How to plan the landscaping for your home

Landscaping is an important step in the building of your home

1 of 2An example of a beautiful backyard that brings the indoors outside, complete with a pizza oven, fireplace, fire pit, barbecue and counter top workspace. — Photo courtesy oneillbro/thinkstock.com

2 of 2Marc Swirsky Commercial Sales Manager of Top Crop Garden, Farm and Pet. — Photo by Kimberly Shellborn

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When building a house, don’t forget to include landscaping in the initial budget. Many larger cities require that a landscaping plan must be submitted for approval before you even break ground on a new home. The goal is to encourage yards to blend with the esthetic of the both the house and the local area, and a certain percentage of the building cost must be set aside for landscaping. Even though this isn’t the case in the Kootenays, it illustrates that landscaping is an important step in the building of your home.

Although many homeowners do have a plan for their landscaping, some fall into the trap of building a home and leaving the planning for landscaping until after the house has been finished. This is when they discover the cost of landscaping is much higher than they expected. They then have to decide if they can afford to landscape. In many cases they are only left with the option of planting a lawn and calling it finished.

“Your home is an investment,” said Mark Swirsky, commercial sales manager of Top Crop Garden Farm & Pet. “A showable home with well planned landscaping will go a long way to attract potential buyers.” 

Landscaping in itself may not raise the value of a home, especially if it is a newer area where all the homes are of similar value. But a beautifully landscaped yard can make a potential sale go much more quickly. 

Trends in landscaping

A lot of things need to be taken into consideration when landscaping a building lot. How big is the yard? How much time and money can be invested? Does the homeowner spend a lot of time entertaining in the yard?

New houses tend to have smaller properties. The plants in these yards are smaller as well. Homeowners may choose combination fruit trees, which have two or more varieties of fruit on the same tree, as they don’t have space for numerous trees. In Cranbrook, plums, pears and apples are available as combination trees. For warmer areas like Creston there are combination cherries and fruit cocktail trees, with peach, nectarine and plum on one tree.

“People don’t have a lot of time, and they want something simple and low maintenance,” said Swirsky. “They also want a retreat to get away from the daily grind, a backyard oasis to relax and enjoy that valuable time."

“Container gardening continues to be huge,” said Shannon Fisher, the owner of Top Crop Garden, Farm & Pet. “Not just for flowers, but people are growing everything in containers— herbs, vegetables and of course tomatoes.”

Container gardens are an excellent low maintenance option and don’t require a lot of space. Even apartment dwellers can take advantage of container gardening. Anyone with a small porch or balcony can grow numerous fresh vegetables for their own table.

Another enduring trend is the backyard becoming an extension of the house. This can range from something traditional like a barbecue on the back deck to large outdoor living areas complete with ceramic tile, weatherproof furniture, rugs and other accessories. A stone fireplace, pizza oven, bar and kitchen appliances can be added. 

The entire area is often complemented by a variety of shrubs, plants and flowers. Outdoor lighting, furniture and decorations can all be added to give the final touches. Water features also continue to grow in popularity, especially low maintenance pondless systems. With proper planning and attention to detail, this outdoor living space will blend and flow to match the overall style of the home.

More important than any trend is a person’s personal taste and how much time and energy they want to spend on the upkeep of their yard.