Table of Contents
TEXAS HOME LANDSCAPING
Table of Contents
About This Book 8 Seasons in Your Landscape 12 As Your Landscape Grows 16
PORTFOLIO OF DESIGNS
First Impressions 20 • Make a pleasant passage to your front door
An Entry Oasis 24 • Extend a friendly desert welcome
A Foundation with Flair 26 • Flowers and foliage create a front garden
Fancy Foundation 30 • Create a striking entry garden
Up Front Informal 32 • Turn a small front yard into a welcoming garden
An Eye-Catching Corner 36 • Beautify a boundary with easy-care plants
Backyard Makeover 40 • Getting a lot out of a small, frost-free lot
Streetwise and Stylish 42 • Give your curbside strip a new look
Landscape a Low Wall 46 • A two-tiered garden replaces a bland slope
Beautify a Blank Wall 50 • A vertical garden makes the most of a narrow site
A Shady Hideaway 54 • Build a cozy retreat in a corner of your yard
An Outdoor “Living” Room 58 • A patio and shady arbor provide open-air opportunities
Formal Outdoor Living 62 • Create shady entertaining space on this formal patio
Splash Out 64 • Make a handsome water garden in a few weekends
Poolside Pleasures 68 • Plantings enhance your swimming pool
Garden in the Round 70 • Create a planting with several attractive faces
A Beginning Border 74 • Flowers and a fence make a carefree design
Year-In-Year-Out Border 78 • Perennials and a wall make a traditional design
A Woodland Link 80 • Create a shrub border for nearby woods
A No-Mow Slope 84 • A terraced garden transforms a steep site
Angle of Repose 88 • Make a backdoor garden in a sheltered niche
A Garden Path 92 • Reclaim a narrow side yard for a stroll garden
Down to Earth 96 • Harmonize your deck with its surroundings
Decked-Out Deck 100 • Make your deck an inviting gateway to the outdoors
Gateway Garden 102 • Arbor, fence, and plantings make an inviting entry
A Green Screen 106 • Hide bins for refuse and recycling with a fence, foliage, and flowers Elegant Symmetry 110 • Make a formal garden for your backyard
Planting in the Pines 114 • Surround your woodland deck with flowering shrubs
GUIDE TO INSTALLATION
Organizing Your Project 118 • Introducing the tasks involved in a landscape installation. How to organize them for best results.
Clearing the Site 120 • Removing turf, weeds, and other unwanted material.
Water for Your Plants 122 • Water-wise practices. Watering systems.
Making Paths and Walkways 124 • Choosing materials, preparing the base, installing edgings, laying the surface.
Laying a Patio 130 • Employing the same materials and techniques as for walks and paths. Ensuring proper drainage.
Installing a Pond 132 • Siting, excavating, installing a flexible liner or fiberglass shell. Growing pond plants.
Building a Retaining Wall 136 • Laying out, excavating, and assembling a precast modular wall system and steps.
Fences, Arbors, and Trellises 140 • Wood selection, layout, post setting, basic construction. Plans for building the fences, trellises, and arbors shown in the Portfolio of Designs.
Preparing the Soil for Planting 158 • Digging and improving the soil. Edging for beds.
Buying Plants 162 • Where to go, what to look for, how to get the best quality and price.
The Planting Process 163 • When to plant, steps in the planting process, spacing. Annuals as fillers.
Planting Basics 165 • Plants in containers, balled-and-burlapped plants, bare-root plants, ground covers, and bulbs.
Basic Landscape Care 167 • Mulches and fertilizers. Controlling weeds. Watering.
Caring for Woody Plants 171 • Basic pruning for trees, shrubs, vines, and roses. Making a hedge.
Caring for Perennials 176 • Routine care, pruning, dividing.
Problem Solving 178 • Understanding common problems with animal and insect pests and diseases. Winter damage.
PLANT PROFILES Descriptions of all the plants shown in the Portfolio of Designs, plus information on how to plant and care for them. 182
Glossary 216
Photo Credits 218
Index 218
