca 'Conica'
Picea omorika
Picea pungens
Pieris floribunda
Pieris japonica
Pimpinella anisum
Pinus
Pinus densiflora
Pinus mugo
Pinus nigra
Pinus resinosa
Pinus rigida
Pinus strobus
Pinus sylvestris
Pinus thunbergiana
Plectranthus ciliatus
Podophyllum
Polemonium caeruleum
Poliomintha longifolia
Polystichum arcostichoides
Potentilla
Potentilla fruticosa
Primula
Prunus americana
Prunus caroliniana
Prunus fruticosa
Prunus laurocerasus
Prunus serrulata
Prunus tenella
Pseudotsuga menziesii
Pulmonaria
Pyracantha 'M. Roemer'
Pyracantha coccinea
Quillaja saponaria
Ranunculus
Rhamnus
Rhamnus cathartica
Rheum rhabarbarum
Rhododendron 'Olga Mezitt'
Rhododendron 'PJM'
Rhododendron roseum
Rhus aromatica
Rhus lanceolata
Rhus ovata
Rhus trilobata
Rhus virens
Ribes
Robinia pseudoacacia
Rodgersia
Romneya coulteri
Rosa 'Betty Bland'
Rosa 'Haidee'
Rosa laevigata
Rosa rugosa
Rosa virginiana
Rosa wichuraiana
Rosmarinus officinalis
Rubus
Rudbeckia
Rudbeckia hirta
Ruta graveolens
Sabal blackburniana
Salix matsudana tortuosa
Salvia
Salvia farinacea
Salvia greggii
Salvia leucantha
Salvia nemorosa
Salvia officinalis
Salvia roemeriana
Salvia splendens
Sambucus canadensis
Sambucus racemosa
Santolina
Santolina chamaecyparissus
Saponaria officinalis
Sarcoccoca hookeriana
Sassafras albidurn
Satureja montana
Scabiosa caucasica
Schizachyrium scoparium
Scilla siberica
Scirpus lacustris
Sempervivum
Senecio cineraria
Sheperdia argentea
Skimmia japonica
Solanum
Solanum pseudocapsicum
Solidago
Sophora secundiflora
Sorghastrum nutans
Spiraea
Spiraea japonica
Spiraea prunifolia
Spiraea x bumalda
Stachys byzantina
Stokesia laevis
Symphoricarpos albus
Symphoricarpos x chenaultii
Symplocarpos foetidus
Syringa reticulata
Syringa villosa
Syringa vulgaris
Syzygium paniculatum
Tagetes
Tagetes lucida
Tagetes patula
Tanacetum vulgare
Taxodium distichum
Tecomaria capensis
Teucrium
Teucrium chamaedrys
Teucrium fruticans
Thalictrum
Thelyptens noveboracensis
Thymus
Tiarella cordifolia
Trachelospermum asiaticum
Trachelospermum jasminoides
Trachycarpus fortunei
Tradescantia
Tricyrtis hirta
Trillium
Tropaeolum majus
Tsuga canadensis
Tulbaghia violacea
Ungnadia speciosa
Verbascum thapsus
Verbena
Veronica
Veronica officinalis
Viburnum
Viburnum carlesii
Viburnum dentatum
Viburnum opulus
Viburnum plicatum tomentosurn
Viburnum prunifolium
Viburnum rhytidophyllum
Viburnum x juddii
Vinca major
Vinca minor
Vinca rosea
Viola
Weigela florida
Wisteria floribunda
Wisteria frutescens
Yucca
Yucca filamentosa
Zantedeschia aethiopica
Zauschneria californica
Zexmenia hispida
Zinnia
Zinnia elegans