by Sammy Stein

Created on: April 02, 2008

Most people have heard of garden landscapers and designers but few know exactly what they do.
Landscapers are people who have a professional, practical attitude, an eye for detail,an ear for what is needed and wanted and a basic respect and love of the flora of the land

Good gardens don't just happen - they are created by a good landscaper.
The garden remains an important addition to a house, whether the garden is big or small, designed on a grand scale or simpler lines. People have different needs from a garden. They may need to escape from the pressures of life, have a recreational space, a showpiece, another 'room'- somewhere to entertain in summer, for example or somewhere to exercise their artistic abilities.

Some people want to tame nature into formal lines with a strong personal stamp on their piece of land, whereas others want to feel as if nature is almost coming through the door.
As well as what people want from a garden there is also what they need. They may need a safe area for children or pets to play, to grow at least some of their vegetables and fruit, access for wheelchairs or elderly people. All these can only be satisfied by good landscaping.

The landscaper may be faced with many types of request such as a water garden, a shade garden, parks, rock and alpine gardens, oriental gardens and many more.

The landscaper has many helpful things available now. Bedding plants became a dominant feature during the Victorian era, mostly due to plant collectors bringing in new and wonderful plants which were hybridized and bred. Also, many bedding plants were strikingly beautiful and easy to grow. Although most new varieties were half-hardy or tender, they could be over-wintered in the new and developing greenhouses.

Victorian gardeners concentrated on color schemes. Ornaments which were a central theme of a garden (such as urns, rustic pillars and bowls) were filled to overflowing with flowers and geometric patterns.This meant landscapers could create complimentary patterns or try new ideas.

Cottage landscapes have few rules, and take much of their appearance from the personality of their owner. Cottage gardens developed in ways different from urban gardens, largely because in rural areas the garden still needed to provide much of the householder's needs in terms of vegetables and herbs, as well as fruit, beehives, and perhaps animals such as chickens or a goat.

For the modern landscaper there are many factors to think about when approaching clients and these include privacy, demarcation of areas in the garden, safety, access (either for garages, parking, wheelchairs or children), hiding ugly features and making the available space, if limited, appear larger.

It is amazing just how many differing styles of landscape a landscaper will be asked to create. Some sites need complete leveling while others may offer the chance to use undulations and hillocks on the site - you can either 'dress' the landscape (where you add features or use it as it is, changing only small things to enhance the features already present.

Some sites need a lot of landscaping but very few plants, while others need landscaping and a lot of different plants but still need to work in terms of contrast and color.

So, landscaping provides lot to think about and can be a very interesting subject.

Learn more about this author, Sammy Stein.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.