Begin Your Landscape Makeover With Focal Points

Begin your planning by establishing focal points. These can include trees, big shrubs and tall ornamental grasses, as well as structures such as a gazebo, archway, pond, trellis or statue. Once these are in place, the rest of your landscaping can fill in around them.

Privacy Screen Options

If you grow shrubs closely enough together, they can form a "living wall" that is effective in screening out the public's unwanted gazes. One option is to plant the shrubs in rows and shear them to create dense outdoor privacy screens. Another option is to install shrubs more loosely to form borders that will be more low-maintenance.

Lattice fences can serve a number of functions, in addition to creating backyard retreats and serving as trellises. Have an eyesore you'd like to disguise (e.g., trash area, air conditioner, deck supports)? Wooden or vinyl lattice fences can hide them. Building lattice fences to serve as outdoor privacy screens is simple.

General Rule For All Trees & Shrubs - RRR Lawn & Landscape Tip of the Day

Hold off on pruning those spring flowering shrubs that bloom on last year’s growth such as Lilac, Forsythia, Flowing Quince, Magnoia, Azalea, Mock Orange, Weigela, etc.  These should all be pruned after they finish blooming, usually in late spring or early summer.