A Guide to Louisiana-Friendly Landscaping
CREATING YOUR LOUISI ANA-FRIENDLY YARD
A Louisiana-Friendly Yard doesn’t merely offer a good-looking landscape, it also becomes an asset to the local environment, protecting natural resources and preserving our state’s unique beauty. An important part in creating a Louisiana-Friendly Yard is recognizing that the home landscape is connected to and a part of a larger natural system.
Designing a landscape more in harmony with the environment requires commitment and careful planning and largely depends on what you and your family require from the landscape. You should consider:
- Your family’s needs and desires.
- The conditions of your site.
- Maintaining a healthy environment.
Understanding a few basic concepts will help you make environmentally appropriate decisions when planning your landscape and avoid potential problems.
PROPER PLANNING IS CRITICAL
A key to creating a successful landscape design is relying on a commonsense planning process. Using a step-by-step process, where the next step builds on the one before, you can develop your own plan that will create an attractive, functional and environmentally sensitive landscape.
First, think of the style you want your landscape to have. Look at other gardens and figure out what style you are most comfortable with. Gardening books, magazines and books on landscaping present photographs that can inspire you and help you make a decision. The style you choose is generally a matter of taste, but should strongly be influenced by the architecture of the house. The chosen style will guide the more aesthetic aspects of the landscape design. Styles generally fall in one of several categories, such as formal, informal, naturalistic, ethnic or ecological. Next, follow the steps outlined on the next page. For a complete list, refer to Right Plant, Right Place beginning on page 19.
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