It doesn't matter what size your home is – from an apartment to a luxury seaside retreat – having a place to step outside and enjoy the fresh air is a must for most people. It is not surprising that interior designers are seeing more requests for a piece of outdoor tranquility, and they are delivering.

Creating an outdoor getaway can be done on your own as well. There are a number of books, magazines and websites to guide homeowners as they transform the look of their exterior space. Investing even a small amount of time and some new furniture will greatly increase the value of a home, should you decide to sell.

Lawn care is a year round job. Even in regions where the winters
are snowy, you will have to plow and use a snow blower for the
season. During the winter, you should also be researching and
preparing for the spring season.

Re-seeding is a common spring activity. It could be a good idea
to re-seed in the late fall instead though. The seeds will be
pushed into the soil by the weight of the snow, and the cold
temperatures will cause them to lay dormant until the spring,
when they will be well planted in good mud and ready to grow.

With the unfortunate trend of developers either cutting down trees in a wholesale manner or building homes on treeless fields the property owner must usually begin with nothing when it comes to trees. Architects agree that even a single shade tree of medium height can make a great difference in the overall comfort and the livability of a home.

It is no less than amazing to discover what a tree can do for a home. For example a tree in leaf can reduce noise from the street. If a tree is tall enough to throw shade over the roof it can materially reduce summer heat in a home. Trees can reduce the amount of dust around a house and provide protection from winds.

From the start, you can plan to have perennials blooming at different seasons, (for example, the iris, which reaches the peak of its bloom just as the peony season begins). Visit your local independent nursery to find the plants that do best in your geographic area.

Once you have decided on the perennials you will use and know accurately when they bloom you can then plan to fill in the gaps that are left by their passing with prolific, quick-growing annuals. If you have the room you can plan to have a potting bed, perhaps in your vegetable garden or a sheltered spot behind your garden shed or garage, where you can grow extra annuals and those perennials which do not mind being transplanted.

A great many garden and nursery companies, now have websites, but is it really practical or safe to buy perennials online?

Busy gardeners don’t have the time to wander around garden centres and nurseries for hours at a time, so it is obviously much more convenient for them to buy their plants from these web sites. There are naturally a few rules one should follow when doing so.

If one was to type “buy perennials online”, into a search engine such as Google, many of the web sites which are listed, have absolutely nothing to do with the subject. Having just tried this experiment, I found myself looking at a website offering soaps, and toilet rolls. It is therefore to be remembered that in every walk of life, there are time wasters of some description.

By being practical and creative in your landscaping, you can
create a beautiful and functional space. There are some design
principles that will make the task of designing somewhat easier.
For example, professional landscape designers divide the
available space into areas that they call “activity zones”.
This will help you to organize your thoughts and use each space
for a specific purpose. You can then concentrate on making each
space work well and look great at the same time.

Some examples of activity zones are having a garden for flowers
or vegetables, a yard for walking, a pond for beauty, and a patio
for relaxing, entertaining, and enjoying the rest of your yard.
Fences, sheds, and walkways are other possibilities. You should
plan each area as best you can, making sure it works well and
looks good alone and with all of the other activity zones. To
do this planning, you can either sketch out a few design options
or use computer software to help.