Sonoma Landscaping Designer

Landscape designers have expert knowledge and experience using plants and are also concerned with the layout of hard landscape, such as paths, water features, walls, sitting areas and decking.

Elements of Garden Design in Sonoma county landscaping

Conditioning the Ground (soil)
First, excavated subsoil and topsoil carefully need to be replaced; then, the soil should be aerated thoroughly so it can be crumbly by digging it. Also, "conditioning the soil thoroughly before planting enables the plants to establish themselves quickly and so play their part in the design." Since “many native plants prefer an impoverished soil, and the closer to their natural habitat they are in the garden, the better,” a poor soil is better than a rich soil that has been artificially enriched.

Boundaries
The look of the garden can be influenced strongly by the boundary impinges. Planting can be used to modify the boundary line or a line between an area of rough grass and smooth, depending on the size of the plot. Introducing internal boundaries, perhaps in the form of hedges or group of shrubs, can help break up a garden.

Hedges
The hedges vary their colors throughout the seasons dramatically. The hedges, being strong features in a garden, are often used to divide sections of the garden. However, since they use the moisture and nutrient from the garden soil to grow as well as other plants, they may not be a good choice and may bring a negative effect to the other plants.

Walls
Besides the boundaries that are made up of plants like the hedges, walls made up of various materials can be built between regions. There are broadly three types of walling material: stone, either random or coursed, brick, and concrete in its various forms. It is good to determine what color, size, and texture will be most appropriate for the garden before actually building the wall.

Fencing
According to Brookes, fencing can offer an alternative solution, is the walls are too solid for the region of the garden. There are several numbers of fence types that can be used for a garden: animal-proof fence for country situations, peep-proof fences for the suburbs, and urban fences that provide shelter from the winds in exposed roof-top gardens and create internal barriers

Alternative Surfacing
Usually, a smooth expanse of lawn is often considered essential to a garden. However, a textured surface “made up of loose gravel, small pebbles, or wood chips is much more satisfactory visually” than a smooth surface.According to Brookes, creating a relaxed feel to a garden is often done by loose surfacing made up of bark chips, pebbles, gravels; also, the various textures, shapes, sizes, colors, and materials of many different paving elements can contribute to making a garden plan pattern and texture, if they are mixed successfully.

Water
Water plays a very important role in the garden since wet conditions foster rampant growth of the plants. Water spigots and pipes throughout the garden are helpful in providing a wide range of wild life and plant habitats. The water pipes must be placed below the frost line in order to avoid them from freezing in cold weathers.

Garden Furniture
The garden furniture is available in a range of materials, and it may be more creative than without furniture and by making use of it. It offers to explore how things can be creative not just being visual in the gardens. The wood is the most common material to make the garden furniture. Besides the wooden furniture, metal can be sometimes a better choice than the wooden ones since it is more durable than wood. Also, more creative sources like plastic can be used.

Electrical Outlets
If there is a lead to the water pump or a fridge in the pool house, electrical outlets should be established so they can function in the garden. The cables for all these power outlets must be laid before the construction of the garden begins. At the depth mandated by local building codes, three romex direct-burial cables can be laid in a marked or known situation such as just beside a path.

Lighting
Since most plants require direct light for their growth, lighting is an important factor to consider when designing a garden. Light regulates three major plant processes: photosynthesis, phototropism, and photoperiodism. Photosynthesis provides the energy required to produce the energy source of plants. Phototropism is the effect of light on plant growth that causes the plant to grow toward or away from the light. Photoperiodism is a plant’s response or capacity to respond to photoperiod, a recurring cycle of light and dark periods of constant length.

In most cases, various types of lighting techniques may be classified and defined by heights: safety lighting, uplighting, and downlighting. Safety lighting is the most practical application. However, it is more important to determine the type of lamps and fitting s needed to create the desired effects.