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New Home Landscaping Careful planning is the key to success at landscaping from scratch. From "Dirt On Gardening" episode DDOG-112

Landscape contractor Dave Roberts

New home owners often find themselves with relatively empty landscapes and, if they're not careful with how they approach landscaping, may soon find themselves with empty wallets. Landscape contractor Dave Roberts talks with Dirt on Gardening host Kristine Hanson about some basic considerations when landscaping a new home. The key to successful landscaping, he says, is forethought and planning.

Here are a few tips on where to start and how to plan a landscape that suits your budget.

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Dave Roberts talks with Kristine Hanson about careful planning of a landscape.

Make a Plan

Think ahead. If yopossible, plan your future landscape from the very beginning and factor it into your home loan.

Create a concept. Approach your landscaping much like you think of how you're going to furnish the interior of your home, what materials you plan to use in building, etc. Your landscape is a major element in your home.

Also think about how you'd like to use your landscape. Details (like what specific plants you want) can come later. Here are some of the "big things" to consider first:

• Do you plan to do a lot of entertaining outside outside?
  
• Do you need a landscape that's kid-friendly?
  
• Do you need to factor in pets?
  
• Will you need a patio, walkway, covered area, retaining walls, underground drainage, grass, etc.

When making your list, don't forget to include things that would be ideal to have in the future. You may not be able to afford it right away, but down the road you may be able to add significant addtitions. Would you like to add outdoor speakers, a pool, a deck, a hot tub? Consider future possiblilities as you formulate your general landscape layout.

Tip: Don't get ahead of yourself by buying plants right away. Many people fall into the common mistake of beginning their landscapeprocess with a trip to the nursery--where they fall in love with particular plants and buy them on impulse. But if you can't put them into the ground right away, they'll need frequent watering and may not survive until you can. It's a good idea to have an idea from the beginning as to what general types of plantings you want, but save specific plant selection to near the end of the process.

A good irrigation system uses a reliable controller to regulate how much and how frequently your lawn, beds and trees are watered.

Make A Budget

A budget is key to successful landscaping. Figure out how much you can realistically spend on your landscape. Prioritize the things on your list to reflect that budget. Think of what you can afford in the short run. You don't necessarily need to get rid of the bigger priced items; just move down on your priority list for consideration at some future date.

The top three categories in landscape budgeting are:

• soil building;
  
• irrigation; and
  
• planting choices

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