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Remodeling your home also includes more than just a new master bath or a second floor home addition. Remodeling your landscaping is just an integral part of your home, and your home's value, as the bricks and mortar.

Here are some tips to make sure you do the right thing for your home exterior, your curb appeal, and your property value.

• Off Season Color - Sure, your plants and flowers bloom in the Spring and last through the Summer. But keep in mind that there are a host of plants available that can add color and vibrancy to your home in the Fall and Winter months, as well. Talk to your local nursery or a landscape designer about making sure you have plenty of green, and other colors, throughout the entire year!
  

• Protect Your Hills - if your landscaping terrain has a lot of hills and slopes, make sure you plant strong, deep-rooted plants, trees, or bushes that will help protect the hill (and your home!) from soil erosion and land or mudslides.
  

• Uphill Battles - speaking of hills, don't try to make your landscaping work outside of your region. You may love palm trees, but they don't do so well in New England. Some goes for a home in a harsh, warm, dry climate and trying to keep your Kentucky bluegrass as a healthy lawn.
  

• Don't Plan to Fail - when you fail to plan. A landscape needs a design. You can't just go to a nursery and buy a handful of plants and then just plant them wherever you think they look nice. You need to have a plan:
  
• Create zones around your house where you'll have landscaping
• Determine the types of plants you'll want in those areas
• Consider height, color, and seasonality of all the plants to make sure they'll work together in each zone
• Create a mockup, in your yard, of where everything will go with cardboard stand-ins and spray-painted lines around your zones so that you'll be able to visualize what it will look like when complete
  

• Outside the Box - you don't have to have grass in your yard, you can have rocks. You don't have to have hedges, you can have exotic plants. You don't need to have rose bushes, you can have a fountain. Mix it up and put your own personality into your landscaping. Be prepared that some elements might not work, but the trial and error could give you a truly unique look for your home.
  

• Water It - don't forget irrigation design for your landscaping. You might think that you'll remember to run the hose and sprinkler out every other morning, but chance are you won't. Consider adding a timed sprinkler system in with your overall design to make sure your plants and grass get the water, at levels they need to flourish.
  

Sound like too much work for you? You might try a Landscape Designer - they can help you from start (planning!) to finish with your project or they can help consult on your design to make sure you have the right staging, plant types, and more. If you'd like to find a landscape architect or company in your area, post your request on Construction Deal's website. It's a fast, free, and very easy way to find local pros.

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Labels: Curb Appeal, Landscape Architects, Landscape Design