Guide to Choose the Right Plants in Soft Landscaping
♫ Tuesday, April 20th, 2010All gardens have flowers, shrubs and grass of all sorts. Collectively, all the vegetation is called soft landscape. Soft landscaping is a term initiated and used by enthusiasts of landscape architecture and garden design.Creative soft landscaping can breathe life to a garden and gives the garden its unique ambiance. Because it is the main component in any garden, the collection of plants that will be used in a garden must be selected with care.
The biggest concern in soft landscaping is the nature of the vegetation itself. It is the gardener’s worst nightmare to see that the decorative flowers and herbs he planted a week before has begun to wilt. To avoid this problem, one should choose the plants carefully. Usually, local fauna rather than exotic or countryside vegetation are best for large scale planting. They also require less maintenance since the plants have already adapted to the soil conditions in the area.
Since flowers are usually the main attraction of a garden, it is important to select a variety of annual flowers. These flowers complete their life cycle within one year. At the end of that year, the flowers die, allowing time to propagate and produce new, fresh flowers during the next season.
After the plants are chosen, garden cover usually comes next. Ground cover effectively utilizes garden space. Usually, ground cover is ornamental grass but some people use moss. Healthy ground cover involves having a strong root system to help prevent soil erosion when it rains and when planting other vegetation. Since ground cover grows and spreads rather quickly, it is a good idea to leave some areas bare where the grass can expand.
Lastly, including specimen trees in the soft landscaping is recommended. Not only do they look beautiful, but they can also help define the community’s urban landscape. One should not overdo planting trees, however, their size and height will dominate the garden.
