We have half an acre of lawn, bushes, trees, weeds, and bare spots. After seven years we are still in the process of landscaping our backyard, one section at a time.

One of the things that many times stops home owners from attempting to take on their own landscaping project is fear. Look through the books on landscaping tips and read some of the suggestions and it can scare a person to death.

Fear not! You definitely need to read up and look at pictures before you begin a project, but remember; this is your backyard and you are free to do with it what you want.

The main thing to be concerned with when planting different plants is to make certain of their growing requirements. Do they require a lot of sunlight, a mix of sun and shade, or mostly shade? Other than that, let's get started.

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If you’re serious about cutting your home energy costs, you might want to take a second look at your home landscaping. You may not be aware of it, but energy-efficient home landscaping can reduce your household’s energy consumption for heating and cooling by as much as 25 percent.

Proper placement of trees, shrubs, vines, grasses, and hedges lets you modify the microclimate around your home to maximize shade during the summer and reduce wind chill during the winter.

Energy efficient home landscaping is one of the best investments you can make, because aside from its potential to increase the resale value of your property, it can generate enough savings to return your initial investment in less than eight years. Therefore, it is not surprising that more homeowners than ever are implementing energy-conserving home landscaping ideas on their property.

Developing a Home Landscaping Plan for Energy Efficiency

There are countless home landscaping strategies for energy conservation, but not all of them may be appropriate for your property and climate zone. Before you plant those evergreens in your backyard, make an assessment of the comfort and energy shortcomings of your current home landscaping.

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There’s no limit to the number of different materials that people use for landscaping. If you haven’t already tried it, a great way to beautify your design is by landscaping with rocks. There’s an endless number of ways rocks can be incorporated into your landscape.

There are several advantages to doing this. Not only will they look great, but they’re everywhere, so you shouldn’t have any trouble getting them.

This is also a great way to save a little money as well since, chances are, you have plenty of them on your property already. Let’s take a look at some ideas for landscaping with rocks.

Using Rocks for Borders And Walls

The great thing about rocks is that there are as many different uses for them as there are shapes and sizes. One popular way to use rocks in your design is to use them as a border.

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