Miraldi Landscape Design

	Backyard Retreat Design©
			HUNTLEY, ILLINOIS	Member
			tel 847 515-1550	Member

	Design not Decoration. What's it all about ?
	A pleasing value based landscape is more than just placing plants, trees and shrubs, sidewalks and patios along the foundation or randomly in your yard, in other words 'Decoration'.
	Landscape Design is deliberate, focused and an organized process. It's goal is to create outdoor living spaces, rooms that are fun and enjoyable to be in, complement your homes architecture and most importantly your lifestyle. Like the interior spaces (the rooms of your home) there are three (3) basic elements, Floors, Walls with doors & windows and Ceilings. Along with these basic elements are the personal touches that you have added to make your home's interior desirable and fun to be in. There is art work, drapes & curtains, and paint on the walls and last but not least furniture. The last element, although probably the most important, is the budget. A successful design is not necessarily a product of the size of the budget but it is an important element in all cases.
	Successful Landscapes take all the elements into account.
	Successful experienced Landscape Designers use all these elements in concert with your desires, needs and the architecture of your home to create beautiful, functional and fun landscapes.
	Basic Elements: FLOORS: can be as simple as a lawn or a hard surfaced area using stone, brick or gravel paving. WALLS: are created with plants, such as hedging or screening. They can also be masonry, stone or brick etc. WINDOWS: are created by strategically locating plant material or a structure that creates a screen or a view to a distant landscape or an interesting landscape feature ie; fountain, sculpture or an interesting planting. DOORS: the doors are openings that lead the eye to another destination in the landscape. CEILING: or landscape canopy can be created with shade trees, wooden structures like pergolas, arbors, or other simple framing to provide a sense of enclosure and or shade.
	To see how to proceed go to the Design Steps page.

January 11, 2008