Lawn Design - Choosing Plants and Flowers!

CHOOSING PLANTS AND FLOWERS:
  This part of lawn design can be lots of fun, unless you are allergic to flowers and plants. Assuming you are not, it is time to visit the gardening center to pick out your new plants, flowers, shrubs, and more. While you can do this at any time during the year, you should plant the majority of your lawn plants during the late winter and early spring months so that they will have time to grow a little and settle into their new home.
The first time around, you should talk to the experts at the gardening design center. Armed with your soil analysis report, your own personal preferences, and money, you should be able to get some straight answers quickly without having to read the backs of all the plants.

When choosing your plants and flowers, you should be concerned with color, height, and durability. Common plant and flower types include:

1. Shade plants
2. Perennial and Annual flowers
3. Moss plants
4. Climbing plants
5. Fruit trees
6. Herbs
7. Mum plants

Be sure to find plants and flowers that will survive in your lawn's soil. This is very important. If you do not want to spend hours trying to adjust the pH of your soil, buy plants that will adapt to it. This will also save you money. Many hearty plants such as mums and shade plants can survive in different soil types.
You should also consider the following:

1. Size of the lawn
2. Placement of plants
3. Region where you live
4. Other decorative ornaments
5. Time

Size of the Lawn
The size of your lawn can determine much. You do not want to overcrowd your lawn with stuff. This is unattractive and will suffocate everyone who visits your home, not to mention the plants and flowers.

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Custom Home Builder

Have you ever sat in your kitchen and thought, "Wouldn't it be nice if I have a skylight in here?" Do you wish you had bought a home with a little more elbow room, or perhaps an extra bedroom? Did you ever wish you had been able to look a little longer for your dream home? For your next home, you may want to consider a custom home builder. Custom homes, unlike the cookie cutter homes in this age of mass production, have your unique style and needs in mind. Custom contractors allow you to pick and choose the styles and sizes of your rooms and your layout, and also allow you to include amenities not available in normal, generic housing. With a custom built home, you will have control over the style, materials, layout, appliances, and even the height of your home without spending years waiting to find the perfect home on the market through a realtor. When choosing a customer builder, the first thing you want to consider is budget. Decide how much you want to spend, and what you would be willing to give up or change to stay within budget. Once a budget is decided, then your contractor will have a great idea of how much money he or she will have to work with, and what plans may need to be changed or altered. When considering a contractor for your home, make sure to do your homework. Check with the Better Business Bureau, at online reviews, and with friends and family to find a customer home builder that can be trusted with such a big project. Ask for a one-on-one with the contractor; see if he or she can sketch up a few ideas, and see if that contractor's style matches up with yours. Make sure that the builder is bonded and has all the correct insurance before agreeing to work with them. But the most important thing: don't forget to ask for a quote! To help your contractor learn your style, have a small collection of photographs, fabric samples, pictures from magazines, or even printed pictures from the internet to help the contractor with an idea of what you are looking for. The better your contractor knows your style, the better he will be able to build for you. Next you want to make sure to go over the legal stuff. Make sure that the contractor will handle building permits, or that you can manage them yourself. Have open communication with your builder; make sure he or she has your cell phone number, office number, e-mail, and pager number to make sure that if any extra costs or delays come up, he or she can contact you immediately. Another great tip is to make sure of the time line. Get your contractor to give you a calendar of how long this will take, and make sure that you can wait that long for your new home to be finished. You may need to rent an apartment and storage space for your stuff while you wait, so make sure that fits into your budget as well.  

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