How to Arrange Landscaping Design

When you have a house, one of the most visually pleasing ways to dress up a yard is through landscaping design. There are countless ways to arrange landscaping, so you can be as creative as you want when planning where to place your shrubs and flowers. As with any form of home improvement, there are ideal ways to go about arranging landscaping design--and ways to avoid.

Arrange landscaping to complete the yard but not overtake it. If you want to include growing vines such as fig or ivy, keep them along a fence or wall to avoid exponential growth in an area where you don't want it. Additional vines to plant along a fence, wall or trellis include morning glories and honeysuckle.

Add a variety of plants and shrubs to the yard to keep the contrast interesting and colorful. Using the same type of plant throughout the entire yard brings down the look of the entire landscaping design. In addition, if the plant blooms annually you will have a drab plant in the yard for most of the year, so mix up perennials and annuals throughout the landscape for year-round appeal.

Incorporate color into the landscaping with annuals or perennials, and plan your landscaping layout depending on sun exposure throughout the day. For example, colorful annuals that take full sun are strawflowers, heliotropes and lavatera, while a few common annuals that only require partial sun exposure are painted tongues, pansies and petunias. Full-sun perennials include black-eyed Susans, avens, blazing stars and helenium, while partial-sun perennials include monkshood, red-hot pokers and Shasta daisies.

Keep grass to a minimum, and instead add a plethora of shrubs, flowers and trees to maintain a visually appealing and low-maintenance yard. Grass needs water, time and maintenance, so if you don't have enough of these requirements, avoid using it too much in the yard. Use ground covers such as thyme, vinca vine or soapwort to add greenery and color to the yard without the maintenance level of grass.

Plant trees away from the home to prevent branches from overtaking the faCade of the house. Planting trees too close to a house can cause damage to the foundation through growing roots, so plan accordingly when planting trees in your yard.

Plant shrubs and flowers in multilayered beds to add interest and curb appeal to the house. Layering plants will allow you to hide lower branches from taller bushes, which often have little to no leaves. For example, plant tall shrubs on the highest layer of the planting bed, with shorter ground-cover plants or shrubs on the lower level.

Increase walkway visibility by planting colorful blossoms along the edges. Adding color to the walkway will also set the tone for the rest of the landscaping and draw the eye from the curb or driveway up to the front of the house.