garden design

Sweat equity is using your labor to make home improvements that increase the value of your home.

What has changed?

The do-it-yourself home renovation market has expanded dramatically over the past 20 years. Manufactures are now producing products aimed directly at the home handy person rather than professional trades people and contractors. These manufacturers are supported by an array of building material retailers that are catering to the do-it-yourself individual. Equipment and tool rental facilities have expanded their offerings, locations, and advertising to attract the do-it-yourself market place.

Packaging of building materials is now designed for point of sale purchase. Products are now packaged in sizes and weights that allow an individual to load the product in their personal vehicle. Packaging is now colorful, to attract the prospective buyer and includes detailed instructions on the proper use of the product.

Along with the change in the packaging of materials, the do-it-yourself market has created millions of pages of information. Books on home improvement provide step-by-step instructions on all aspects of almost any project. The availability of books on home improvement has been expanded by the Internet where websites offer chat forums on do-it-yourself projects enabling individuals to draw on the experience of others as well as expertise from professionals - at no charge. The Internet also provides websites that provide general information, manufacturer’s websites that provide specific product information, retail websites that provide convenient purchase and websites that provide on-line videos on the installation of almost anything you can think of. Television shows on home improvement, decorating and landscaping have multiplied exponentially over the past few years. Many of the video rental stores provide home renovation videos as part of their inventory.

This change in the market has created hundred’s of thousands of new do-it-yourselfers. An area that up until a few years ago was dominated by men is now attracting women even the Internet has begun to have specific websites that cater exclusively to the home handywoman.

It is allowing the homeowners to add value to their homes by renovating, decorating, and remodeling their homes by using these newly developed products and information and adding their personal labor. In many home renovation projects, trade labor costs can easily be equal to or exceed the value of the material. This is especially true in areas such as flooring, painting, wallpapering and landscaping, projects that are not overly difficult but very labor intensive.

If you are not currently taking advantage of this market change to increase the value of your home, you are missing out on a great opportunity. Besides, the monetary value of sweat equity there is an intensive pride in standing back and looking at a completed project that you did yourself.

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Landscape plans are essential to persons planning to landscape their gardens on their own. One of the common mistakes is not properly planning out all the activities in redesigning a landscape. This can often lead to the feeling that what started as a simple project is now just too much work.

One of the first steps necessary to landscape plans is determining the size of the area available to work within. This information can be obtained in two ways. The first is from another source such as local county records or the developer and the second is the do it yourself approach. Both approaches require measurements of your plot to be carried out. The first method only requires the confirmation that the plan is accurate and can then be used as the base of your design. The second requires more work.

The “do it yourself” method is actually very simple. Using a sheet of graph paper you can plot your own base plan. The first thing to do is determine the size of your plot of land. Find a suitable scale and ensure that the area measured can be plotted on one single sheet of graph paper. It is then important to measure the area on the plot that is occupied by structures such as houses and pools. The measurement of the house can be determined by simple measurements to the boundaries of the plot. It is important to make some copies of your base plan as mistakes do happen.

In the design phase of landscape planning it is important to put some effort into researching what options are available. Some great designs can be sourced from neighbors, libraries and on the internet. There are many styles or themes that can be followed dependent on the design of your home and the area available.

The next stage is using your base landscape plans to start putting in a loose sketch of the activity areas that you envision. This will include the decisions made in the research portion of the landscape plans. It should also take into consideration the movements that have to be made to walk around your yard as this will provide information on the design of pathways. At this stage the general placement and size of plants required should be included. It is also necessary to include necessities at this stage such as drainage, slope or gradient changes or other alterations such as stairs. Other details such as ponds and decks can be included at this stage.

In your final landscape plans you will then include all the details in a “to scale” blueprint that can be plotted on your base plan. All the materials needed as well as the particulars of the types of plants can be decided at this stage.

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Let’s face it, the Southwestern Backyard is not the same as any other backyard. Try to plant a nice lawn, and you cultivate an expanse of brown crusty dead stuff. Or you will run up a water bill worthy of an Olympic swimming pool.

So how in the world do you make the most of what the desert offers to you? What can make the Southwestern Backyard special? Let’s just give it a shot! Come with me to my backyard, and I’ll show you how easy it is to add Southwestern pizzazz to that dry expanse of desert floor.

First, let me give you a list of seven great ideas to help you plan the perfect Southwestern Backyard:

* Desert Plants
* Hardscaping with rocks
* Dry Creek Bed
* Ramada
* Kiva fireplace
* Southwestern d

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