One of the major objectives of good landscaping is to create a visual relationship between the house and the site. If your house is already constructed, you can still do a fine job of relating it to the site. Some of the ways this relationship between house and site may be achieved are:
• Use plants that are found growing naturally on or near the site.
• Repeat architectural lines of the house in the landscape - either with plants or construction such as walls, fences, etc.
• Use building materials that blend well in the natural environment or may be found there (for example: a wood shingle roof for a home on a wooded site or stone retaining walls in an area where the stone is found naturally).
Landscape design cannot be reduced to a series of rules. It may, however, be helpful for the homeowner to keep the following design concepts in mind as the design develops.
• Group plants for emphasis. Group the same plants rather than alternating shrubs or using many individual plants spotted about the property to provide a sense of unity and order.